The Steelers’ draft hat is just the latest example of the NFL having fans right where they want them

I was scanning my Facebook page the other day, when I noticed a bunch of people making negative comments on something involving the Steelers.

No, it wasn’t about Mike Tomlin or Ben Roethlisberger or Antonio Brown or Le’Veon Bell.

It was about some new Steelers hat that, if I’m being honest, wasn’t all that flattering. Take a look for yourself:

I forgot about it for a day or so (life always seems to get in the way of worrying about hats) until it hit me. This wasn’t just any old, ugly Steelers hat people were commenting on. This was the new Steelers draft hat. “Why do the Steelers even have a draft hat?” I asked myself rather bluntly.

Then I started doing research, and it turned out the Steelers weren’t the only team that has a baseball cap dedicated to the upcoming NFL Draft. Every team in the league is now hawking its own version of the draft hat—yes, even Bill Belichick’s team.

All 32 teams will be trying to get you, yes, you, to buy and wear these hats to commemorate the 2019 NFL Draft. This is just a guess, but I bet every new draftee that walks to the podium will don these new hats as he tells everyone how much either he or his mother/father was a huge fan of (insert new team here) growing up.

I guess I answered my own question that I asked in the title of this article. Why do the Steelers even have a draft hat? Because the NFL has us by the.....well, in the palm of its hand 24/7/365.

Think about it, as soon as the Super Bowl ends, its time to talk about NFL free agency, but not before we poke and prod those future draft picks at the NFL Combine.

Then it’s those fancy new rule changes that make us break out in a cold sweat while thinking about how they will screw our team during the upcoming season. Also, there’s an endless supply of mock drafts in the weeks and months leading up to the actual draft. But before the real draft, the league likes to make you tune in for the official release of its 2019 NFL regular season schedule. Oh, sure, you know who the Steelers will be playing next season, but you don’t know when and at what time. You don’t know if you’ll be happy with the schedule or outraged (okay, you’ll be outraged).

After that, it’s rookie camp (“I knew he was a bust!”), OTAs (“Screw him for not showing up!”), mini-camp (“Screw him for not showing up!”) and then training camp (“I knew he was a bust!”).

The NFL has us so captivated, it can make you actually care about a hideous looking baseball cap dedicated to the draft. Yes, according to Facebook, you think it sucks, but you think everything sucks—but it didn’t stop you from commenting on it (click bait!).

I think the new draft hat sucks, but it didn’t keep me from writing an article about it (click bait!).

Where can I get one of these hats?