The NFL draft wasn’t all smiles and handshakes on Thursday night.
It was also the day of broken dreams.
All of the hope written on the faces of the first round of new NFL stars was met by the fear of those who know they are being replaced. St. Louis running back Zac Stacy expressed his shock at his team drafting big-time running back Todd Gurley in a now-deleted one-word tweet.
“yikes.”
Stacy, who rushed for 950 yards as a rookie for the Rams in 2013, and his representation had many more words for the Rams behind the scenes when they demanded the team trade him.
He wasn’t the only one.
Zach Mettenberger had been trumpeted as the Titans quarterback of the future but then — surprise! (but not really) — he actually wasn’t, and when Tennessee snatched last season’s Heisman Trophy winner, Marcus Mariota, with the second pick, Mettenberger’s agent immediately asked for a trade, according to an ESPN report.
The Titans say they’re not going that route.
And yet, outside of those two instances, the first night of the draft was notable for how uneventful it was. Teams largely did what they were supposed to do, and did it by drafting some top shelf talent. Chip Kelly did not get Mariota. The Broncos moving up to take pass rush maven Shane Ray qualified as arguably the most eye-opening move of the night.
Things went generally as planned. The way NFL teams approach and take great care for how they select players has come a long way — in a good way. Thursday night was evidence of that.
Chew on this
• Character is the unofficial word of the weekend. NFL draft analysts will talk about character all weekend long in reference to why a team should or shouldn’t select a player. Stories diving into Floyd Mayweather’s character have saturated the landscape in these last few weeks leading up to his Saturday night mega-bout against Manny Pacquiao. The character of the Atlanta Hawks (tonight) and L.A. Clippers (on Saturday) will be tested as they attempt to close out their first-round series.
• Anybody know anything about this year’s Kentucky Derby? Me either.
• There’s been too much lamenting over the fact that either the Spurs or Clippers will go home for good after Saturday’s Game 7. It’s not a problem with the system, and it’s not a shame one will be out. They had 82 games to figure themselves out. This is where each team stood, frankly giving us by far the best first-round series. Let’s all just be thankful for that.
• The Houston Astros, known affectionately by their fans in recent years as the Lastros, began Friday with the second-best record in Major League Baseball. That is all.
Christopher Dempsey: cdempsey@denverpost.com or
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