The NFLPA’s dumb plan to keep prospects from attending the draft

The NFLPA's latest attempt to gain leverage in its ongoing struggle with the league is to keep the top college prospects from actually attending the draft.

You hear that, Roger Goodell? You're not allowed to give anyone a hat!

I don't know if the NFL feels terribly threatened by this, but it shouldn't. I can only speak for myself, but I'm not going to miss Stuart Scott trying to find 25 different variations of the question, "What's it like to have your dream come true?"

Maybe the prospects in attendance give us a nice moment here or there, or maybe we miss out on the shameful schaudenfreude of seeing a top-five prospect free-fall into the 20s. Myself, I won't miss it that much. Instead of the forced, predictable, highly coached interview, we'll instead skip right to Kiper, McShay and Mayock breaking down film of the prospect.

I'm fine with that. Those guys are the real stars of draft day, anyway.

The people who really get the shaft in this plan are the young players themselves. They're the ones being deprived of a moment in the sun. I'd imagine that a lot of young fellows dream of that moment when their name is called and they take the stage. It's not like they'll be able to go back in time and recapture that after the fact.

Way to put the screws to them, NFLPA! That'll teach them to -- wait, what's that? The people you're punishing are the people you're supposed to be representing? Oh. Um ... well, I'm sure you have your reasons.

And if there's a second group that's also stuck with the shaft, it's fans, who do enjoy seeing the rookies in attendance.

So, to sum up, what the NFLPA has concocted here is a plan that doesn't threaten the NFL much at all, but will crush the dreams of some of the people they represent, and might also make a once-glorious offseason football oasis less entertaining for a percentage of NFL fans. This is helpful, how, exactly?

This is why I hate everyone involved.

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