A Different Approach to the 2009 NFL Draft

If you're looking for Mel Kiper, you clicked the wrong link. While many analysts such as ESPN's Kiper have spent the past week pouring over the strengths and weaknesses of every single pick from this year's NFL Draft, I decided to take a different approach. The NFL Draft is about more than just combine numbers, "upside," and team needs. For the 256 players drafted and the other 100-plus players that have signed free-agent deals, it is the culmination of all the hard work they have put in both on and off the field and the realization of their dreams.

It was an exciting weekend for me as well. I have spent the last four years as a student assistant with the quarterbacks at the University of Missouri and have had the honor of working with many of the players that were drafted and signed from Mizzou this past weekend. In all, Missouri had six players drafted and eight others who were not drafted, but were signed or brought in for workouts with NFL teams.

I have seen the different sides of these players. I have seen in all of them a desire to be great and a love for the game, but I have also witnessed much more than that. I have seen the amusing quirks in players like Steelers first-round pick Ziggy Hood, who used to tape Starburst candies to his wrist to give himself an extra reward after making great plays. I have been entertained by the thousands of "that's what she said" jokes exchanged between Redskins undrafted quarterback and 2007 Heisman Trophy Award Finalist Chase Daniel and fellow QB Chase Patton. I have also been inspired seeing second-round pick William Moore become the first person in his family to earn a college degree despite coming from a town that has produced relatively few high school, let alone college graduates.

At a time in which many of these players are spoken of in dehumanizing terms, that is, analyzed merely based on their skills and on-field potential, it is important to remember that each and every one of them is something more than that. So let's throw the 40 times and the "steals" and the "busts" out the window for a day or two and take the time to acknowledge the accomplishments of these remarkable young men. All of them have stories, all of them have lives, and all of them have the opportunity of a lifetime before them. So while many will spend this week trying to put labels on these players before they even set foot in a mini-camp, let alone play in an NFL game, I just want to say congratulations to all of the athletes who realized their dreams on Draft Weekend and earned a chance to play in the NFL. You all deserve it.