The National Football League Draft, April 26-27, was difficult enough to watch without the added political, heart-tugging efforts by ESPN and NFL Network.

I can only take so much of Mel Kiper Jr., the long drawn out moments in between draft picks that the so-called experts feel they need fill with their prognostications, and the formulaic interviews with the draftees.

"You were just drafted in the first round by the worst team in the league, how do you feel?"

"I feel great. It is a dream come true."

"Did you have any idea you were going to be drafted before they called your name?"

"I had conversations with lots of teams, but had no idea they would take me when they did." This is code for; "We had a deal worked out a few days ago; we just kept it quiet until the draft."

"How do you think you will fit in with your new team?"

"I am going to work hard, learn the system and hope to make an impact and do good things."

This nauseating, predictable banter demoted the draft to commercial-filler during the NASCAR race at Talladega Sunday.

And during one of those breaks, I caught a teaser from ESPN talking about the "life or death" circumstances surrounding one prospect, as a young man in the uniform of the United State Military Academy at West Point stood in front of the camera. Curious, I stayed tuned.

What followed was both embarrassing and confusing.

ESPN host Trey Wingo interviewed Army football player Caleb Campbell about the prospect of being drafted by an NFL team and the ramifications involved.

Simply, if Campbell is drafted by an NFL team, he is reassigned to recruiting duty for up to two years with the future option to buy out the remainder of his contract. If he is not drafted or immediately signed to a free agent contract, then he will be sent off into the regular Army where he could possibly be deployed to Iraq.

It was embarrassing to watch a major media outlet like ESPN solicit for this young man, labeling it a "life or death" situation; putting pressure on NFL teams to draft the young man in order to save his life.

First, he voluntarily joined the Army during a time of war. He knew what he was getting into. Second, this program was not instituted until 2005 - after the start of Campbell's sophomore season - so he did not join under the auspices of this program. Lastly, going to Iraq is not an absolute, and even less is the chance of him being killed in Iraq if he was sent. It was hardly a "life or death" situation. One option was definitely easier and more desirable than the other, but not quite that dramatic.

This led to the confusing aspect of the story. According to Campbell, he wanted to attend West Point to become an officer and leader of soldiers. He volunteered for this at a time when the Army and Marine Corps are waist-deep in operations in the fight against terrorism. But during the interview he definitely seemed anxious about the issue, pushing the possibility of being a voice for the Army and a good public relations story for any NFL team that drafted him.

I guess it was confusing because, after spending so much time around Marines, it seemed strange that an officer (or soon to be officer) in the United States Armed Forces would actively campaign to avoid combat duty.

Lieutenant Dan Taylor would be disappointed.

But my personal opinion on the matter was tempered after remembering the time I spent with Billy Mills, a former Marine who is the only American to win the 10,000-meter race in the 1964 Olympics.

Mills spent much of his time as an officer in the Marine Corps traveling the country as part of military promotional tours similar to the bond drive tour the "heroes of Iwo Jima" took part in during World War II. These tours were common during times of war taking "celebrity service members" around the country to promote the military's efforts.

If the Army can parlay Campbell's career into increased recruiting efforts, may the force be with them. But I can not see how much impact an average collegiate safety, who was drafted in the 7th round (pick 218 out of 252) by the Detroit Lions and is only 18 months removed from surgery to repair a torn ACL,  can make on Army recruiting when he will have a hard enough time even making the 53-man roster.

And the catch to the Army deal is that if he is not on an active NFL roster for the next two years, he will have to go back into the fold with the active Army.

 Hopefully he can take full advantage of this opportunity the Army has granted him, because the Air Force and Naval academies require a two-year commitment before being released to the play in the NFL or NBA (just ask David Robinson and the San Antonio Spurs); but if he doesn't make it in the NFL, I'm confident West Point has set him up for success as an Army officer.