| 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, known for his knowledge of college football and the National Football League Draft as well as his distinctive hairstyle. 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. 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''. With the emergence of ESPN2 and the ESPN.com , Kiper's visibility has increased. Kiper has said that Ernie Accorsi , the general manager of the then- Baltimore Colts , encouraged Kiper 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. CLAIM TO FAME One of Kiper's first instances of creating a stir on ESPN's draft coverage came in 1989 . After the New York Jets chose University Of Virginia defensive end Jeff Lageman with the 14th selection, Kiper said, "It's obvious to me right now that the Jets just don't understand what the draft's all about." ESPN host Bob Ley , seated to the right of Kiper, had a reaction that reflected both bemusement and astonishment. Transcribed videotape of 1994 draft, which included "flashback" footage of past New York Jets drafts. Kiper hammered the Jets again after they made Dennis Byrd , a defensive end out of Tulsa, their second-round pick (No. 42 of the draft). It's important to note that Kiper's criticism of the Jets had less to do with the abilities of Lageman and Byrd and more to do with the Jets' strategy of "reaching" for players they liked. Kiper's point was that although Lageman and Byrd were good players, they would have been available with later, less valuable picks -- evidence that, as Kiper said, the Jets didn't understand what the draft was about, that along with knowing whom they wanted, the Jets needed to understand whom other teams wanted and needed to adjust their draft strategy accordingly. Mel Kiper also claims that players' draft positions rise and fall as if they were on the stock market, even if they haven't played a game or if they've finished their workouts for NFL teams. 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 ."Transcribed videotape of 1994 draft telecast on ESPN. 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."Transcribed videotape of 1994 draft telecast on ESPN. 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." cribed videotape of 1994 draft telecast on ESPN. Trev Alberts retired after three seasons, and Dilfer was a complete bust at Tampa Bay. After being unceremoniously cut by Tampa after six lackluster years, he went on to win Super Bowl XXXV as Quarterback of the Baltimore Ravens (albeit with the help of the NFL's best defense.) 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. LEGACY Kiper has proven to be relatively on the mark with many of his predictions; however, he has had his share of bad assessments.
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. VIDEO GAME APPEARANCES
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