Editing NFL draft (section)

===ESPN and the digital age (1980–2017)===
In 1980, [[Chet Simmons]], president of the year-old [[ESPN]], asked [[Pete Rozelle]] if the fledgling network could broadcast coverage of the draft live on ESPN. Although Rozelle did not believe it would be entertaining television, he agreed.<ref name="Williams, 2006, pp. 52-53.">Williams, 2006, pp. 52–53.</ref><ref name="rsandomirnyt">Sandomir, Richard [https://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/27/sports/27simmons.html?ref=obituaries "Chet Simmons, a Founding Force of ESPN, Dies at 81"] ''The New York Times'', Saturday, March 27, 2010</ref> In 1988, the NFL moved the draft from weekdays to the weekend and ESPN's ratings of the coverage improved dramatically.<ref name ="Williams, 2006, pp. 52-53."/><ref name = "NYT 1991/04/22"> {{cite news | first = Richard | last = Sandomir | title = TV SPORTS; ESPN Show Was a Draftnik's Nirvana | date = April 22, 1991 | url = https://www.nytimes.com/1991/04/22/sports/tv-sports-espn-show-was-a-draftnik-s-nirvana.html?src=pm | work = [[The New York Times]] | access-date =October 28, 2011}}</ref>

In 2006, ESPN received competition  when the [[NFL Network]], which had launched in October 2003, began to produce its own draft coverage. ESPN pays the NFL a rights fee for the non-exclusive rights to draft coverage, a fee that is included in its overall contract to televise games (''[[ESPN Sunday Night Football|ESPN Sunday Night NFL]]'' from 1987 to 2005, and ''[[Monday Night Football]]'' from 2006 to the present).<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/early-lead/wp/2017/04/27/espns-layoffs-will-not-even-come-close-to-solving-the-networks-issues/ |title=ESPN's layoffs will not even come close to solving the network's issues|newspaper=The Washington Post|date=April 27, 2017|access-date=November 11, 2017}}</ref>

In 2010, the NFL moved to a three-day draft with the first day encompassing the first round beginning at 8:00&nbsp;pm [[Eastern Daylight Time|EDT]] Thursday, the second day encompassing the second and third rounds beginning at 7:00&nbsp;pm EDT Friday, and third day concluding the process with the final four rounds beginning at 11:00&nbsp;am EDT Saturday.