NEW YORK — Cam Newton’s selection as the No. 1 pick was perhaps the only predictable element of this most unusual NFL draft.
While the league’s labor dispute played out in the courts, and the commissioner struggled to speak over a howling crowd chanting “We want football,” the draft got underway Thursday night with a few surprises.
Newton was not one of them.
The Auburn quarterback and Heisman Trophy winner went to the Panthers — the worst team in the league — and vowed to immediately fix that. Newton led Auburn to an undefeated season and its first national championship since 1957.
“I’m ready to change this whole organization around, to go from worst to first,” he said. “Just being a Panther is the most special part about this.”
Not so special but certainly unusual was commissioner Roger Goodell getting booed as he prepared to conduct a moment of silence for victims of the devastating storms that ripped through the South. He responded to their chants for football by saying, “I hear you. So do I.”
Then he was bear-hugged by a player who is suing the league.
With the second pick, the Broncos took Texas A&M linebacker Von Miller, a plaintiff in the antitrust lawsuit players filed to block the lockout. He strode across the stage with tears in his eyes and embraced Goodell.
“I’ve never had anything against Roger Goodell,” Miller said. “I just want to make sure football continues to get played.”
It was a strange opening for what normally is a festive occasion. In this offseason of labor strife, the league’s first work stoppage since 1987 temporarily ends today as the 32 teams will resume business in compliance with U.S. District Judge Susan Richard Nelson’s order to lift the lockout.
With the third pick, the Bills selected Alabama nose tackle Marcell Dareus, who gave Goodell an even bigger hug. Of course, Dareus weighs 308 pounds, about 70 more than Miller — and at least 100 more than Goodell.
“I wanted to give him a hug because I finally made it to the big dance,” Dareus said.
Cincinnati, perhaps calling the bluff of quarterback Carson Palmer, who is demanding a trade, took Georgia receiver A.J. Green with the fourth pick.
Arizona, also in need of a quarterback, selected the top cornerback available, Patrick Peterson of LSU.
The labor strife caused speculation few, if any, trades would be made. But just six picks in, Atlanta cut a massive deal with Cleveland and moved up from No. 27 to grab Alabama receiver Julio Jones. The Browns received the Falcons’ first-, second- and fourth- rounders, plus their first pick and fourth-rounder in 2012.
The University of Colorado had two of its stars selected — tackle Nate Solder to the Patriots with the 17th pick and cornerback Jimmy Smith to the Ravens at No. 27.
