Shocker at Radio City: Mark Herzlich undrafted in 2011

In what I think was a most unexpected development from the 2011 NFL Draft this weekend, OLB Mark Herzlich of Boston College was not selected. The Eagles will finish with only one player having been chosen.

Before anyone says to me, “Well, ya know, he had cancer and hadn’t returned to form yet. It’s not that surprising that he didn’t get drafted.” He wasn’t a first-rounder anymore like he would have been if this disease had never come to him, but he’s still a talented, hard-working player with good football instincts. Furthermore, I don’t know ANYONE who thought he wouldn’t eventually be drafted, even if it was in one of the late rounds. Granted, I didn’t think he’d go in the third round like several mock drafts did, but I didn’t see any way he wouldn’t be off the board by the end of the sixth round. If you thought it was truly unsurprising to see him fall completely out of the draft, then you are in the minority. Not only that, you’re a blithering idiot. He was invited to Radio City to be a part of the VIP crowd, and now he doesn’t get picked. The league didn’t invite him to New York City just to show him off to the cameras and so ESPN could do some more sad piano-playing tearjerker segments; you don’t ask the guy to go on stage with the primo prospects like Cam Newton and Von Miller and expect him not to get drafted.

Coaches were obviously put off by his sub-optimal results at the NFL Scouting Combine, amongst other factors. The unfortunate facts are that (a) most teams don’t want to take the chance of drafting someone with his illness history and (b) all teams are aware of how he definitely did not come all the way back in 2010. Of course, it’s not his fault, but the NFL is a business, and the 32 NFL teams evidently did not feel he was one of the players worth one of their picks. To the front offices of these franchises, he is evidently such damaged goods that he was not even good enough for a seventh-round compensatory pick. It became obvious late in the third and final day of the draft that he was being avoided, as outside linebackers well below him on the experts’ draft boards were getting picked before him.

I am not trying to cover for the teams or endorse their decision; this is just how I think they saw it. Still, I’m mystified that not one would even think to give him a chance. He is a former ACC Defensive Player of the Year who has shown an incredible amount of character in the face of adversity. You can never have enough character men in the NFL, because there don’t seem to be too many as it is. Few college athletes in his situation have faced this kind of situation and not only lived to tell about it, but continued playing football. He is a born winner, and exactly the kind of person I would want on my team.

Normally, I’d say to expect him to be signed as an undrafted free agent very shortly, but the NFL’s current lockout situation has made that impossible, since teams are barred from doing so. It may be some time before he finally gets his just due.

While I do understand on some level the desire for NFL teams to want to avoid a player who has had medical issues, there were others who have had serious injuries or medical issues but did get picked. I would say that I’m quite disappointed in the NFL today, and for more reasons than one. First, clearly, that Herzlich wasn’t drafted, and second, that this league has the gall to piss off its fans by locking out the players twice (and then for its disingenuous commissioner to pretend to care). The league has definitely lost some luster in my eyes, and frankly, I’m so disappointed in this whole series of events, up to and including today, that I don’t care if the whole 2011 season is washed away or not.

It’s alright, Mark: You’re still number one on my hypothetical draft board. I wish you unbridled success wherever you go.