Gone Fishin'

The end-of-semester crunch is on full time here at Sharkey Manor, so just another brief post today. But I find the Joe Thomas situation with tomorrow’s NFL draft to be an interesting one, and I thought I’d see what people thought about it.

For those that haven’t heard, Wisconsin offensive lineman and super-highly rated prospect Joe Thomas is skipping tomorrow’s NFL draft to go fishing instead. When I first heard this, I thought that was a pretty cool thing to do. It seemed to show how down-to-earth he was—that he didn’t take himself too seriously. After all, the draft is a ridiculous made-for-TV sideshow and his being there or not doesn’t change anything. Why not enjoy a day on the water?

Then I heard that the NFL Network is going to have a camera out on his boat to get his reaction. ...huh? I feel like that changes everything. Does this not reek of a publicity stunt? I suppose I could give him the benefit of the doubt, but this smells awfully fishy, doesn’t it?

Oh wow... I just realized the terrible pun at the end of that sentence. Please forgive me. Somewhere, a writing teacher weeps.

I guess I’m just disappointed, that’s all. I’m already tired of the draft-as-spectacle junk, and for a moment I thought we had a breath of fresh air and perspective. But unfortunately, Thomas is probably just another part of the show.