Rick Spielman Tips Hat to Vikings IT Staff for Virtual Replication of Draft Room

[Viktor]

"And if there is a little hiccup here or there, they are unbelievable in getting it fixed as quickly as they can," he said. "I can say from our preparation, it's been almost identical except that we're doing it virtually now.


"Because it has run so smoothly, because our ownership has given us the resources to get the technology that we needed in order to function like we normally would during this time of year, it's been outstanding," Spielman added.


Asked what the biggest hurdle of an entirely virtual NFL Draft likely will be, Spielman emphasized a level of confidence while acknowledging the elephant in the room:


Technology is great until it malfunctions.


"Internally, everybody is very comfortable because we've been doing this for a month. [And] we had one run with the league yesterday, on the technology," Spielman said. "Probably the only concern I would say, and it's [out of our control], is if there are technical issues and you're on the clock, then all of a sudden, something happens where a thunderstorm comes rolling through one of the cities and you're trying to call. You have to have another team call and confirm the trade before it flips over to you on the clock.


"That's probably a little bit of a concern right now, [if] there are some technical glitches," Spielman continued. "I do believe that the NFL will stop the clock or hold it until the transaction can happen."


The NFL has done a good job, Spielman said, of anticipating possible problems and implementing backup plans.


For instance, general managers will be able to connect through a hard phone line, as well. Teams are designating three staff members who are allowed to submit picks to league officials.


"If the first person goes down, the second person will have a name and so will the third person," Spielman said. "If there's a communication gap between us and the NFL, there are hard lines there that we'll be able to call, as well.


"I think everybody at the NFL office and all of the IT staffs have really thought through this and all of the possible scenarios," he added. "From a security standpoint of someone trying to hack into the system, I think they thought through that as well, so I anticipate it going smoothly – but I also feel very confident in some of the backup plans in place or ways to communicate. Everybody's cell phones do work."