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A BEAUTIFUL DAY – The 2010 NFL Draft is here

By TheDarkHorse

The day has finally arrived.

This is a day of destiny for hundreds of young men across the country.

For all the media hype, the over-analysis, the anticipation–today is really just a beginning, a starting place, for tomorrow’s NFL. The sobering truth is that many of these players will be out of the league by 2014. Many will fail to live up to the expectations–and they won’t be worth a fraction of the millions of dollars teams invest in them. Some of today’s “can’t fail” prospects will fail tremendously, unequivocally. We know that the draft exists in a vacuum, where almost everyone involved must turn away from odds, the reality of it all, and believe their team is about to turn the corner.

What’s promising is that teams GETTING IT RIGHT tonight are shaping future playoff and Super Bowl franchises. Drifting fanbases *all* feel hope tonight, all speak wildly, all have newfound reasons to believe their teams are on the rise. It’s a day when we don’t see the future clearly–and don’t want to.

One thing is for sure: Today is the day we officially put 2009 away–and move boldly toward the 2010 campaign.

We’ll be posting stories throughout the day, until 7 p.m. EST, when we’ll shift gears over to our 2010 NFL DRAFT FIRST-ROUND LIVE BLOG.

Some news items at this hour:

* Is this for real? It just seems crazy to me–we’re not buying it: Michael Smith reports that “Mike Holmgren just told me he’s calling the Rams one last time about #1. Willing to deal most of 2010 picks, pick(s) in 2011.”

* From Schefter’s Twitter: “A source close to situation says it is ‘extremely unlikely’ the Pittsburgh Steelers will trade quarterback Ben Roethlisberger.”

* PFT reports that Rams G.M. Billy Devaney told Chris Russo of Sirius Mad Dog Radio that the Rams haven’t received any legitimate, serious offers for the top pick: “I’ve got to be honest, it’s been just kind of bogus stuff,” Devaney said.  “I’ll tell you this, we have not had a firm offer at all.  It’s just kind of dancing around like would you think about it if it was right?  But I’ll tell you nobody’s called today.  So the longer this goes, obviously, it appears more likely that we’re going to keep the pick.”

*Florio is suggesting the Browns might PASS THEIR PICK (simply not make a pick, in order to avoid overpaying for a reach). We don’t see that happening.

* PFT is also stating that TIM TEBOW WILL GO IN THE TOP 15. Bob Tebow, Tim’s father, told a Jacksonville radio station last week: “If the Jaguars don’t take him at 10, he’ll be gone by 15.”

* Schefter is also glowing about the chance to walk across town to the NFL Draft with the one-and-only Mel Kiper.

* Adam Schefter, per Twitter, tells us that the Rams asking price for the #1 pick is steep–probably too steep for anyone to play.

* We are already hearing that there is buzz for Berry going before #7. It starts with Washington at #4. Florio and Gregg Rosenthal at PFT suggest that Berry could end up a Redskin–or go to Philly, if they do trade up.