The Beauty that is the NFL Draft

As we gear up for the "75th annual meeting of National Football League franchises to select newly eligible football players" (which the Couchwarmers will liveblog on Thursday evening), I thought it was high time to delve into just why we watch an incredibly slow, drawn out process whose results we could read in a newspaper the next day. There must be reasons why we subject ourselves to watching announcers like "that jerk in Baltimore" bloviate about "upside" and "raw talent."

We watch the NFL draft in large part because of the unforeseen moments it delivers....some heartwarming and some pathetic, some stimulating and some boring, some well-spoken and some, um, stuttering.

The NFL draft has brought a ton of joy to our lives. Let's take a look at some videos, and you can see for yourself why it's so special.

There can't be NFL draft coverage without Chris Berman. With Boomer comes the never-ending hilarity of knowing that he used "You're with me, leather" as a pick-up line...and it worked. Also, you get the added bonus of having listened to him talk about smuggling drugs across the Canadian border....


...and drop more f-bombs than when Bunk and McNulty investigated that crime scene in season 1 of The Wire...


But Boomer is just one of the selling points. The NFL draft also gives you the opportunity to look back at videos like this one from three years ago and legitimately debate whether a video starring JaMarcus Russell and Troy Smith would have a better chance today on SNL than as a promo for the NFL.


The booing from Jets fans after any of their picks is almost worth the price of admission itself.


And finally, over the years, the NFL draft has even brought us some good promotional spots like this one.


So those are just a few reasons why we love the NFL draft. Hopefully, more will happen on Thursday night, and we'll be sure to catch them and pass them on to you during our liveblog. Check it out.