{"id":40728,"date":"2016-04-28T22:37:49","date_gmt":"2016-04-29T03:37:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/?p=40728"},"modified":"2016-04-29T15:10:53","modified_gmt":"2016-04-29T20:10:53","slug":"waiting-for-goodell-fans-not-just-players-need-patience-at-nfl-draft","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/waiting-for-goodell-fans-not-just-players-need-patience-at-nfl-draft\/","title":{"rendered":"Waiting for Goodell: Fans, not just players, need patience at NFL Draft"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>By Erin Barney<\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"dropcap\">Danielle Fait did a lot of waiting Thursday in Chicago.<\/p>\n<p>She waited nearly six hours in the car ride from Cleveland to Chicago, another hour for the hotel to let her check in, then three more hours in a line snaking around Grant Park in downtown Chicago for the 2016 NFL Draft.<\/p>\n<p>But it was all worth it.<!--more--><\/p>\n<p>Fait was finally allowed to walk through Roosevelt University\u2019s Auditorium Theatre doors and check off No. 2 on her football bucket list: watching the NFL Draft live. She was joined by the thousands of other fans representing all 32 NFL teams with similar goals.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis is what the true fans do,\u201d Fait said.<\/p>\n<div style=\"width: 200px;float: right;padding-left: 10px\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-40573\" src=\"http:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2016\/04\/nfl-draft2016-medill-coverage-logo-190-black.jpg\" alt=\"NFL Draft 2016 Medill Reports\" width=\"190\" height=\"244\" \/><br \/>\n<ul class=\"post-list\"><li class=\"listed-post\"><a class=\"pcs-post-title\" href=\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/from-nazareth-to-nfl-cj-west-looks-to-make-impact-with-san-francisco-49ers\/\" title=\"From Nazareth to NFL: CJ West looks to make impact with San Francisco 49ers\">From Nazareth to NFL: CJ West looks to make impact with San Francisco 49ers<\/a><\/li><li class=\"listed-post\"><a class=\"pcs-post-title\" href=\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/undrafted-rookies-fight-to-make-chicago-bears-roster\/\" title=\"Undrafted rookies fight to make Bears roster\">Undrafted rookies fight to make Bears roster<\/a><\/li><li class=\"listed-post\"><a class=\"pcs-post-title\" href=\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/chicago-bucky-irving-tragedies-nfl\/\" title=\"Chicago native Bucky Irving overcomes tragedies on path to NFL\">Chicago native Bucky Irving overcomes tragedies on path to NFL<\/a><\/li><li class=\"listed-post\"><a class=\"pcs-post-title\" href=\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/the-nfls-first-all-remote-draft-made-for-a-lot-of-entertainment\/\" title=\"The NFL\u2019s first all-remote draft made for a lot of entertainment\">The NFL\u2019s first all-remote draft made for a lot of entertainment<\/a><\/li><li class=\"listed-post\"><a class=\"pcs-post-title\" href=\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/overcoming-obstacles-northwestern-safety-jared-mcgee-looks-to-take-the-league-by-storm\/\" title=\"Overcoming obstacles, Northwestern safety Jared McGee looks to take the league by storm\">Overcoming obstacles, Northwestern safety Jared McGee looks to take the league by storm<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li class=\"listed-post\" style=\"margin-top: -20px;vertical-align: baseline\"><a href=\"http:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/category\/nfl-draft\/\">All NFL Draft stories<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<p>On the 45-degree, misty Chicago day, the true fans were most definitely out, and emotions were running high in the seemingly never-ending line to get into the theater, which was the most-envied place to be on the first night of the draft. Fait was wedged between a non-stop chorus of \u201cNo Pack, No\u2019s\u201d directed at the Green Bay fans to her left. In front of her, several men in Los Angeles Rams jerseys practiced loud booing for when their team, formerly the St. Louis Rams, pick.<\/p>\n<p>If she could just make it to her seat\u2014135 stairs later\u2014she could relax and enjoy, heckler-free. She might have if her fear of heights hadn\u2019t kicked in. Fait white-knuckled the arm rests and leaned back, refusing even to stand for the National Anthem.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOh well, all part of the experience I guess,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<p>But fans on the same level didn\u2019t let the height keep them from being heard. NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell was greeted with boos each appearance on stage, and when the Chicago Bears were on the clock, it was clear which team had the biggest presence.<\/p>\n<p>Christine and Wade Chan joined the chants. Even though Christine is a San Diego Chargers supporter at heart, she\u2019s a fan of the NFL in any city\u2014especially after her draft experience last year.<\/p>\n<p>The couple mistakenly purchased fake tickets and were initially turned away at the gates. But Christine doesn\u2019t give up easily. She convinced her husband and another stubborn couple to plead their case. It couldn\u2019t have paid off in a bigger way.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe got to be front-and-center with the big spenders,\u201d Wade said.<\/p>\n<p>More specifically, center aisle, two rows back from the front of the stage, in the seats reserved for Goodell himself.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cPersistence pays,\u201d Christine said.<\/p>\n<p>The Chan\u2019s had a much higher viewpoint this year, but not a worse one, according to Christine. She agreed with Fait, noting that seeing the draft live is an unforgettable experience whether she\u2019s treated like a VIP or has to squint to bring her beloved Chargers\u2019 pick, Joey Bosa, into focus.<\/p>\n<p>Christine and her husband even got the chance to thank Goodell in person at the NFL FLAG Public Clinic on Saturday.<\/p>\n<p>Most parents posed their kids near the commissioner, but got the shot of a lifetime when she dropped her 7-month-old in Goodell\u2019s arms. She figured they were as close as family after sitting in his seats.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWho wouldn\u2019t love that? Every real football fan would find the experience worthwhile,\u201d Christine said.<\/p>\n<div class=\"featurecaption\">Photo at top: Dedicated fans trekked 135 steps to the sixth level of Roosevelt University&#8217;s Auditorium Theatre to watch the first round of the NFL draft. (Erin Barney\/Medill)<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By Erin Barney Danielle Fait did a lot of waiting Thursday in Chicago. She waited nearly six hours in the car ride from Cleveland to Chicago, another hour for the hotel to let her check in, then three more hours in a line snaking around Grant Park in downtown Chicago for the 2016 NFL Draft. [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":259,"featured_media":40736,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2677,492,31,2582],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-40728","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-2016-nfl-draft","category-nfl-draft","category-sports","category-spring-2016"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Waiting for Goodell: Fans, not just players, need patience at NFL Draft - Medill Reports Chicago<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/waiting-for-goodell-fans-not-just-players-need-patience-at-nfl-draft\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Waiting for Goodell: Fans, not just players, need patience at NFL Draft - Medill Reports Chicago\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"By Erin Barney Danielle Fait did a lot of waiting Thursday in Chicago. She waited nearly six hours in the car ride from Cleveland to Chicago, another hour for the hotel to let her check in, then three more hours in a line snaking around Grant Park in downtown Chicago for the 2016 NFL Draft. [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/waiting-for-goodell-fans-not-just-players-need-patience-at-nfl-draft\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Medill Reports Chicago\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2016-04-29T03:37:49+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2016-04-29T20:10:53+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/medill.wordpress.offload\/WP%20Media%20Folder%20-%20medill-reports-chicago\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2016\/04\/ErinMainBar.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1100\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"825\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"erinbarney\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"erinbarney\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/waiting-for-goodell-fans-not-just-players-need-patience-at-nfl-draft\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/waiting-for-goodell-fans-not-just-players-need-patience-at-nfl-draft\/\",\"name\":\"Waiting for Goodell: Fans, not just players, need patience at NFL Draft - Medill Reports Chicago\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/waiting-for-goodell-fans-not-just-players-need-patience-at-nfl-draft\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/waiting-for-goodell-fans-not-just-players-need-patience-at-nfl-draft\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/medill.wordpress.offload\/WP%20Media%20Folder%20-%20medill-reports-chicago\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2016\/04\/ErinMainBar.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2016-04-29T03:37:49+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2016-04-29T20:10:53+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/#\/schema\/person\/73db746239d3b6a7b761ecc99a291f4e\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/waiting-for-goodell-fans-not-just-players-need-patience-at-nfl-draft\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/waiting-for-goodell-fans-not-just-players-need-patience-at-nfl-draft\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/waiting-for-goodell-fans-not-just-players-need-patience-at-nfl-draft\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/medill.wordpress.offload\/WP%20Media%20Folder%20-%20medill-reports-chicago\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2016\/04\/ErinMainBar.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/medill.wordpress.offload\/WP%20Media%20Folder%20-%20medill-reports-chicago\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2016\/04\/ErinMainBar.jpg\",\"width\":1100,\"height\":825,\"caption\":\"(Erin Barney\/Medill)\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/waiting-for-goodell-fans-not-just-players-need-patience-at-nfl-draft\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Waiting for Goodell: Fans, not just players, need patience at NFL Draft\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/\",\"name\":\"Medill Reports Chicago\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/#\/schema\/person\/73db746239d3b6a7b761ecc99a291f4e\",\"name\":\"erinbarney\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/dc7a3766c6dd67aa934f7b6b1145c1ae62bf413e7e72d8982ab259a1633090a1?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/dc7a3766c6dd67aa934f7b6b1145c1ae62bf413e7e72d8982ab259a1633090a1?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"erinbarney\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/author\/erinbarney\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Waiting for Goodell: Fans, not just players, need patience at NFL Draft - Medill Reports Chicago","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/waiting-for-goodell-fans-not-just-players-need-patience-at-nfl-draft\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Waiting for Goodell: Fans, not just players, need patience at NFL Draft - Medill Reports Chicago","og_description":"By Erin Barney Danielle Fait did a lot of waiting Thursday in Chicago. She waited nearly six hours in the car ride from Cleveland to Chicago, another hour for the hotel to let her check in, then three more hours in a line snaking around Grant Park in downtown Chicago for the 2016 NFL Draft. [&hellip;]","og_url":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/waiting-for-goodell-fans-not-just-players-need-patience-at-nfl-draft\/","og_site_name":"Medill Reports Chicago","article_published_time":"2016-04-29T03:37:49+00:00","article_modified_time":"2016-04-29T20:10:53+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1100,"height":825,"url":"https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/medill.wordpress.offload\/WP%20Media%20Folder%20-%20medill-reports-chicago\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2016\/04\/ErinMainBar.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"erinbarney","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"erinbarney","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/waiting-for-goodell-fans-not-just-players-need-patience-at-nfl-draft\/","url":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/waiting-for-goodell-fans-not-just-players-need-patience-at-nfl-draft\/","name":"Waiting for Goodell: Fans, not just players, need patience at NFL Draft - Medill Reports Chicago","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/waiting-for-goodell-fans-not-just-players-need-patience-at-nfl-draft\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/waiting-for-goodell-fans-not-just-players-need-patience-at-nfl-draft\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/medill.wordpress.offload\/WP%20Media%20Folder%20-%20medill-reports-chicago\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2016\/04\/ErinMainBar.jpg","datePublished":"2016-04-29T03:37:49+00:00","dateModified":"2016-04-29T20:10:53+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/#\/schema\/person\/73db746239d3b6a7b761ecc99a291f4e"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/waiting-for-goodell-fans-not-just-players-need-patience-at-nfl-draft\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/waiting-for-goodell-fans-not-just-players-need-patience-at-nfl-draft\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/waiting-for-goodell-fans-not-just-players-need-patience-at-nfl-draft\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/medill.wordpress.offload\/WP%20Media%20Folder%20-%20medill-reports-chicago\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2016\/04\/ErinMainBar.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/medill.wordpress.offload\/WP%20Media%20Folder%20-%20medill-reports-chicago\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2016\/04\/ErinMainBar.jpg","width":1100,"height":825,"caption":"(Erin Barney\/Medill)"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/waiting-for-goodell-fans-not-just-players-need-patience-at-nfl-draft\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Waiting for Goodell: Fans, not just players, need patience at NFL Draft"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/#website","url":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/","name":"Medill Reports Chicago","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/#\/schema\/person\/73db746239d3b6a7b761ecc99a291f4e","name":"erinbarney","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/dc7a3766c6dd67aa934f7b6b1145c1ae62bf413e7e72d8982ab259a1633090a1?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/dc7a3766c6dd67aa934f7b6b1145c1ae62bf413e7e72d8982ab259a1633090a1?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"erinbarney"},"url":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/author\/erinbarney\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40728","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/259"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=40728"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40728\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/40736"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=40728"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=40728"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=40728"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}