It’s Draft Day everyone, so say it with me: “Vontae Mack no matter what!”
The NFL Draft is an event that generates so much content each year. From mock drafts on websites, to prospect breakdowns on TV to reactions to all of it on radio, every sector of the sports media finds a way to mine cume and TSL from their fans’ curiosity. Why should’t we take advantage of the draft fever?
Now, you don’t expect prospect evaluations from Barrett Sports Media. We are a media website after all.
Instead of reaching out to Mel Kiper, Todd McShay, and others, I took a look at the draft board and thought about something more in keeping with sports radio.
I reached out to 32 hosts, each representing an NFL team, and asked them to draft their favorite guests. To keep it simple, we went in original draft order, so forget any trades made before, during, or after the season. The only rule is that the guest had to have appeared on their show at least once. Here’s the draft order.
- David Kaplan – ESPN Chicago
- Ron Hughley – Sports Radio 610 in Houston
- Dave Burns – Arizona Sports
- JMV – 107.5 The Fan in Indianapolis
- Zach Bye – 104.3 The Fan in Denver
- Scott Kaplan – ESPN LA
- Steve Cofield – ESPN Las Vegas
- Chuck Oliver – 680 The Fan in Atlanta
- Joe Ovies – 99.9 The Fan in Raleigh (Panthers)
- T-Bob Hebert – 104.5 ESPN in Baton Rouge (Saints)
- Brent Dougherty – 104.5 The Zone in Nashville
- Nick Wilson – 92.3 The Fan in Cleveland
- Gregg Giannotti – WFAN in New York
- Rich Shertenlieb – 98.5 The Sports Hub in Boston
- Mike Heller – 97.3 The Game in Milwaukee (Packers)
- Grant Paulsen – 106.7 The Fan in DC
- Andrew Filliponi – 93.7 The Fan in Pittsburgh
- Rico Beard – 97.1 The Ticket in Detroit
- Jay Recher – WDAE in Tampa
- Stacy Rost – Seattle Sports 710
- Brendan Tobin – WQAM in Miami
- Fred Roggin – AM 570 LA Sports
- Jason La Canfora – 105.7 The Fan in Baltimore
- Judd Zulgad – SKOR North in Minneapolis
- Mia O’Brien – 1010XL in Jacksonville
- Dave Rothenberg – ESPN New York
- Shan Shariff – 105.3 The Fan in Dallas
- Jeremy White – WGR in Buffalo
- Mo Egger – ESPN 1530 in Cincinnati
- John Lund – KNBR in San Francisco
- Anthony Gargano – 97.5 The Fanatic in Philadelphia
- Jason Anderson – 810 WHB in Kansas City
It was an extended process of screenshots and text messages. Here are the results.
I asked select participants to explain their picks to me. Here is some of what they had to say.
1. DAVID KAPLAN ON CHARLES BARKLEY – “The best guest there is!”
3. DAVE BURNS ON KEYSHAWN JOHNSON – “Key is always a blast to have on the show, mostly because he’s very willing to mix it up with the both of us. Our audience might not like what he has to say all the time, but it’s great conversation and he’s good for a legit three or four genuine laughs out of us every time he’s on.”
7. STEVE COFIELD ON DANA WHITE – “He hates me. Hates my cohost even more. But he comes 3-4x a year! And he is one our local ‘stars'”
14. RICH SHERTENLIEB ON JIM GRAY – “Jim Gray is the most humble, even-keeled, and self-deprecating guest ever to grace our airwaves. He knows Tom (Brady), Oprah knows Tom, Stedman knows Tom, Oprah knows his wife, they’re all friends, so why not have a dinner?” (EDITOR’S NOTE: click here.)
20. STACY ROST ON MINA KIMES FALLING TO HER – “All these men making picks. SMH.”
25. MIA O’BRIEN ON PETER SCHRAEGER – “Very hard to find someone who can both be a ‘news breaker’ and a quality host. When you throw in his ability to provide comedic and light-hearted relief and hijinks, Schrager is a true rarity in the sports media landscape right now. Combine that with the fact that he is everywhere — in print, on podcasts, and of course GMFB. Has expanded his repertoire to also include analyst work with FOX. I was also tempted to go with his GMFB alum Nate Burleson, but it’s Mock Draft SZN and also Schrager is from Freehold Township like me. Also, Ian Eagle was taken.”
26. DAVE ROTHENBERG ON MEL KIPER – “Tremendous value for me!”
Look up and down the list. We covered all four of the major American professional sports leagues plus MMA, wrestling, college football and college basketball the general weirdness of Bill Walton. That is some range and there are so many great names left to be signed as free agents! I was shocked that no one picked Bomani Jones, Joel Klatt, Greg Olsen, Dan Orlovsky, David Pollack, Chris Russo, Marcus Spears, or Stugotz.
Also, it is hard not to notice how many fellow media members were taken. Only one active player and one active coach were selected. We also had one league owner (I guess that’s what you call Dana White), one team owner, Ric Flair, and a dead guy.
I hope you enjoyed the first-ever Sports Radio Guest Draft. Let us know in the comments who you would have taken.
Demetri Ravanos is a columnist and features writer for Barrett Media. He is also the creator of The Sports Podcast Festival, and a previous host on the Chewing Clock and Media Noise podcasts. He occasionally fills in on stations across the Carolinas in addition to hosting Panthers and College Football podcasts. His radio resume includes stops at WAVH and WZEW in Mobile, AL, WBPT in Birmingham, AL and WBBB, WPTK and WDNC in Raleigh, NC.
You can find him on Twitter @DemetriRavanos or reach him by email at DemetriTheGreek@gmail.com.
