Neither NFL Network or ESPN Reporters Will Tip Picks, Ruin Things For Everyone

With precious little sports content available that carries actual intrigue and drama, it's nice to know that neither network presenting next week's NFL Draft will actively work against its best interests. In a conference call with reporters this morning, NFL senior vice president of programming and production Mark Quenzel said ESPN and NFL Network have mutually agreed to not allow the news side to tip picks.

This has been standard practice for outlets carrying the event since 2012 so it's not exactly breaking news. Still, it's refreshing to know the occasional good decision can be made before it's too late these days.

This handshake accord does not prohibit newspeople from competing shops to swoop in and bogart all the glory for themselves. Trying to consume the draft as a two-screen experience is a harrowing ordeal with trade-offs being made between the authenticity of the moment and further context.

It's never been quite clear to me why there's so much glory for disseminating information three seconds before everyone else knows it, but the incentive structure still exists. Perhaps in the spirit of togetherness everyone with access to early information can do the humane thing and keep it to themselves so we can have one real shared moment.

Haha. Who am I kidding?