Should Mel Kiper one day be inducted into the NFL Hall of Fame?

Here is a deep dive into Mel Kiper’s NFL Draft legacy on ESPN

This year on Day 3 of the NFL Draft, ESPN’s Matt Miller posed the question:

What single person has done the most to enhance the intrigue, evolution and popularity of the NFL Draft?

Here is a story I have told before, but for those of you who have yet to hear it, it may be worth repeating.

Back in the day when NFL drafts were held in conference rooms in a New York City hotel, were 12 rounds long and not televised (and you had to read the results in the newspaper the next day), I was so starved and desperate for information about a Cardinals’ draft that I called Cardinals’ headquarters posing as an NFL columnist for the Boston Herald and asked to speak with GM George Boone.

Much to my surprise, after the cordial secretary connected me to George Boone’s office, he picked up the call. Mind you, this was the day after the draft. I introduced myself and said that I was writing a draft recap for teams in the NFC East (which back then were the Giants, Eagles, Redskins, Cowboys and Cardinals) and that if he could give me a few minutes I would appreciate hearing the rationale for his 12 picks.

George Boone could not have been nicer or more accommodating. He gave me a whole hour of his time and answered every one of my questions. I felt so grateful to the point where I felt such a profound and poignant pang of guilt when Mr. Boone asked me to mail him my article —- which, of course, I assured him I would.

Thanks to Mel Kiper and Pro Football Weekly’s Joel Bushbaum who started selling their yearly NFL Draft guides, I and thousands of other NFL fans who were draft thirsty for info about the players selected in the drafts, could find great satisfaction in Mel’s and Joel’s outstanding reports.

In 1979 when Mel Kiper was a senior in high school, he wrote his first Draft Guide and sent it to all of the GMs in the NFL. The GM closest to Mel’s home at the time was the Baltimore Colts’ GM Ernie Accorsi. Accorsi was so impressed that he wanted to hire Mel as his assistant. Not only that, Accorsi kept encouraging Mel to keep publishing his Blue Books —- sensing that there would be such a strong market for them.

This weekend Mel explained that Accorsi back in 1983 advised him to take his reports to a jam-packed draft convention for Colts’ fans to see what kind of reaction he would get. Mel said he was overwhelmed by the reception that he and his Blue Book received from the fans.

Upon Accorsi’s urging, Mel traveled to Bristol, CT to meet with ESPN about being hired as an analyst on the eve of the first televised draft (in 1984). While Mel was tempted to stay on as Ernie Accorsi’ assistant, when ESPN offered him the job, he couldn’t refuse. Per reports, Mel’s first-year salary at ESPN in 1984 was $400.

It was during that inaugural NFL Draft in 1984 that I and thousands of other NFL fans were made aware of Mel’s Blue Books. I bought my first of dozens Blue Books that year. In fact, when I called in my order, Mel picked up the phone. When I informed him that I am a Cardinals’ fan, he offered some of his thoughts about the Cardinals draft. I will never forget Mel urging me to keep an eye on the Cardinals’’ 8th round pick, LB Niko Noga from Hawaii. Mel was touting Nico as one of his “super sleepers.”

Over the first few years it was easy to contact Mel. And he was always eager to talk to his customers. But before long, Mel was so much in demand and was so busy watching film that he, quite understandably, didn’t have to keep answering the phone.

Mel Kiper and Joel Bushbaum were the world’s first bona fide draftniks. What made Joel’s PFW Draft Previews so popular is how he had the guts to spend equal time for each prospect on strengths and weaknesses —- which, of course, is common practice today.

But it’s important to acknowledge that Mel and Joel were the first draft analysts to provide 1st and 2nd round mocks.

Therefore, as I watched Mel this past weekend sitting on the panel all three days as he has always done for the past 40 years —- and still being able to roll out info with regard to even the most obscure super sleeper prospects in the country, unlike anyone known to mankind —- I couldn’t help but think of how much in awe Mel should have been with how the NFL Draft has grown into such a national showcase that generates so many millions of viewers —- and how the draft is now coming to different NFL towns each year like the Super Bowl —- and how mock draft simulators have helped millions of fans become avid draftniks themselves!

Back in 1984 when it all began, no one but Mel and Joel would have ever considered LB Nico Noga as a draft sleeper. Yet, today, thanks to all of the easy draft info on the internet, thanks to the NFL Combine, to countless NFL Draft previews and 7-round mock drafts and to mock draft simulators —- Day 3 prospects like “The Rabbit” (aka safety Dadrion Taylor-Demerson from Texas Tech) and tackle Christian Jones from Texas have become household names for draftniks.

Amazing too that during Day 3 of the NFL Draft, Brett Kollmann and E.J. Snyder of Gridiron Football had 3,500 info-thirsty draft zealots opt to join their “live” video in order to hear their takes of each pick.

The fascinating thing about the NFL Draft is how right and wrong the teams and the draftniks’ opinions and projections about prospects can be. We now live in an NFL world where a 6th round pick at QB has won more Super Bowls than any other QB —- and where this past February a “Mr. Irrelevant” QB in his 2nd season as a surprise starter came within a whisker of beating three-time Super Bowl Champion MVP QB Patrick Mahomes.

It just goes to show that EVERY one of 256+ picks a year can matter.

And it just goes to prove the value of a draftnik who knows a plethora on info on EVERY single prospect, the way Mel Kiper, year after year, expertly and tirelessly manages to do.

Should Mel Kiper one day be inducted into the NFL Hall of Fame?

That is a question, like most NFL Draft related questions that can be debated and discussed for years to come.

In some ways this video about the infamous 1994 draft speaks volumes about Mel Kiper’s 4-decades long stamp on the NFL Draft —- the high school senior in 1979 who had a passion for knowledge about the pros and cons of draft eligible players across the USA and abroad —- a complete unknown who turned that passion into a legacy that no other football fan on the planet can possibly emulate.

Be sure to take this trip down memory lane —- with a click.

Mel Kiper And The Crazy Feud That Changed the TV Draft Forever | NFL 1994 Draft Story (youtube.com)

P.S. RIP Chris Mortenson —- missed you, your insights and your class so much this year, Mort.

Regardless of what accolades Mel Kiper receives for his uncanny career as the original draftnik on ESPN’s coverage of the NFL Draft, what one person has done more to enhance the intrigue, evolution and popularity of the NFL Draft than any other?

The question, imo, can be answered in one tidy word:

Mel