Mel Kiper, Jr.

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Mel Kiper, Jr. (born July 25, 1960 in Baltimore, Maryland) is an American football analyst for the ESPN television channel. He has served as an analyst for ESPN's annual NFL draft coverage since 1984, providing in-depth information on the nation's potential draft picks.

Contents 1 Early career 2 Interesting Notes 3 Legacy 4 Track Record 5 Personal 6 Video game appearances 7 References 8 External links

[edit] Early career

Kiper is president of Kiper Enterprises, which he founded in 1981 while in college. It is responsible for all aspects of a series of annual publications including the NFL Draft Report and Draft Preview.^[1] Kiper Enterprises continues to operate, offering information about future NFL draft prospects.

With the emergence of ESPN2 and ESPN.com, Kiper's visibility increased. Kiper has said that Ernie Accorsi, the general manager of the then-Baltimore Colts, encouraged him to become a draft analyst. He says that Accorsi told him that there was a market for draft information and that Kiper should convert his expertise into a business.

[edit] Interesting Notes

ESPN's coverage of the 1994 NFL draft was less than eight and a half minutes in when Kiper said, "The Colts have to come out of this draft with a quarterback." Tennessee's Heath Shuler and Fresno State's Trent Dilfer were regarded as sure-fire future NFL stars, and Indianapolis' starter was Jim Harbaugh. The Colts wound up with two of the first five picks. With No. 2, they chose running back Marshall Faulk from San Diego State. With the fifth pick -- Shuler having gone to the Washington Redskins with the third pick -- the Colts were expected to take Dilfer. Instead, they chose Trev Alberts, a linebacker from Nebraska. Kiper's reaction to this was "To pass up a Trent Dilfer, when all you have is Jim Harbaugh -- give me a break. That's why the Colts are picking second every year in the draft, not battling for the Super Bowl like other clubs in the National Football League."^[2]

Less than 10 minutes later, at a location away from the draft site, ESPN's Chris Mortensen was interviewing Colts general manager Bill Tobin. Mortensen asked a question about the Colts' bypassing a quarterback with their top-five choices. Mortensen didn't mention Kiper in his question to Tobin. Tobin's 55-second response was "We got a guy up here ... and who in the hell is Mel Kiper, anyway? I mean, here's a guy who criticizes everybody, whoever they take. He's got the answers to who you should take, to who you shouldn't take. He tells us about your team. He tells us about the Rams. Mel Kiper is a tortoise. He tells us about Tampa and everything else. In my knowledge of him, he's never even put on a jockstrap, he's never been a player, he's never been a coach, he's never been a scout, he's never been an administrator, and all of a sudden, he's an expert. He's in our paper two days ago, telling us who we have to take. We don't have to take anybody that Mel Kiper says we have to take. Mel Kiper has no more credentials to do what he's doing than my neighbor, and my neighbor's a postman and he doesn't even have season tickets to the NFL."^[3]

Kiper responded to Tobin with a biting tirade that drew huge cheers from the fans in the gallery and wry smiles from Chris Berman and the other ESPN commentators "I'm secure in my position. Obviously, Bill Tobin's not very secure in his position. ... You cannot go with Jim Harbaugh and pass up Trent Dilfer. That's why the Colts are the laughingstock of the league year in and year out." ^[4]

Trev Alberts retired after three seasons. Dilfer was moderately successful at Tampa Bay, though after being unceremoniously cut by Tampa after six years, he went on to win Super Bowl XXXV as quarterback of the Baltimore Ravens and has been a respectable mentor to young quarterbacks ever since.

Colts' incumbent Jim Harbaugh led the NFL in passing in 1995 while taking the Colts to the AFC Championship Game. Harbaugh was voted to the Pro-Bowl by his NFL peers.

[edit] Legacy

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Kiper has established himself as the most famous and recognizable of all NFL Draft commentators, and has played a major role in transforming the draft from a quiet meeting few fans understood or cared about into a major public event over the course of the last 25 years. He is also known for his trademark gelled hair, which has often been the butt of jokes.

[edit] Track Record

Kiper has been inconsistent in his assessment of prospects. While some of this can be attributed to injuries or off-field problems that derailed promising careers, many players simply fail to live up to the billing that Kiper gives them. This has led to him frequently being criticized as a poor evaluator of talent despite his status as an NFL Draft guru. However, some of his "sleeper" picks have been successful, and, though sometimes the players he holds in high regard are drafted later than he expects, they too often have solid professional careers. Kiper has been less successful in predicting teams' records during the season. The following are some of his more memorable moments.

• Kiper also criticized the Colts selection of Marshall Faulk at #2 in 1994, saying that the team should have taken either Shuler or Trent Dilfer.^[5] Kiper attacked the selection of Faulk, stating, "That's why the Colts keep picking No. 2 every year." ^[6] Faulk became the 1994 Offensive Rookie of the Year.^[7] After a long career as one of the elite running backs NFL history, the general consensus is that Faulk will someday be inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

• Kiper projected quarterback Jeff George of the University of Illinois as a mid-round pick, George selected as number 1 overall by the Indianapolis Colts. George's career was inconsistent and riddled with behavior-related problems. ^[8]

• Kiper projected Notre Dame quarterback Rick Mirer as the 30th pick; he was selected second overall by the Seattle Seahawks.^[9] Though he showed some early promise, Mirer failed to develop and was finally benched during his fourth season. He spent the remaining eight years of his career with six different teams as a journeyman backup. ^[10]

• Among his failures, Kiper thought that Heisman Trophy winner and University of Houston quarterback Andre Ware would be an excellent NFL quarterback and a great match for the Detroit Lions-- Ware's tenure in the NFL was brief and inconspicuous. Ware is considered among the biggest busts in draft history.^[11]

• In 1997, Kiper stated off the air in an interview with Chris Mortenson that Coastal Carolina offensive lineman Adam Steuer was a future hall of famer. Adam Steuer fell to pick 169 to the Buffalo Bills, and would go on to lead a dismal 2-year career, and was eventually cut. He is currently a High School football coach at Seaholm High School in Birmingham, Michigan.

• In 1999, Kiper said that Oregon quarterback Akili Smith would be a great NFL player and would finally provide the Cincinnati Bengals with the passer they'd lacked since Boomer Esiason. Smith was selected ahead of Daunte Culpepper, Torry Holt, Edgerrin James, Champ Bailey, and Jevon Kearse, but he spent less than four abysmal seasons in Cincinnati, starting only 17 games. He has since struggled in several brief stops in the NFL, NFL Europe, and the CFL. It's notable that Kiper rated Smith higher than Donovan McNabb and Culpepper, despite the facts that Smith only had 11 starts at the college level and had performed poorly on the Wonderlic aptitude tests administered at the NFL Combine, both of which are traditionally seen as important indicators of a quarterback's readiness for the NFL. Smith's career was marred by inconsistency and failure to grasp the complexities of the Bengals' playbook, issues which appear to have been foreshadowed by his lack of experience and low scores.

• One of Kiper's most well known mistakes was when he stated that USC wide receiver Mike Williams would be the best player in his 2005 draft class, despite not having played football in over a year after being ruled ineligible by the NCAA. When ESPN analyst Merril Hoge disagreed, Kiper uttered the now infamous line, "I'll see you at his Hall of Fame induction." Williams has been a remarkable disappointment, playing very little and showing no signs of improvement with any of the three teams he's played for.

• In the 1995 Draft, Kiper proclaimed UCLA wide receiver JJ Stokes a "sure-thing" who was destined to be a future All-Pro. On draft day, Kiper lambasted several teams, including the New York Jets, for passing on Stokes until he was selected 10th overall by the San Francisco 49ers. Stokes spent an undistinguished 8 years in San Francisco in the shadows of Jerry Rice and Terrell Owens, never making a single Pro Bowl or even surpassing 770 yards receiving.

• In the same 1995 Draft, Kiper had rated BYU Quarterback John Walsh as a first round pick. Walsh declared for the draft after his Junior season and had an abysmal NFL combine where he ran a 5.3 forty yard dash and displayed a weak arm in workouts. Nonetheless, Kiper still rated Walsh as a late 1st/early 2nd round pick on the day of the draft and said he would be a perfect fit for a "West Coast Offense" team like the San Francisco 49ers because of his accuracy on short passes. Walsh slid all the way to the 7th round where he was finally taken by the Cincinnati Bengals. He never appeared in a single game for the quarterback needy Bengals and was out of football less than a year later.

• One example of Kiper getting a player correct in the 1995 draft was when he asserted that Notre Dame defensive back Bobby Taylor, a college free safety, would make an excellent cornerback in the NFL because of his ability to match up with larger wide receivers. Kiper had Taylor rated as one of his top 10 prospects in the draft, and though Taylor wasn't drafted until the 2nd round by the Philadelphia Eagles, he went on to have a long and distinguished career just as Kiper said he would.

• In 1998 Kiper said that Washington State Quarterback Ryan Leaf's "attitude" (which had rubbed teammates and coaches the wrong way in college) would be an asset in the NFL and give him a mental advantage over Peyton Manning. Kiper also said that Leaf had the better natural physical tools and would be a great quarterback, though he still rated Manning as the more polished and better overall prospect. Leaf was chosen second overall by the San Diego Chargers immediately after Manning. Leaf's career soon imploded, largely because of a confrontational attitude and poor practice habits that alienated teammates, coaches, and fans. He is now regarded as not only the worst bust in NFL draft history, but also possibly the biggest bust in all of professional sports.^[12] His story is viewed as a cautionary tale of what can happen when a team attempts to build around a player with raw talent but questionable attitude.

• Before the 2001 NFL season, Kiper predicted the New England Patriots to go 0-16 and have the 1st pick in the 2002 NFL Draft. Instead, the Patriots went 11-5 and went on to win Super Bowl XXXVI against the St. Louis Rams.^{[citation needed]}

• Kiper once compared Anthony Cicero to the next Jim Brown when he was just entering his Freshman year in college. He claimed that Anthony would start for every team in the league. That included the Chiefs (Priest Holmes) and the St. Louis Rams (Marshall Faulk). Most experts agree with Mel's assessment, however, Anthony blew out his knee and was never able to capitalize on his natural born talent.

[edit] Personal

Kiper grew up in Baltimore, Maryland and resides in Jarrettsville, Maryland with his family. He attended Calvert Hall College High School and Essex Community College. He never participated in football on any level in high school or college.^[13]

[edit] Video game appearances

• Kiper lent his voice to the videogame, ESPN NFL 2K5 as the NFL Draft expert in season mode, he is also unlockable as a Free Agent tight end in the game.
• Kiper also appears in NFL Head Coach, again as the NFL Draft expert.^[14]
• Kiper appears in Madden NFL 07-08 during the college draft workout period in the offseason.

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Mel Kiper, Jr.'s website on ESPN.com