Many sensitive matters, including the ever-growing debate over what sort of allegiance its athletes should show to “The Star-Spangled Banner,” mean that the National Football League (NFL) will likely continue to make observers think of far more than touchdowns and tackles when they take in a game. While the national anthem issue and other topics, including the onslaught of domestic violence and the treatment of former players who suffered debilitating injuries or head trauma during their careers, give a heightened sense of gravity to the sport, the game is not without its light moments.
Fifteen draft selections proved that at the recent NFLPA Rookie Premiere, through which the promising picks at the 24th annual gathering engaged in levity by attempting to draw their new employers’ logos. Based on the depictions, one would hope they will remember the contents of their playbooks far better than they can recall the components of the symbols.
The Los Angeles roundup united newbies who will be looking to restore their teams to prominence, which is especially true of top pick Baker Mayfield, who might have the most difficult task in leading the Cleveland Browns in the wake of an 0-16 nightmare 2017 regular season. While his quarterback endeavors might need to prove herculean, the University of Oklahoma product’s artistic assignment seemed pretty simple, as the Browns’ logo is essentially the definition of nondescript and was the last-place finisher in fans’ perceptions of league-wide logos.
The league took to Twitter to show Mayfield and his fellow NFL rookies—each given a minute to tend to the task—paying creative homage to the squads that chose them last month, but a combination of short-term memory lapses and lackluster dexterity made the clip an unintentional comedic showcase:
NFL rookies try to draw their team logos! 🎨
And the results are… 😂😂😂 https://t.co/kZNITS6M28
— NFL (@NFL) May 24, 2018
We here at Promo Marketing are never going to rival Pierre-Auguste Renoir or match Claude Monet, but we are pretty sure we could wield pens, markers and brushes better than Derrius Guice, a second-round selection by the Washington Redskins, and Lamar Jackson, the 2016 Heisman Trophy winner who went to the Baltimore Ravens as the first-round’s final choice. Both clubs missed out on the postseason last year, as did most of the teams that the rookies represented, but hope springs eternal, so perhaps the videoed athletes will signal a resurgence for their respective rosters.
NFL rookies are often tested through hazing rituals, so we could just see a team try to clown these new kids on the gridiron by having them draw, well, anything. If they were to subject the incomers to said embarrassment, we would probably have to commend Bradley Chubb of the Denver Broncos and try our best not to crack up in the presence of Detroit Lion Kerryon Johnson or Tampa Bay Buccaneer Ronald Jones II.
Watch the video here if you can’t view on Twitter.
