The NFL Draft: Inside the Oakland Raiders Pressroom 

The NFL Draft: Inside the Oakland Raiders Pressroom

The NFL Draft: Inside the Oakland Raiders Press Room
By: Keith Dobkowski
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With the first training camps over, the major media's take on each teams respective drafts and the excitement of another NFL season staring us right in the face, it is only fair to offer both an insight to the draft, the steals, the trades, plus an insiders look into an actual press room at an NFL facility.

Legalball.com through Sports Business Simulations received an invitation to cover the draft from the Oakland Raiders facility. And what a wonderful experience it was. From our arrival at Raiders' headquarters at 7:30 in the morning on Draft Saturday, through the Raiders second pick, it was an incredible day.

While eating a catered breakfast, the room's mumbles and grumbles were all about Eli Manning and where he was headed. It was only a few days earlier that Manning stated he would never wear a Chargers' uniform. And as predicted, the Chargers drafted Manning with the first pick. Manning's facial expression was as if he just lost a loved one. The ESPN writer I sat next to simply stated, "The kid is costing himself major endorsement money right now. Just smile."

And with that, the Raiders were on the clock.

On Draft Saturday's past, the 15 minutes per team seemed like an eternity. The errors made the previous year by the Minnesota Vikings, not entering a pick on time, seemed impossible. Yet feeling the intensity as each minute slipped away, there was an overall sense that something big was about to happen. The glares between reporters, the whispering amongst the guests, it was as if the world's greatest secret was about to escape.

Still sitting next to the ESPN reporter, he leaned over to me and stated, "my source just walked in the room and something is going to happen. There must be a trade in the works or Robert Gallery would have already been selected." Ten of the 15 minutes had slid by.

Throughout the week and even in the morning paper, predictions that the Raiders would select a wide receiver to team up with Jerry Porter was the talk. Most signs pointed to Roy Williams, the Texas standout. However, the second pick appeared too high for a wide out, especially in a wide out heavy draft.

The ESPN writer kept saying that something big was happening. How come they had not announced a pick yet? It is the second pick in the draft and every board had Manning going first. The Raiders knew whom they wanted and with two of the fifteen minutes left, nothing.

Then silence hit the room. As we watched on television, Paul Tagliabue, the NFL commissioner, walked onto the stage at Madison Square Garden and stated, "With the second pick in the 2004 NFL Draft, the Oakland Raiders select Robert Gallery, Tackle, University of Iowa."

The two Raiders Fans sitting at the table beside ours, who had gotten into the pressroom from a friend of a friend, jumped and hooted like none other. The media and Raiders employees all shook their heads in approval. As I had written just a few weeks earlier, the number one player in the Draft was Gallery.

Gallery's combination of size and strength made him the most likely to play, play-now and play-well player in the draft. Further, Gallery's position, offensive tackle, seldom suffered career-ending injuries in comparison to other positions, namely quarterback. While Manning was the first selection, legalball.com had calculated that a first round quarterback had only a 40% chance of being a good quarterback in the league. And an even much smaller percentage of being a great quarterback.

The NFL as of late had seen a rise in late round and un-drafted quarterbacks leading their teams to the Playoffs and Super Bowl. The emergence of Tom Brady, Mark Bulger, Kurt Warner and Jeff Garcia are just a few names in that trend. The opposite has held true as well from Akili Smith to Cade McNown to Tim Couch to Heath Shular to Jim Druckenmiller, the NFL had also seen a dramatic shift in first round failures.

Suring up a position for ten years is a goal any team would take. And on Draft Saturday, the Raiders took it. When Norv Turner, new Raiders Head Coach, took the stage and answered our questions he said just as much. And when Robert Gallery called the Oakland Raiders headquarters, he too stated the same. I can be a dominant starter at this position and in this league for the next ten years.

So while the second pick is seldom a steal and with the news surrounding this draft was about Quarterbacks, Quarterback trades and wide outs, it was the Oakland Raiders who made the pick of the draft.

While New York wonders if a third Manning has what the first two did, and San Diego wonders if Phillip Rivers' Kosar-like release can have Kosar-like results, Oakland can sit happily back and know that whoever their quarterback will be during the next ten years, the quarterback's blindside will be safe.