The pageantry and promise of tonight’s NFL Draft

Send questions or suggestions to the Starting Point team at startingpoint@globe.com. If you’d like the newsletter sent to your inbox, sign up here.

Across the nation tonight, millions of sports fans will gather before televisions to watch an event draped in over-the-top pageantry befitting a royal coronation.

It is the reading of the names.

The occasion is officially known as the National Football League’s Annual Player Selection Meeting, or the NFL Draft. Despite featuring no athletic feats beyond the frequent hoisting of NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell off his feet, the draft has become one of the most hallowed days (it extends through Saturday) on the annual sports calendar.

For non-draftniks, aka normal humans, the draft is where the NFL’s 32 teams take turns selecting players from the college ranks to join their professional franchises. It is literally the public reading of a list of names, generously supplemented with much expert speculation about the next name to come, along with tearful interviews with the players whose names were recently read, as well as extended conversations with proud parents who — twenty-odd years ago — gave the players those names.

And yes, as stupid as this all sounds, it is one of the greatest sports events of the year. The draft is when your beloved NFL team restocks its young talent, and a fan’s Super Bowl dreams can race way ahead of reality.

A lot has happened locally since I wrote about the NFL Draft for Starting Point back in January.

The New England Patriots hired Mike Vrabel as head coach. They spent some cash in free agency, mostly on defense, including a $104 million deal for former Philadelphia Eagles defensive tackle Milton Williams. The Patriots traded away backup quarterback Joe Milton, who briefly transformed into circa 1998 Randall Cunningham and led the Pats to a season-ending victory over the Buffalo Bills, for which he shall not be forgiven: The win dropped the Patriots in the draft order from first to fourth.

Fourth is probably too low for the Pats to land the draft’s consensus top talents, Colorado defensive back/wide receiver Travis Hunter or Penn State pass rusher Abdul Carter, and yet fourth feels a bit too high for the players in the next tier, such as LSU offensive tackle Will Campbell, whom some analysts think is better suited to play guard.

I’ve been watching the draft religiously for years. Even as the event and its TV production have grown ever more elaborate (at this point, the NFL’s draft party is a few parading ICBMs short of a North Korean Victory Day celebration), the event is still about tradition.

One of those cherished traditions is hearing the live audience boo Goodell when he first appears on stage. Every fan base has its own reason for booing the commissioner; in New England, it’s because Goodell doesn’t appreciate the Ideal Gas Law.

Another fun tradition is the annual display of agony from New York Jets fans, who have been conditioned by years of disappointment to react like they’ve all been simultaneously stabbed in the heart when their team’s first-round selection is read.

This is New England’s first draft under Vrabel, so it’s an open question how the team will approach it. Under former coach Bill Belichick, the strategy often seemed to be bypassing fast guys who catch the football, in favor of less heralded players who likely would have been available in later rounds. It’s one tradition we could skip this year.

My brothers and I generally get on a videocall for the Patriots’ first selection, so we can all react to it together. Is that nerdy? Oh yeah. Probably the only way to make it more nerdy is by playing Dungeons & Dragons at the same time. (Not ruling that out.)

For New England fans, a high draft pick tonight is the consolation prize for enduring a miserable season last year. After the Patriots make their selection, the next step for fans is to imagine how that player will help deliver wins.

As fun as it is to see your team choose high in the draft, next year we want to choose much lower, down near the bottom of the list, where the good teams pick.

How to watch: The NFL Draft starts at 8 p.m. and will be broadcast on ABC, ESPN, ESPN Deportes, and the NFL Network. It will also be streamed.

Read more

• ESPN ranked this year’s top 100 draft prospects.
• From staying nimble to going after Boise State’s Ashton Jeanty, here are Globe sports journalists’ thoughts on what the Patriots should — and will — do.
• “All ball, no BS”: Campbell, who the Patriots may try to draft, praised Vrabel yesterday.
• Unlike last year, don’t expect a bunch of quarterbacks to be selected early, the Globe’s Ben Volin writes. Ben has also published a mock draft for each team.

🧩 3 Down: Egg on | ☀️ 73º Sunny start

Boston and Massachusetts

• Going hungry: Criminals are stealing low-income Massachusetts residents’ SNAP benefits. Without federal funding to replace the stolen money, some struggle to feed their families.
• Balance sheet: Jim Davis, the billionaire New Balance chairman, gave $1 million to a super PAC supporting Josh Kraft’s bid to unseat Boston Mayor Michelle Wu.
• Now hiring: After a disappointing season, the Bruins are looking for a head coach. Interim coach Joe Sacco is a contender.
• Unreliable: MBTA commuter rail service from Fall River and New Bedford, which opened to fanfare last month, has experienced delays and cancellations, stranding some passengers.

New England

• Harder to breathe: Coastal New England’s air quality has deteriorated, probably because of wildfire smoke and extreme heat, an American Lung Association report found.
• Tense trio: Three Democrats, including a conservative from Providence, are vying to become the next Rhode Island Senate president after Dominick Ruggerio’s death.
• On the march: Penguins are returning to the Providence zoo for the first time since 2013. An exhibit featuring a dozen of them will open next month.

Trump administration

• Rümeysa Öztürk: The administration plans to appeal a judge’s decision to move the detained Tufts PhD student’s case to Vermont. Representative Jim McGovern and other Massachusetts Democrats condemned the conditions at the Louisiana facilities where ICE is holding Öztürk and other students, calling them “political prisoners.”
• Life support: Harvard Medical School has lost money for years and relies on the federal research funding the administration has frozen.
• Presidential debate: Elon Musk and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent got into a shouting match at the White House last week, within earshot of Trump and Italy’s prime minister, over who would lead the IRS. (Axios)
• Cause for concern: Past economic downturns have hit Rhode Island harder than other New England states. Some fear Trump’s tariffs will bring new woes.
• Thinking ahead: Foreign students whose visas the administration has revoked are asking judges for preemptive restraining orders to prevent their arrests.
• Deputize me: A third sheriff’s office in New Hampshire wants to partner with ICE to detain people.

The Nation and the World

• Passing the torch: Dick Durbin of Illinois, the 80-year-old No. 2 Senate Democrat, won’t seek reelection, citing his age. (WBEZ)
• Carbon pricing: Corporations around the world have caused $28 trillion in climate damage, Dartmouth researchers estimate. Ten fossil fuel companies account for more than half of that. (AP)
• India-Pakistan tensions: India closed its main border crossing with Pakistan and expelled Pakistanis in the country after gunmen killed 26 people in the disputed region of Kashmir. (Al Jazeera)

By Teresa Hanafin and Ian Prasad Philbrick, Globe Staff

🎢 Ticket to ride: These are New England’s best amusement parks, featuring both scary coasters and kid-friendly thrills.

✈️ Shoes on, shoes off: Ever wonder why TSA rules about things like laptops and shoes vary from airport to airport? Turns out it’s all part of the security apparatus. (USA Today)

🏥 Break a leg? At Boston College, trained actors are teaching nursing students how to deliver bad news.

⛴️ Fast ferry: A Swedish shipbuilder is testing a hydrofoil electric ferry that barely touches the water as it zips along at 30 mph — twice as fast as usual. (WashPost)

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Drink here, train there, Mackerel Sky: The spy writer John le Carré left clues about how to best enjoy this English region.

⌚️ Fashion forward: The latest trend in watches offers “a new way to wear time.” (CNN)

Thanks for reading Starting Point.

This newsletter was edited by Jennifer Peter and Teresa Hanafin produced by Ryan Orlecki.

❓ Have a question for the team? Email us at startingpoint@globe.com.

✍🏼 If someone sent you this newsletter, you can sign up for your own copy.

📬 Delivered Monday through Friday.

Mark Arsenault can be reached at mark.arsenault@globe.com. Follow him @bostonglobemark.