For most of us, the NFL draft is something we get to watch, debate and ultimately, find out how our favorite teams are attempting to improve. Yet to 1400 men the NFL draft is the agonizing finale to one of the worlds most stressful job interviews. Two Days in April is a documentary that follows four young men, Clint Ingram, DonTrell Moore, Derek Hagan and Travis Wilson, and their days up to the 2006 NFL draft.
In Two Days in April we watch the tales of the First Rounder, the Choir Boy, the Moody one and the Country Boy all make their way through the strenuous three-and-a-half month long draft process. Our journey begins by joining all four players at the IMG Academies, which represents all four players, where they begin their prep work for the draft. The physical prep is, obviously, intense. From practicing the combine drills, position training, sprint coaching from Michael Johnson (yes, 19.32 - Michael Johnson. Sorry for the Swedish Chef audio) and weight lifting, nothing is left without scrutiny and correction. The mental and media coaching was equally as intense. Emphasized during this segment was the need for players to be as mentally tough, especially during the draft process, as they are physically. This is never more prevalent then when Derek Hagan was told that he had fallen several spots in the draft rankings and he hadn’t done a thing. How would that weigh on your psyche? Fresh out of college, a prospective employer suddenly doesn’t think your as good of a candidate as they once did. Ultimately costing you a ton in salary, and you hadn’t done a thing since graduation. Was it your typing? Copy making? It would make you question your ability, wouldn’t it.
Next we follow (some of) the guys to the Senior Bowl. The Senior Bowl is fun for fans, but for these kids it’s a week worth of game intense practice against three quarters worth of the NFL draftees. Everyday someone wins and everyday someone loses. Draft stock, money, playing time and confidence are all up for grabs against college’s best senior players. The microscope looms large over these kids, because sitting in the stands are NFL scouts, GMs and head coaches. The pressure to perform can cause some guys to crack (and you’ll see it). Finally, it’s time to play the game. With minutes cut, the chance to make plays are significantly reduced. A 12-yard comeback route isn’t going to get you noticed. A solid tackle isn’t going to get you noticed. To get noticed you need to make plays...big plays. When the game is over none of our players have any better of an idea where they stand. Up next for our players is the much anticipated NFL Combine.
The combine is one part football and one part cattle drive. Our guys are poked, prodded, measured, weighed, timed and questioned. We even get to sit in, briefly, on a Derek Hagan interview with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. This point of the movie is a bit too glazed over for me, I’d like to see more of the questioning from coaches and GMs. I’d like to see what it’s like to take the Wonderlic test. I’d just like to see more, maybe that’s just me. This is definitely one of the weaker points of the movie, which transitions to our prospects Pro Days.
Pro Days are University run event that simulate the combine and give players who weren’t invited to the combine an opportunity to show their talents or players who did attend the combine a chance to improve on their performance. It also is an opportunity for our foursome to get a better idea of which team is interested in them. For DonTrell Moore, who attended University of New Mexico, the day isn’t as glitzy as you might expect. Moore comes from a “small” football school and even though he is one of six FBS players to rush for four consecutive 1,000 yard seasons, he, seemingly, doesn’t feel like he belongs in the NFL. For guys like Derek Hagan, who attended Arizona State, and Clint Ingram and Travis Wilson, who both went to Oklahoma University, Pro Day is much more of a professional event. They expect to have scouts show up because they go to schools where becoming an NFLer is expected.
At this point all that’s left is D-day, Draft Day. It is an agonizing period for these guys and for us too. Waiting to hear their names called, we watch as these guy’s dreams unfold in front of us. We see tears, ranging from joy to frustration. We see odd moments, like when Moore’s family pastor engages in a prayer for DonTrell’s future and starts to speak in tongues. We see tender family moments, like the one between Ingram and his aging grandmother, who didn’t think she’d live to see this day. Most all of all we see relief that the process is finally over.
Two Days in April is a 90 minute look into 22 year journey. Sure, I’d like to have seen some things done differently in this movie. I’d love to see them get access with a lottery pick. The difference between “if I’m going to get picked,” and “when I’m going to get picked,” would be really interesting. I’d love to see some prospects for other regions than the Southwest and West, just to see how kids from other regional backgrounds deal with the process. Finally, I’d like to see more players from different schools. Other than that I really enjoyed the inside access that didn’t come from the NFL Network or ESPN filters. You can find this movie, like I did, through Netflix. If you want to watch it right away and before the draft it’s also available through Netflix’s Instant Play (which I love).
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