Prospects consider boycotting NFL draft
To show or not to show? That is the question facing several blue-chip college prospects as they ponder whether to attend next month's NFL draft, or boycott the event in a show of unity with players whom the owners locked out after labor negotiations collapsed last week.
It is customary for many of the top prospects in the draft to travel to New York for the first round, where they are introduced and welcomed to the stage at Radio City Music Hall by commissioner Roger Goodell during the live television broadcast. But because of the lockout, which began Saturday, the players are being urged to attend an alternate event nearby, where they would be welcomed by NFL Players Association executive director DeMaurice Smith.
The NFLPA decertified as a union Friday and now serves as a trade association acting on behalf of current and former NFL players.
NFL spokesman Greg Aiello said the league would invite many of the top prospects, including Auburn quarterback Cam Newton, Missouri quarterback Blaine Gabbert and LSU cornerback Patrick Peterson. But it is uncertain whether they will show up at Radio City or attend an NFLPA-sponsored event.
"It wouldn't be that they're not going to the draft, it's that potentially they'd have an alternate event," Gabbert's agent, Tom Condon, said Tuesday on ESPN. "Much of it would be the same, except instead of going across the stage and getting a man hug from the commissioner, who of course has locked you out, you'd go through the draft and maybe get a handshake from DeMaurice Smith, who is fighting a [rookie] wage scale and fighting for you not to be locked out."
When reports surfaced Monday that the NFLPA would recommend prospects boycott the draft, the public backlash was mostly critical, with many people -- even some veteran players -- urging players to attend the event and bask in the moment.
"Me personally, I would show up," Packers safety Nick Collins said on ESPN. "You've been working so hard, being through the Senior Bowl, the combine, now the next step is getting drafted. And if you're one of those top guys, that's what you're supposed to do. That's something you've been dreaming of and it's about to come true."
More football news
