When sports fans turn on coverage of the NFL Draft over the weekend, it’s fair to say that they want to see coverage of which players are selected to which teams, along with analysis from the panel of experts. That’s probably especially true on Saturday afternoon when only the most dedicated NFL fans are watching the draft’s fourth through seventh rounds. Unfortunately, ESPN gave viewers something a little bit unexpected – random musical performances in the middle of the draft.
During the middle of the fifth round of Saturday’s NFL Draft coverage, ESPN decided to air a pre-recorded performance from Fall Out Boy, who performed their newest single “Hold Me Like a Grudge.”
At that point of the #NFLDraft where ESPN shows a Fall Out Boy concert while picks are being made. pic.twitter.com/LZToK3ih2a
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) April 29, 2023
The performance, which was recorded on Thursday night, lasted for two picks with Georgia safety Christopher Smith going to the Las Vegas Raiders with the No. 170 pick and tight end Payne Durham going to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers with pick No. 171. To make matters worse, the broadcast went to a commercial break immediately following the performance, leading to another missed pick as Eric Gray was selected by the New York Giants with pick No. 172.
ESPN did the same thing later in the seventh round when they aired another pre-recorded performance from Mötley Crüe, which was hilariously interrupted by the network’s “the pick is in” jingle.
Now it's Mötley Crüe, with the "pick is in" jingle interrupting the performance. 🏈📺🤘 #NFLDraft https://t.co/loX3cPNeO0 pic.twitter.com/2zUZtA8nVD
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) April 29, 2023
Obviously, the network continued to provide updates with the ticker on the bottom, but that doesn’t really change the fact that they were providing a random musical performance that viewers largely didn’t ask for – and was prerecorded, at that.
The players selected during this time will undoubtedly hope their career arc follows that of NBA superstar Nikola Jokic, who was famously upstaged by a Taco Bell commercial during the 2014 NBA Draft.
