I mainly watched ESPN’s coverage, but I nearly switched channels because of Jon Gruden. Normally, I’m a big fan of the former coach and current Monday Night analyst, but Gruden’s Johnny Manziel obsession turned from annoying to ridiculous. In Gruden’s view, every team at every draft position needed to take Johnny Football.
The cynical part of me wondered whether Gruden was merely pumping the ESPN’s all-Manziel-all-the-time narrative. After Manziel was drafted, I half expected the network to shut down its coverage. What was the point of continuing? Wasn’t the Texas A&M quarterback the only player in the entire draft?
Then I remembered that Gruden could never really settle on a quarterback in Tampa Bay, one of the reasons he finally got the ax, even though he won a Super Bowl.
At one point in the telecast, I could see Mel Kiper Jr. become irritated when Gruden said Kansas City should take Manziel. As Kiper pointed out, the Chiefs already have a quarterback in Alex Smith, they have other needs, and they didn’t own a second-round pick. When Gruden pushed Manziel anyway, it seemed obvious that Kiper thought Gruden wasn’t taking the draft seriously.