The first round of the NFL draft on Thursday night averaged 13.6 million viewers across television and digital platforms, according to the league and Nielsen. The numbers from Friday night's coverage (Rounds 2 & 3) averaged 7.

Former NFL quarterback Boomer Esiason said this week that he spoke with three different personnel people in the NFL that removed Sanders off their draft boards completely because the team owners made it clear they did not want him. "Shedeur Sanders just torpedoed himself," Esiason said.

It's not often that the 144th overall pick is the biggest story of the NFL draft. But Shedeur Sanders was not the usual 144th pick and his situation transcended football. The narrative around Sanders blurred lines between sports,