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It is draft weekend. I always love the atmosphere of the draft because it allows me to think about what this day means for so many people. I do not mean the fans or teams, though these days certainly are important to them. Fans get to think about what will happen with their team during the next few seasons. Will their picks turn out well? Will they regret not having drafted someone else? Will their picks take them to the Super Bowl in the years to come?

Coaches, of course, have much more riding on the picks than just their devotion to the team. Instead these coaches have their jobs riding on their picks. Being known as a coach who misses the big players is not a reputation that anyone wants to have. Plus coaches are trying to put together winning teams, and their draft picks are an important component in that process. The owners, too, have a stake in the players. The owners will be paying these people and will find that they need the team to be successful for the business venture to be a good one.

The players who are drafted, though, are the ones whose lives change the most with the decisions made this weekend. Many of these players know they will be drafted. They are not sure where in the lineup they will fall, but they know in their minds that the end of this weekend will determine their future, at least for the next few years.

Still I would imagine that few of them really understand until this weekend what those changes will be. They are rushed from place to place and talk to reporters, coaches, and owners. Then they are selected and have to think about moving to a new city. That means a big change in life, but it is not the biggest one.

The money is a big draw for people who want to end up in the NFL. Except for the occasional player who grew up with money, most of the people who will become multimillionaires after this weekend did not grow up with money. In fact, sportscasters have written so many articles about the poor kid who grew up in subsidized housing with no money that they have become a sad but true cliche. These kids will have more money than most of us can imagine in the next few months, and they are just learning this weekend the reality of their new careers.

Many of these players have been thinking about the money for a while, to be sure. Who could blame them? I would be thinking about the money as well. Now, though, they will find people will to sell them anything they want. These players can begin to think about buying houses, getting cars, and giving to their friends and family. And they will. We will shake our heads and mutter about the waste of money, but they earned it. They are in a very public career with very physical demands.

I imagine that this weekend is one that is unexplainable for the people who are being drafted. They go from being college athletes where they live in dorms and cannot accept any money or other goodies from anyone per NCAA rules to being highly paid. The difference must be staggering to them.

I think, too, that the football field is one of the last places where people can succeed solely based on merit. Sure, there is the occasional thought that someone has gotten special treatment because his father was, say, the New Orleans Saints quarterback for years. For the most part, however, football players are drafted where they are because of their abilities on the field. That is part of what makes this sport a truly American phenomenon. For once, no one is thinking about marketing possibilities. They are thinking only of fielding a winning team.

So think weekend when you see the draft results scrolling by, then you should think about the players who are drafted. Imagine how they are feeling. Imagine that this were the biggest weekend of your life. And imagine how you would react to the importance of the NFL draft.

By Julia Mercer