The 2018 NFL Draft came and went this past weekend and provided football fans with plenty of shocking picks and hot takes. There was plenty of optimism and confusion around many players such as Oklahoma quarterback, Baker Mayfield, who was selected first overall to the Cleveland Browns.
With the inspiration of Friday and Saturday's selections, I had the idea to trek up to Arlington, where the draft was being held, in hopes to interview some fans on what they thought about their new players.
My friend and I arrived at the stadium an hour early and were amazed at all the various tents and "fan experiences" where fans could test their abilities at different NFL drills.
We had wandered around that parking lot for a while before approaching the colossal stadium. There was a long line forming at one of the side doors labeled "Tickets and Sweepstakes winners" that we approached.
We saw a lady ushering people into the line and checking their phones for tickets. We didn't have any sort of ticket, but just a QR code for the free fan experience. After a quick deliberation, it was settled. We had nothing to lose.
We strolled up to the line reeking of confidence and the lady asked: "Do y'all have a text message about the QR code for the sweepstakes?"
Of course, we said we did. She gave a brief glance at the wrong code we flashed and let us in.
We'd made it into the line. They stamped our hands and we were on the home stretch. We followed this line right down onto the field.
Each team had a different section for their fans on the floor. Naturally, the Cowboy's section was packed full so we nabbed seats in the next best teams section: The Cleveland Browns.
The draft had yet to start, and we were just taking in the scene. It was so incredibly wild. There were super-fans who'd paid $500 to be down on the field.
Towards the stage, we saw a small crowd gathering. Intrigued, we walked over to investigate.
Well, it was Roger Goodell, the most hated man in football, taking pictures with fans. Naturally, we capitalized on our second stroke of luck.
The draft itself was so much less exciting. Getting into the later rounds gets repetitive and tedious, but it was still a ton of fun. Eventually, we started looking for other forms of entertainment.
We used our legit QR code to get into another huge line to do an NFL fan experience tour, unsure what exactly it would be.
We sat around listening for picks until finally getting admitted in. There, we got to do a ton of cool stuff backstage.
Among other things, we were allowed to tour the locker room, and lo and behold, we saw the vacant locker of the former Cowboys wide receiver, Dez Bryant. We made sure to stop and have a moment of silence to pay our respects to the fallen hero. #DezCaughtIt
We left soon after when the draft was getting into the middle of the sixth round, and we listened to the rest on the car ride home. Despite our best efforts, we left the draft without a contract. There were 256 picks this year and my name wasn't called. Don't worry though. I'll be back.
