A virtual hit: The NFL gets remote draft right, surges toward record viewership | Marcus Hayes

It wasn’t Vegas, baby. But it was cool, and Goodell was great.

Sports connected us again, for one night, at least. Marooned in our homes, we relished a measure of familiarity, the unique range of feeling that athletics always brings: joy, and disappointment, and stoic acceptance. It was a welcome respite from weeks of isolation, and monotony, and fear.

In the past decade, the NFL draft evolved from a small, exclusive get-together on Sixth Avenue in Manhattan into a three-day party that overtook the city that hosted it. The virtual edition, which began with the first round Thursday night, revived some of the homey feelings associated with Radio City Music Hall. It was kitschy, fun, awkward, and intimate.

And it worked. Worries that stemmed from problems during Monday’s dress rehearsal were unfounded — and the audience loved it. Variety reported that 6.1 million viewers tuned in on ABC alone, an increase of almost 25% over the first round last year when the event set a three-day record with 47.5 million viewers across all networks and platforms.

“The technology worked," commissioner Roger Goodell told NFL.com.

“It was a touchdown," said another NFL source, who then cautiously added, “we know there’s a lot of time left on the clock." The draft resumed with Rounds 2 and 3 Friday, then finishes Saturday. These days, it is must-see TV.

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We will continue to peek into the living rooms, dens, and basements of the NFL’s coaches, general managers, and, of course, Goodell. Makeshift war rooms will stream into our homes, delivered by more than 100 video feeds that drew more power than Caesars Forum, where the announcement stage would have been before the coronavirus lockdown canceled the sixth extravaganza.

The league also arranged for live feeds from the homes of 58 potential first-round picks, which treated us to a range of reactions: the tears of Michigan center Cesar Ruiz, a Camden native who lost his father as a boy;

CeeDee Lamb’s phone-snatch from his girlfriend after Dallas drafted the receiver;

and receiver Henry Ruggs’ lucrative Old Spice robe. Cha-ching.

Plenty more reaction-cam was on tap for Friday, since the NFL still had its setup in the homes of 30 prospects. These look-ins have been so popular and so efficient that they are likely to be a part of future drafts for players who don’t want to attend the draft in person or who are less likely to be taken on the first day, a source said.

The virtual draft wasn’t seamless, but, frankly, neither is the in-person draft. Goodell is wooden and corny in either two or three dimensions. But this year, stripped of the hoopla and his corporate persona — he traded his usual draft-night suit for a dark sport coat, then a dark sweater — Goodell came across warmer than ever. He seemed especially sensitive to criticisms that the draft should be delayed as the nation still hovers near its peak pandemic death rate. Dr. Anthony Fauci, who has become the voice of reason during the White House daily press gatherings, led the broadcast by endorsing the decision to hold the draft. This, on a day that COVID-19 killed more than 3,000 Americans, which brought the total number of deaths to about 50,000.

Goodell nonetheless managed to strike a nostalgic chord, like a well-meaning uncle doing his best to carry on in a time of great stress, fear, and grief. Much of his delivery was clumsy, but that’s who he is; and most of his comedy was accidental, such as when he mistakenly announced that, since the 2020 draft extravaganza was canceled, Las Vegas would host … the 2020 draft. He meant the 2022 draft. It’s Roger.

Goodell’s “man-cave” in the basement of his suburban New York home looked like something from the set of “The Goldbergs” — a bit archaic for a man who makes $40 million a year, but maybe retro-'80s is fashionable these days in Bronxville.

He offered virtual hugs, tried to pump up virtual crowds being streamed on screens behind him, and good-naturedly celebrated the ritual booing that accompanies his entrance to the draft stage.

He even made a TikTok video with Alabama receiver Jerry Jeudy, whom the Denver Broncos drafted 15th overall. It went viral: 2.5 million views in 12 hours.

Goodell’s warmth dovetailed with the indefatigable, crisply professional ESPN draft host Trey Wingo, whose nimbleness in the studio sidestepped pregnant pauses and missed cues as he communicated with analysts, guests, and producers.

The Eagles principles — general manager Howie Roseman, coach Doug Pederson, player personnel chief Andy Weidl, owner Jeffrey Lurie, the scouts and medical staff — stayed connected well enough to draft Jalen Reagor without a hitch. He was the 21st overall pick and the fourth receiver taken, all amid a flurry of six wideouts drafted from No. 12, when Ruggs went to the Las Vegas Raiders, to No. 25, when Brandon Aiyuk went to the San Francisco 49ers. A glitch on a postdraft conference-call application kept Pederson from hearing many of the questions, though he didn’t seem to mind.

The remote feeds provided glimpses into the personalities of the NFL’s rainmakers — a welcome and humanizing dynamic as we endure our sixth week of relative isolation, with several more weeks likely to come. New York Giants general manager Dave Gettleman’s sparse setup sparked some derision, and his choice to wear a mask caused some confusion — he’s a cancer survivor and had a guest in his home —

while Roseman’s spacious and tasteful home office won the design award. It featured seven monitors, two laptops, a press-conference stage, and a working fireplace in case he has an FDR moment.

Logistics concerns mean that Goodell will announce the second and third rounds himself this year. In the recent past, former NFL players would appear on stage to represent the team making the second-round pick, and, occasionally, they would riff. Eagles fans certainly recall how Drew Pearson used the Dallas Cowboys’ second pick in 2017 to tease them on the Philadelphia Art Museum steps.

Of course, former Eagles kicker David Akers repaid Pearson the next year in Dallas, when the Eagles drafted a tight end named, of all things, Dallas Goedert.

Former Eagles cornerback Troy Vincent, the NFL’s executive vice president of football operations, usually announces the third round. NFL football operations executives Dave Gardi and Dawn Aponte will announce Saturday’s picks from their homes.

But the man of this moment has been Goodell: star of the draft; a comforting, familiar beacon of normalcy.