Around the league, after the initial scramble
of moving from site to site as government and
NFL restrictions evolved amid the outbreak,
many draft-weekend setups were similar. A
backup generator at the general manager’s
home in case of a power outage. Additional
internet connections and temporary analog
phone lines to the houses of front office
leaders, just in case. Speed-dial setups for
counterparts with other teams to simplify trade
talks. Multiple audio and video conferences
running concurrently.
When the Vikings moved into their new
headquarters two years ago, team ownership
invested heavily in technology, including
a custom-built, touch-screen draft board
consisting of 40 different 55-inch TVs. Director
of information systems Paul Nelson still had
the specs, which he used to create a miniature
version for general manager Rick Spielman’s
home office.
“The next big hurdle was, well, hey, we’ve got
to get all these coaches and scouts who maybe
are not really super technologically savvy
onboard with doing everything through their
computer,” Nelson said. “I have to say a lot of
the success that we had was definitely driven
by the fact that our users really stepped up.
Sometimes there’s resistance to change. In this
case, they were like, ‘Tell us what we need to
do,’ and that made it so much easier.”
Nelson and Nygaard, in a case of fortunate
timing, initiated strategic planning last year
that included a worst-case natural disaster
scenario. Not a global pandemic, but some of
the contingencies carried over.