Pastels and personality: The NFL draft is a chance for rookies to showcase their personal style to the world

The NFL draft used to be reserved exclusively for sports fanatics. Football diehards would clamor to see the new talent coming to their beloved team. The draft had a casual dress code when it started being televised in the 1980s. But over the years, it evolved into a splashy spectacle with its own red carpet and a focus on fashion, sparking conversations beyond players’ stat lines.

Now, when viewers tune in, they’re not just looking at a player’s passing yards but also their pocket squares, at their collars instead of just their completions, their touchdowns and their tuxes.

Thursday was no exception.

» READ MORE: Quiz: Which Eagles player shares your fashion style?

Newcomers were able to give fans a taste of their personalities and even values through their personal style. Many used their fits to honor family members or heritage.

Like Boston College’s Zay Flowers, the speedy wideout picked up by the Baltimore Ravens. Flowers wore a leather suit with an oversized bow tie. But what caught viewers’ eyes — and hearts — was his chain, which featured a photo of Flowers’ mother, Jackie Walden, who died when he was 5. At the center of the chain piece were diamonds in the shape of flower petals, wrapped around her smiling face.

“She’s the reason I’m doing this,” Flowers said of his mom. “That’s why I made sure she’s with me. And she’s with me tonight.”

Flowers, who grew up in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., with 13 siblings, also had photos of his family integrated into the lining of his suit jacket.

For Oregon’s Christian Gonzalez, accepting his jersey from the New England Patriots on stage proved the perfect opportunity to show off his jacket lining — a Colombian flag. Gonzalez unbuttoned his jacket and opened the sides to roaring applause.

“It just means everything,” he said. “I put it on for everybody back in Colombia. I love that they’re able to look up to me.”

Alabama’s Will Anderson Jr., the Texans’ newest player, paid tribute to his late grandma, Betty, with photos of her incorporated into the lining of his suit jacket.

“My grandma passed away when I was a freshman in college. I wanted her to be here, that was like my best friend,” he said. “She loved football as much as me. I wish she could see this ... I wanted her to be here with me [and] she is with me. This is dedicated to her.”

Pastels and florals for spring may not be groundbreaking, but they proved to have a chokehold on the 2023 class of draft picks.

No. 1 overall pick Bryce Young’s dusty pink Dior suit — the same one Travis Kelce wore for his Saturday Night Live monologue — attracted both love and hate for the extra sleeve going down the jacket’s center. USC’s Jordan Addison wowed in a shiny floral pink suit while Eagles draft pick Jalen Carter, out of the University of Georgia, opted for a violet fit. Raiders’ selection Tyree Wilson, from Texas Tech, showed out in a black suit dotted with pink and blue flowers, reflective shades and two oversized chains.

Perhaps taking a nod from the last Super Bowl halftime performance, some players decided to shine bright Thursday — with plenty of diamonds and jewels on hand.

New Seattle Seahawk Jaxon Smith-Njigba was decked in a pair of bedazzled Prada loafers, adding some sparkle to his walk across Kansas City’s Union Station stage.

Even before their NFL destinations were announced, players were flaunting some major ice on Thursday, with chains so big you would’ve thought they already inked their league contracts. Alabama product Brian Branch and Raiders edge rusher Wilson had their brand logos covered in diamonds, and Addison matched his jewel-studded watch with a blinged-out necklace that spelled out “FR3E.”

Celebrity athlete jeweler Leo Khusro was the artist behind several draft picks’ custom chains, tooth gems, and accessories, including Branch’s diamond-filled pennant.

Houston-based jeweler ZoFrost was responsible for icing out almost one-third of the draft’s first-rounders, including Jalen Carter, C.J. Stroud, Tyree Wilson, and Devin Witherspoon. Some of Frost’s standout pieces on social media discourse included Stroud’s diamond number seven and a custom glow-in-the-dark pendant for Witherspoon that said “Spoon Island.”

As noted by the Associated Press, even when NFL draft picks began wearing suits for the main event, it typically meant more traditional, stuffy fits: “going to church with your grandma looks,” not the high fashion statement pieces we’ve come to expect today.

Deion Sanders is recognized as the first to put on a show in 1989, pairing a black and white tracksuit with jewels on jewels on jewels and dark shades. By 1996, Ray Lewis helped transition the event into a classier affair, rocking a silk Versace shirt and slacks. By 2016, (mostly boring) suits were commonplace. It was Dallas Cowboys’ pick, Ezekiel Elliot who opted for a cropped tuxedo shirt under his suit jacket. The AP credits that styling choice as the fashion moment to open Pandora’s box of drippy fits.

By the next season, flashy suits, bold concepts, and designer names dotted the NFL Draft red carpet, shaping it into the fashion event we know and love today. And we’re glad to see it. What else would we talk about during the draft otherwise? Sports?