Caught a little draft coverage on ESPN and was reminded of this question.
He’s not a commentator. He’s not a coach. He’s not a scout. He’s never played in the NFL. We don’t hear one word about him during the actual season. I don’t remember him ever mentioning a favorite team, coach, fight song, mascot, division, or cheerleading squad. He’s never commented on injuries, steroid abuse, the Players Association, the Heisman, the salary cap, Hall of Fame selections, or any of the tragic deaths or lifelong crippling injuries of the past decade.
I can accept the fact that the man has made a career out of one very limited aspect of football; it’s a huge step for hundreds of young men every year and it receives a ton of press, and he’s really just benefitting from being the first to the table (see also: Kournikova, Anna). What I’d like to know is why the NFL draft seems to be the only thing he ever talks about, analyzes, or has any kind of emotional stake in whatsoever. I find this behavior bizarre, just as if all John Madden cared about was his line of console games or Jimmy “The Greek” Snyder never talked about anything other than odds.
Feel free to correct me if I’m wrong (and this is one of the times where I’d be very glad to be).
He and Todd McShay are the draft and combine guys. They break down the game footage from college football, compile a Big Board and have one of the more accurate barometers there is.
Here 's Kiper’s ESPN biography. Here’s his Wiki page.
He does analyze the NFL in the context of team-building. He’ll talk about how you can find undrafted free agents or low-round picks to build a good team.
He actually has some excellent insights on the NFL game. My favorite Kiper insight was the job of the backup quarterback. As he says, if your starting QB goes down for five games, you want your backup to be able to come in and find a way to win two of those. That way, instead of an 0-5 hole to climb out of, you only have to shake off a 2-3 slump.
The context was that you don’t necessarily want somebody to come in and compete for the starting job, (too expensive,) but neither do you want a glorified clipboard holder that can’t play a down. (cheap, but you’ll pay for it)
ETA: He analyzes the entire free agent market/period before the draft as well, but one could argue that’s only because it impacts the draft. But it would not be unusual to have him on to talk about whether the Cowboys should go after Pacman Jones.
I think I saw a minute shift the year he excoriated the Jets for drafting Jeff Lageman from Virginia. (Only one of the All-Time great rants on sports TV).
Kiper is co-host of ESPN Radio’s syndicated GameDay program, which airs on Saturday afternoons. They take on the current sports topics du jour, not just football.
Mel Kiper, Jr. grew up in Baltimore, and will occasionally let slip mention of his childhood affinity for the Colts and Orioles. These days, though, I would think he’s trying specifically to avoid coming off as favoring any one team.
Mmm, I see. So kinda like the PTI guys, just a lot more focused.
I just find it fascinating how some people will find a very specific passion that’s nobody’s recommended job choice and turning it into a successful career. Evel Kneval (sp?) making outrageous jumps on a motorcycle…no table tops, backflips, or 360’s, no racing, no testing, just outrageous jumps. Jacques Cousteau and the joys of deep sea diving. Jackie Chan and high impact buffoonery. That sound effects guy (y’know, Police Academy series, recent Geico commercial?). Watching Kiper Jr. at work, I’ve both gained an appreciation for the depth and quality of his analyses while at the same time saying, “How exactly did this happen, again?”
I personally find this to be his greatest asset. Today just about every sports journalist is a commentator on everything, and they have to have an opinion on everything in sports. The PTI guys are fun to listen to but more often than not they have no idea what they are talking about. They have less information than I have simply from doing a google search. In a way this reduces everyone into nothing but a talking head repeating the headline du jour.
In a way, Kiper is a throwback to when sports guys were actually reporters, not just commentators. Few reporters are capable of investigating and really understanding all the nuance of a single sport, let alone several. There are many NFL reporters who know all the ins-and-outs of each team but they don’t have the time to look at the college guys. Lots of college football reporters watch the college game and know about it’s internal details but their priorities don;t necessarily translate to the NFL game and they aren’t focused on one individual player.
Kiper fills a gap and when you look at him as a reporter and not a commentator he is actually perfect at what he does. He doesn’t allow all that extraneous stuff to dilute his knowledge of the draft. I like the guy.