no supplements

i am a tempest of swirling emotions over the brett favre situation, but i need more knowledge before i can offer anything besides verbal suicide. in the meantime, i want to shine a light on something completely different: the supplemental draft, or rather 2008's lack of it.

word came down the end of last week, no supplemental draft this year. frankly, i'm going to miss it. the supplemental draft always offers unique if often troubled characters with some freakish athletic talent thrown in for good measure.

somehow this year is different. with the nfl's speak loudly and carry a big stick approach to off-field troubles - the hallmark of roger goodell's tenure so far - teams are more and more weary of taking a chance on playmakers that are also troublemakers.

perhaps in line with this, no players applied to this year's supplemental draft. a few names were rumored to be in the running. rey maualuga, brandon pettigrew, and bj raji are all returning to college. more surprisingly brandon ore the recently dismissed running back of virginia tech and michael brown the disciplined tackle for mississippi state both didn't apply.

one can't help but wonder if the stigma of the supplemental draft taken in tandem with their troubled reputations convinced ore and brown to seek a different route? for instance, rehabilitate their wounded images in fcs ball.

the supplemental draft is a microcosm of one of the nfl's major dialemmas. one the one hand, winning and the talent necessary to win takes top priority. the league is a cutthroat world. the results are clearly read in a win-loss record. past accomplishments fade quickly. everyone's looking for an edge.

on the other hand, the sport relies almost entirely on perception. coaches rest their authority on perceived confidence or toughness. players win battles on the field by combining talent and poise and turning them into intimidation. fans root desperately for their teams because they create an elusive and intangible connection to them. and the league draws all of us - and our fat wallets - into its yearly storyline because we all believe the game is (relatively) fair and is populated with people worth cheering for.

somewhere between those two extremes is the supplemental draft, the g.e.d. path to the nfl.

a misfit's hope, the desperate's game of chance, optimism's bounds, the past's elephant memory... the supplemental draft occupies a strange place in the history of the league. almost every player drafted in the supplemental draft bears a big red flag. whether it's brian bosworth's demands, manny wright's depression, or cris carter's clandestine deal, each player has been churned through the wheels of the system.

yet their gifts, athletic and otherwise, allow these players one nearly final recourse for an nfl career. it's fitting then that the supplemental draft started out for one player's special case. al hunter was booted off the notre dame team in 1977 for violating school rules. hunter possessed all the qualifications for the nfl, but his disciplining took place after the deadline for the regular draft.

despite the tendency of pro sports in general, and football in particular, to be unforgiving, the nfl chose to offer hunter a second chance of sorts. second chances are in short supply, but the supplemental draft transformed into its own little institution over the years.

not many great players were selected among the 37 in the past three decades. jamal williams, mike wahle, cris carter, bobby humphrey, and bernie kosar are the sole pro bowl players. ahmad brooks of the bengals has the potential to be solid, but most players put together careers echoing hunter's. in his four years with the seahawks, hunter took 180 carries 715 yards for only four touchdowns.

maybe the risks are outweighing the benefits. maybe the nfl's push to polish up the league's reputation is taking its toll. but somehow i don't think the supplemental is going away forever. the league is too reliant on hope and a gambler's taste for recklessness.