NFL fans who enjoy the annual booing of commissioner Roger Goodell during the draft are going to have to wait until next year.
According to Peter King, Goodell will announce first-round picks via an in-home camera while standing in his basement in Bronxville, New York. Though there was some speculation Goodell might be announcing the picks from a studio at ESPN after the league’s live draft in Vegas was canceled, he will apparently stick to the guidelines from a memo he sent to teams last week that mandated all league personnel to follow social-distancing guidelines.
“[W]e want all NFL personnel to comply with government directives and to model safe and appropriate health practices,” Goodell wrote in the memo, a copy of which ProFootballTalk obtained. “Our staff will carry out its responsibilities in the same way, operating in separate locations outside of our offices. And after consulting with medical advisors, we cannot identify an alternative that is preferable from a medical or public health perspective, given the varying needs of clubs, the need properly to screen participants, and the unique risk factors that individual club employees may face.”
As King writes in his latest Football Morning in America column, when the commissioner announces the picks, he’ll have a “virtual montage” of 15 fans behind him (so maybe there’s some hope on the booing front). King also notes the draft will begin with a singer of “some fame” performing the national anthem from his or her home.
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