You know the chimes the second you hear it. It’s the NFL Draft and the pick is in.
But where did the NFL Draft jingle come from? When did it begin? And how did it become such a mainstay of sports broadcasting?
The chimes have become so iconic that ESPN now uses the notes on all of their draft coverage from the NFL to the NBA and WNBA. But the backstory to the how and why of the jingle have never been told until now.
This week with the NFL Draft upon us once again, ESPN tells the fascinating inside story of how it came to be and its inauspicious beginning all the way back in 2006.
The video is part of an SC Featured entitled “10 Notes” that will air on SportsCenter this weekend, but ESPN has made the video available on their website already.
The video walks through ESPN looking for a signature sound to let viewers know when picks are in for the NFL Draft, which is entirely sensible given the amount of conversation happening and overwhelming information flowing throughout the broadcast. It also showed some attempts that didn’t work so well.
But the jingle we all know and love today came in 2006 and actually arose from the existing ESPN Sunday Night Football theme music at the behest of producer Steve Ackles. The request was taken to composer Bob Christianson (who also wrote the iconic NHL on ESPN theme), who produced multiple choices for the network to choose from. And eventually, the one that was chosen is the one we hear to this day.
Hilariously though, the chime did not air from the start of the 2006 NFL Draft. For reasons nobody could articulate almost 20 years later, the jingle only kicked in for the 8th pick of the draft when the Buffalo Bills selected Ohio State safety Donte Whitner.
Whitner played 11 seasons in the NFL and made it to two Pro Bowls, but being the first NFL Draft jingle may be the biggest claim to fame in his football career.
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