The 2020 NFL Draft was already a strange concept, what with its remote, video conference call-aided set-up making for a viewing experience unlike any other. However, during day 2 of the draft, ESPN made it even more uncomfortable to watch, as they focused, some say excessively, on potential draftees’ personal tragedies to create pathos.
The misguided broadcasting choice started early on day 2, as the Cincinnati Bengals made Tee Higgins the first pick of the second round. ESPN’s graphic for Higgins set the tone for the rest of the night, including a line about his mother’s fight against drug addiction. It was not well received:
@espn this is disgusting on your part, Tee Higgins is enjoying his entrance to the NFL. And y’all have to announce his personal family business, by putting his moms drug addiction battle. Y’all should be ashamed of yourselves. pic.twitter.com/0oO1LbVZGr
— Roy Resendez (@royresendez32) April 24, 2020
Eventually, as more and more players saw their personal tragedies aired on national television on what is supposed to be the biggest and happiest day of their lives, viewers on Twitter began to do what viewers on Twitter do: complain and make fun of ESPN for their angles:
ESPN, for every damn pick this weekend:
"The Bills select, John Smith, wide receiver, Ohio State. Explosive route runner, great hands… but first let's tell you about his Great Aunt Tilly, who died in a tragic dirt biking accident when he was nine."
— Aaron Torres (@Aaron_Torres) April 24, 2020
ESPN NFL Draft producers when they find out a draft pick grew up in a loving household with both parents present pic.twitter.com/yLDP0UmEsb
— Matthew A. Cherry (@MatthewACherry) April 25, 2020
The best reaction to the night came from Twitter user @FitzGSN_, who created a thread of potential superhero draft graphics, alongside their own worst moments:
If the NFL Draft graphics from last night were for superheroes, this is what they'd look like pic.twitter.com/HTvJ3cwwVN
— Fitz (@FitzGSN_) April 24, 2020
Even players who didn’t fit the traditional mold of tragedy still had a hardship or two acknowledged by the broadcast, including Michael Pittman Jr., the son of former NFL running back Michael Pittman:
ESPN dug deep. Couldn’t play up the rags-to-riches angle with Michael Pittman Jr. because he comes from money. Couldn’t find any cringeworthy childhood trauma. So, they just threw in the fact he has a stuttering problem at the end of his draft montage. #NFLDraft
— Nick Birdsong (@birds_word) April 24, 2020
It wasn’t just the decision to air these tragedies that made the second night of the draft so uncomfortable to watch; it was the timing. Often, it was right as the pick was announced that ESPN would throw up these graphics, lending a morose tinge to the proceedings. With the draft kicking off its final day at noon on Saturday, one can only hope that the network learned from the mistakes of night 2 to make it a bit less of a rubbernecking viewing experience.
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