BY: Thomas Evanella

For about an eternity, sports pundits had been splitting hairs over which player would eventually become the first taken in 2016 NFL Draft.

After months of speculation, the discussion boiled down to two quarterbacks: the University of California’s Jared Goff and North Dakota State’s Carson Wentz.

On Thursday, at long last, Draft Day had come.

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell strode to the podium, ready to announce to NFL fans across the country which signal-caller would go first and to America’s second-largest city, Los Angeles.

I spent the better portion of the past few months dreading the possibility of Wentz landing with the NFL’s most hapless franchise, the Cleveland Browns. Even my philosophy professor, a lifetime Cleveland sports fan, lamented this possibility, deadpanning one day in class, “Hey, if Carson goes to the Browns, then we all have to root for them.”

I couldn’t have imagined a worse possible scenario.

Suddenly, on April 14, merely two weeks before the draft, the fog lifted, and the Los Angeles Rams struck a deal with the Tennessee Titans for the No. 1 pick in the draft. Figuring that the Rams, knowing the Browns’ interest in Wentz, traded up to usurp the Browns, I thought to myself that Carson had been spared.

That was true for a week, until it was announced that the Philadelphia Eagles, one of my fiercest rivals as a New York Giants fan, had traded with Cleveland for the second overall pick in the upcoming draft.

Despite all projections and mock draft saying to the contrary, I still held out hope that the Rams would come through and spare me from having to at least indirectly root for the Eagles to be successful.

Goodell boomed over the speakers in Chicago’s Auditorium Theatre, “With the first pick, in the 2016 NFL Draft, the Los Angeles Rams select Jared…”

Never before as a sports fan have I felt such swift and resounding agony. I dropped down from standing into a squat, knowing that for the next few seasons, I would have to watch my beloved Giants do battle with North Dakota’s proudest son.

While my friends planned their orders for Carson Wentz Eagles’ jerseys, I was forced to come to terms with the fact that North Dakota State’s championship game hero from just three months ago had, in an instant, become my NFC East foe.

My fandom for the New York Giants strictly prohibits me from rooting for the Eagles under any and all circumstances.

So for two games this upcoming season, I’ll reluctantly celebrate seeing Jason Pierre-Paul sack Carson Wentz, or seeing Janoris Jenkins intercept one of his passes.

With that being said, I have the utmost respect for Carson and wish him the best of luck in Philadelphia and wherever his time in professional football takes him.

And hey, at least it’s not Cleveland.