This awesome video of ESPN’s 1981 draft coverage does just that, showing us a loosely organized get together inside a hotel ballroom, struggling with technical difficulties … as opposed to the multi-million dollar Radio City Music Hall spectacle it is today.

Watch as Pete Rozelle kicks things off with the selection of George Rogers and Lawrence Taylor, while a young Dr. Z (SI’s Paul Zimmerman) provides the pre-Kiper-era draft analysis:

Watch Part 2 after the jump:

PART 3 | PART 4

[H/T Adam Schefter]

As you pore over Mike Mayock‘s one and only mock draft in preparation for this weekend’s festivities, keep in mind that pretty much none of these so-called “experts” have a clue as to how this draft, nor the players selected in it, are actually going to pan out.  For all the scouting and testing and poking and prodding, the draft process is really all just a high-budget guessing game, and we won’t truly know the winners and losers for at least another three years.

Case in point … after JaMarcus Russell was selected #1 overall in the 2007 draft, virtually everyone whiffed on the kid, including Mel Kiper who declared that Russell would be the next John Elway.  Enough said.

Meanwhile, the folks up in Bristol are all having a little fun and “Kiperizing” some of the ESPN anchors, like Trey Wingo, Michael Wilbon and Tony Kornheiser:

PHOTOS AND VIDEO AFTER THE JUMP

(Photo via Twitter)

(Photo via Twitter)

(Photo via Twitter)

(Image: ESPN via Orlando Sentinal)

ESPN’s Camp Gruden, where former coach Jon Gruden puts the top collegiate QB prospects through the ringer prior to each year’s draft, has become something of an annual tradition. We all remember last year when Cam Newton couldn’t name a single play from his Auburn playbook, which may have scared some people off from the eventual offensive rookie of the year.

This year’s edition of Gruden’s QB Camp kicked off this week with Stanford’s Andrew Luck, possibly the most hyped quarterback prospect since John Elway. Watch the clip below, where Luck takes us through a routine play from his college playbook, “Spider 2/3 Y Banana”. We get to watch Luck squirm a bit when Gruden shows a clip where Luck throws a pick-six interception against USC … on that very play.

Luck takes it all in stride, probably because Stanford ended up winning the game in triple overtime. But it’s at least nice to see someone putting the future Colt to the fire a bit, rather than slobbering all over him as perfect, “can’t miss” prospect:

VIDEO AFTER THE JUMP

On Monday, Gruden will sit down with Robert Griffin III. Set your DVRs, Redskins fans.

(via mocksession.com)

The first outage came at 5:19pm local time, delaying the start of the game for 20 minutes before power returned. But early in the second quarter, with the 49ers leading 6-0, the lights went out again. This time, the delay lasted 16 minutes before play resumed.

Steelers LB James Harrison, serving his one-game suspension, chimed in via Twitter:

If I cant play then can’t nobody play… Lights out!

RIP Don Meredith.

(Image via ESPN)

This package about 49ers linebacker Patrick Willis aired on ESPN’s E:60 this week, and it’s likely to change the way you look at the NFL’s most tenacious defender.

In it, we learn of Willis’ troubled upbringing in Tennessee, where he and his three younger siblings were abandoned by his mother, and suffered at the hands of an abusive, alcoholic, drug-abusing father. Forced to grow up too early, Patrick became the leader of the household, eventually standing up to his father Ernest at the age of 17 and getting his brothers and sisters into foster care. All four kids were taken in by Patrick’s high school basketball coach (a story in and of itself), where he was finally able to be a kid for the first time, and get his life on track.

Today, the all-pro with a huge new contract still holds out hope for his father’s redemption, despite his abusive upbringing. It’s an amazing display of forgiveness, and you can’t help but respect the way Willis has dealt with all the obstacles in his life, and the grace with which he has carried himself throughout.

VIDEO AFTER THE JUMP

(Photo: NYDailyNews.com)

We’ll be honest, we didn’t really watch last night’s Jets-Dolphins game, and by most accounts it was a major suckfest with the Jets proving to be less sucky, so we don’t feel too bad about that.

But when we heard that ESPN enlisted Jets superfan “Fireman Ed” Anzalone to do the Monday Night intro honors, we knew we had to see what they came up with. In their continuing effort to replace the erstwhile Hank Williams’ Jr., ESPN has switched gears from his rauckus theme song to focus on the host cities with more solemn spoken word tributes.

This week’s effort focused on the passion and loyalty of the Jets fans, with the 52-year old retired New York firefighter doing the honors:

VIDEO AFTER THE JUMP

Not bad, but it doesn’t quite have the impact of Barry Sanders’ intro from last week. ESPN might be better served sticking with former players, who have a real emotional connection with the viewers.

(Image via ESPN.com)

Every once in a while, the Worldwide Leader will produce a package that takes a different approach to the usual sports analysis, and thus stands out from the pack. Usually, we can rely on our boy Kenny Mayne to bring the off-center humor to the party, but this time Trey Wingo steps up with his feature on the trials and tribulations of Tony Romo so far this season.  In it, he and NFL Live co-host Marcellus Wiley go for a ride on the “Romo Coaster”, which promises to simulate the thrills and spills of a game with the much maligned Cowboys’ QB at the helm.

Watch as Wingo somehow manages to provide a perfectly cogent breakdown of Romo’s successes and failures while riding the coaster, while Wiley mainly tries to keep his lunch down:

VIDEO AFTER THE JUMP

(Photo: thepenaltyflagblog.com)

Following the big Hank Williams Jr. controversy from last week, ESPN dropped the popular singer and his long-standing theme song from Monday Night Football, leaving the nation wondering how they would get ready for some football each week moving forward.

Well for last night’s Lions-Bears game, former Lion great Barry Sanders handled the intro duties for MNF, narrating over the sights and sounds of Detroit. It’s a format that ESPN is likely to employ for the remainder of the season, and let’s just say the piece more than sufficed on such short notice. It wasn’t earth-shattering or anything, but I’m not sure anyone ever tuned in to hear Hank Williams Jr., and this puts the focus back where it belongs – on the game, and the host cities for each contest.

Here’s what Sanders’ had to say in the intro:

“Detroit’s soul isn’t in the streets of the city. It’s in the hearts of the people. I know. I played here for 10 years. 

“Right now for the Lions, life is good. But like this town, they won’t rest. They’ll work, they’ll sweat, they’ll fight.

“Detroit doesn’t pat itself on the back, it gets the job done. Especially tonight, on ‘Monday Night Football.’ “

WATCH SANDERS’ MNF INTRO AFTER THE JUMP

Meanwhile, ol’ Hank was out re-writing one of his more right-leaning songs, “Keep The Change” to call out ESPN and Fox & Friends for mistreating him so, and call for a boycott of both networks. Get your free download HERE!

That includes you too, Estefan (Photo: Zimbio.com)

In a move that may leave it’s viewers woefully unprepared for some football, ESPN and Hank Williams, Jr. have ended their relationship on the heels of the Monday Night Football theme singer’s controversial comments earlier this week. In case you missed it, Williams compared President Obama to Hitler on Fox News Monday Morning (video). From ESPN.com:

In an interview Monday on Fox News’ “Fox & Friends,” Williams, unprompted, said of Obama’s outing on the links with House Speaker John Boehner: “It’d be like Hitler playing golf with (Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin) Netanyahu.”

 Asked to clarify, Williams said, “They’re the enemy,” adding that by “they” he meant Obama and Vice President Joe Biden.

This, not surprisingly, didn’t sit well with a lot of people. So after pulling his iconic “Are You Ready For Some Football?” theme song from that night’s broadcast, the network has officially cut ties with Bocephus, his song and his rowdy friends, with both parties taking credit for the decision.

ESPN relased this statement on Thursday:

“We have decided to part ways with Hank Williams, Jr. We appreciate his contributions over the past years. The success of Monday Night Football has always been about the games and that will continue.”

But Williams released his own statement on his website, where he says he’s packing up his song and going home, citing First Amendment infringement:

“After reading hundreds of e-mails, I have made MY decision. By pulling my opening Oct 3rd, You (ESPN) stepped on the Toes of The First Amendment Freedom of Speech, so therefore Me, My Song, and All My Rowdy Friends are OUT OF HERE. It’s been a great run.” — Hank Williams Jr

Regardless of whose decision it was, this leaves MNF without a theme song, having used Williams’ “All My Rowdy Friends Are Coming Over Tonight” as the basic for their intros since 1989, with the lyrics changing each week for each specific matchup. And once again, Stephen Colbert is here to put things into perspective:

VIDEO, INCLUDING WILLIAMS’ ORIGINAL COMMENTS AFTER THE JUMP

(Image: NY Post via SportressofBlogitude)

Following Sunday’s loss to the New York Giants – which he left early with an injured right hand - Eagles QB Michael Vick took some time to complain about the officiating in the game, wondering why the hits he takes don’t draw the 15-yard penalty flags that most quarterbacks in the league get.  Since that time, pretty much everyone in the world – including most current and former NFL QBs – have been rolling their eyes at Vick, and suggesting that he keep his mouth shut.  The banner pic above was the back cover of today’s NY Post, in which the Giants players show no sympathy for Vick, and expresses what a lot of us have been thinking for the past two days.

Leading the charge is former super-bowl winning QB and ESPN analyst Trent Dilfer, who seems to be making it his personal crusade to make sure that everyone knows how out of line Vick was with his comments. Yesterday, Dilfer went on The Herd with Colin Cowherd on ESPN Radio to call Vick out, saying that a simple look at the numbers would prove that Vick draws as many penalites, if not moreso than the rest of the QBs in the league. He also suggested that Vick broke every QB man code in the book by complaining about hits, especially in a league that goes out of its way to protect quarterbacks.

And on last night’s Monday Night Countdown, when Tom Jackson and Keyshawn Johnson started to defend Vick’s statement, Dilfer launched into another tirade, pointing out video of a helmet-to-helmet hit on Falcons QB Matt Ryan from last week that didn’t draw a flag, and essentially calling Vick a big pussy:

“Michael Vick does not have a case here. It’s perception vs reality. He’s not taking any more hits than anybody else is taking from the pocket. It happens all the time, it’s a subjective call, and it’s not happening more to Michael Vick than anybody else. Frankly, I’m a little disgusted that a quarterback’s going to get up there and complain about that after the game when the Eagles have other issues.

But Dilfer is not alone in his opinion. Former NFL VP of officiating Mike Pereira went as far as to call Vick’s complaints “ridiculous”, and launched into a tirade of his own:

“He’s a quarterback that’s on the move, he’s going to get hit more,” Pereira said. “Yes, there are a couple that may be missed but the fact that a ton of them are missed and that he’s hit late all the time is absurd. And he comes out and kind of does the mea culpa yesterday but at the same time what did he say? ‘I was being too candid.’ Well, that doesn’t sound to me like much of an apology. And also the damage is done. I don’t want to be the referee that goes in there now next and works with him. If he calls a roughing the passer penalty for a hit on Vick everybody’s going to say, ‘Well, Vick taunted him into that.’ If he doesn’t [call it] there’s going to be more criticism. So I think it was a bunch of bull and it didn’t sit well with me and it still doesn’t.”

For his part, Vick has since backed off his statement, saying “You won’t hear me complaining about it no more”.  Smart move.