The All-Important, Life-Changing NFL Draft & The PLAYERS...

John Feinstein and Mark Rolfing engaged in a lively discussion about the NFL draft's possible role in the future of The Players. The obsession with the draft has become absurd and Commissioner Finchem would seem to agree. (Whether it damages interest in this week's tournament remains to be seen.)

From his Tuesday State of the Players:

Q.  What did you think when the NFL moved its draft to the week of THE PLAYERS Championship, and any hope that it goes back?

TIM FINCHEM:  I wasn't really concerned about it.  I think most of the‑‑ from the standpoint of the weekend that weekend, from a television standpoint primarily, I just didn't‑‑ I continue to believe that it won't have much of an impact on our telecast.  Most of the hoopla is around the first round.

Having said that, I've noticed that there are a number of teams complaining about the date, and the thing that I wasn't prepared for was an enormous amount of press coverage, which has been criticized in some quarters because people are kind of tired of hearing about it.