2019 NFL Draft
What's up guys and gals! It's Mark Darden with another blog post. With this post, I am going to talk about my experience at the 2019 NFL Draft in Nashville, Tennessee. It's was a historic event that brought over 200,000 people to Broadway to see where the top NFL prospects would call home.
For this post, I will combine the popular "How Much Did It Cost?" post as well as blog about my time in Music City.
All prices are in US Dollars.
TRANSPORTATION - $175.40
Greyhound, Round Trip to Nashville: $130.00
Lyft: $11.60
Uber: $17.40
Lime Scooter: $16.40
LODGING - $66.04
Nashville Downtown Hostel: $66.04
ENTERTAINMENT - $23.95
NFL Draft: Free
NFL Experience at Nissan Stadium: Free
Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum - $23.95
FOOD - $113.87
Greyhound Vending Machines: $113.87
Shugga Hi Bakery and Cafe: $29.85
2 Gatorades at hostel: $4.00
Burger Republic at NFL Experience: $19.20
RISE: $12.91
B.B. King's Blues Club: $29.56
McDonald's: $8.15
GRAND TOTAL - $379.26
Let's put the numbers into context. The Greyhound ticket to Nashville was a little bit on the pricey side because I waited until a few days before the trip to purchase the ticket. The ride down to Nashville was relatively uneventful, however, there was a delay in Louisville as there was confusion on who would be our new driver. We arrived in Nashville 2 hours behind schedule at 11:30 a.m.
After arriving in Nashville, a college friend picked me up and we went to Shugga Hi Cafe and Bakery for lunch and we got a chance to catch up. It a cool Black-owned restaurant that had really good catfish. Afterwards, my friend dropped me off at the hostel and I changed my clothes to get ready for the NFL Draft.
WHERE ARE THE BUCKEYES?!
Lime scooters were very clutch as I navigated throughout Nashville. I used them to cross the river to get to the NFL Experience at Nissan Stadium. A lot of the streets were blocked off due to security concerns and it made getting around somewhat of a hassle.
I took one of the Lime scooters over to Nissan Stadium for the NFL Fan Experience and I had a great time at the free event. I got the chance to take a picture with the Colts' cheerleaders, see the AFC and NFC championship trophies, and give my predictions for the draft. I took pictures with anything that was associated with the Cleveland Browns since they are my favorite team (GO BROWNS!). My favorite exhibit was the Draft stage where you could take a picture as if you were the first round draft pick for your favorite team.
The Nashville Downtown Hostel was in prime location at the corner of 1st and Church and it was one block away from the Draft stage. I was able to walk to Broadway and get a decent view of the stage at the corner of 2nd and Broadway. The atmosphere was electric with fans of all 32 teams gearing up for the historic night.
The NFL Draft began at 7 pm and I looked up at the building across the street and saw ABC's Robin Roberts in the makeshift studio on the rooftop. She had Patrick Mahomes and Taylor Swift as guests and. NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell came onto the stage under a chorus of boos as in began to rain. It would rain off and on throughout the night as the top prospects would find out which team would select them. As expected, Kyler Murray was drafted number 1 overall by the Arizona Cardinals, followed Joey Bosa from THE Ohio State University, by the San Francisco 49ers.
When the New York Giants picked at number 6, many people in the crowd expected them to pick Dwayne Haskins from THE Ohio State University as their QB for the future. To the crowds' suprise, the Giants selected Daniel Jones from Duke and the crowd was left scratching there heads. I think that the Giants made a mistake in not picking Haskins and that they will regret it down the road. Especially since the Giants division rivals, the Washington Redskins selected Haskins at number 15.
When the announcer informed the crowd that the Tennessee Titans were on the clock, the hometown crowd let out a huge roar. The Titans had the 19th pick in the first round and everyone was anxious to see who they would select. I thought that they would select wide receiver, D.K. Metcalf from Ole Miss. Others in the crowd thought they would select a defensive player. Roger Goodell came onto the stage with some local area football players to help him announce the Titans selection. "With the 19th pick in the 2019 NFL Draft, the Tennessee Titans selcet Jeffery Simmons, Defensive Tackle, Mississippi State." The crowd had a mixed reaction. Some people were happy with the pick while others were upset. I thought that it was safe pick because every team can use a solid defensive tackle. As the old saying goes, "Offense sells tickets, defense wins games."
After the Titans pick, a huge chunk of the crowd left Lower Broadway to head home and seek refuge from the rain. I moved closer towards the stage and I was able to get a great view of the stage during late first round picks. After the 32nd pick, Roger Goodell wished the crowd good night and the night ended with fireworks from Nissan Stadium across the river. I went back to the hostel drenched from the rain and satisfied from the epic night.
I was soaked after the first round of the NFL Draft.
The next day, I had about 9 hours in Nashville before heading home to Columbus. I decided that I was going to be a tourist and visit at least one famous Nashville landmark. The Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum was within walking distance of the hostel so I wanted to check it out. I'm not a huge fan of country music, however, I am a fan of museums. The museum plenty of displays and memorabilia from famous acts such as The Judds, Taylor Swift, and Florida Georgia Line. There were also famous cars such as the Pontiac Trans-Am from 'Smokey and the Bandit' and Elvis Presley's customized Cadillac. I spent about 2 1/2 hours at the museum and I was highly impressed and would recommend it to anyone visiting Nashville.
I went to back to the NFL Experience at Nissan Stadium after lunch to go on a stadium tour. I was unable to go on a tour on Thursday and I wanted to see the behind-the-scenes areas and to head on the field. After taking an elevator down to the service level, I went into the Titans locker room and there were a few of the lockers decorated with some the players' gear. The stadium guide mentioned the Marcus Mariota's cleats had a unique design because of his Hawaiian heritage. She also mentioned that the Titans' motto is G.A.T.A., Get After That Ass!
After checking out the locker room, I went through the tunnel and out onto the field. The sod looked janky but it was a cool to see the stadium from the field. I went to the 50 yard line and took a few pictures of the stands and the logo on the field. Around 5:30 p.m., I took a scooter back to the hostel to pick up my bag, then I rode over to the Greyhound station to wait for my bus. The bus was about 45 minutes late leaving from Nashville, but it was a smooth ride back to Columbus.
Thanks for reading and remembering to order my book, IT'S GAME TIME FOLKS!: Quest for 30, in the shop today. Take it easy!