Players have been graded on ability and are placed on scouting boards accordingly. In all, about 300 to 500 names are charted. A phone line connects the War Room with the draft headquarters in New York. Each club has two or three representatives on the other end of the line to communicate picks to the NFL Office. With the fourth pick in the 1999 NFL Draft, the Indianapolis Colts select Running Back Edgerrin James, from the University of Miami.
Every draft is critical to a team s future.
Attendance in the room involves almost every human emotion. At alternating periods during the process, elation is expressed over a prospect taken and a job well done. Dejection might be evident over a prospect lost to an opponent. Surprise is elicited over a player taken surprisingly high or low by another team. Anxiety is a constant companion because of the hours spent reaching this day, the pressure of the moment and the stakes for the future.