It's Mel's world. We're just renting space for the next few nights

If you recognize the person pictured on the right and his magnificent hair, you will also recognize him for turning the NFL Draft into the phenomena/feeding frenzy that it has become.

The NFL is sexing up things a bit this year by moving the draft to primetime (though, we're not sure if the 4:30 P.M. start qualifies as primetime for us West Coasters) by broadcasting the first round this evening and subsequent rounds Friday evening and Saturday.

In just a little while we will see the Rams shamed into picking Sam Bradford (QB - Oklahoma) first overall. We say "shamed" because the conventional wisdom is that you don't give first overall money to, say, a interior defensive lineman even if that person is the best player in the draft as is the case this year with Ndamukong Suh of Nebraska. We hate the CW. And because of the CW, the Rams will continue to stink and will reportedly pay Bradford a $50 million signing bonus for the pleasure of discovering how overrated he and his fellow Big 12 quarterbacks are as their stats were grossly inflated because no one in the Big 12 has yet to figure out a way of slowing down the preferred offense in that conference, the spread-option offense.

But anyway, back to Mel Kiper...

For all Mel Kiper Jr.'s visibility, few people are aware of The Kiper Foundation: a unique charitable organization that matches notable first round busts—such as Lawrence Phillips, Tony Mandarich and Akili Smith—with loving homes, where they enjoy regular baths, three square meals a day, and a slightly irregular cream-colored jacket, donated by the Hall of Fame gift shop.

Read the rest of Deadspin's ode to Mel, here.

And just because we can, a brief look back at some classic New York Jets draft moments.



You gotta love how Pete Rozelle does the pregnant pause with a slight smirk just before announcing a name that will illicit a tortured response from the Jet faithful. It's like he's in on the joke.