(This is a repost of a published article Joe runs as an annual tradition for the morning of the first night of the NFL draft.)

Joe’s going to go slightly personal here, a rare, albeit tiny window into Joe’s background on this holiest of high football holidays.

Joe got hooked on the NFL draft as a kid from an alien-like voice that floated through the Midwestern night air and originated from a city Joe finally visited for the first time in September 2012, a decade after that same voice fell silent.

Growing up, two people turned Joe into the football addict Joe is today. One was Joe’s high school football coach, a guy who played for a virtual who’s who of football coaches: John Madden, Tom Landry, Gene Stallings and Lou Holtz. It kills Joe how much Joe has forgotten about football from a man unknown to 99.99999 percent of the populace.

Joe easily remembers covering NFL training camp for the first time. There was Stallings, the grizzled old Junction Boys survivor and head coach of the then-St. Louis Cardinals. He vividly remembered Joe’s high school coach playing for him (Stallings was his position coach in Dallas), and Stallings treated Joe like family after Stallings learned his protégé coached Joe in high school.

The second source fueling Joe’s unwavering football fetish came from an unlikely location: an unkept Brooklyn apartment.

Joe first heard Joel Buchsbaum on a blowtorch radio station out of St. Louis, KMOX. There, every Monday prior to Monday Night Football (and Sunday nights during the offseason), Buchsbaum, the first nationally-recognized draftnik, would speak football Gospel to strangers throughout flyover country. He provided knowledge on college football players and the NFL that, to this day, Joe finds unmatched — not even by Mel Kiper, not even by Pat Kirwan or Greg Cosell.

People would call the show and ask Buchsbaum about (pick a player), and often before the caller finished his question, Buchsbaum would interrupt and begin rattling off the talents and drawbacks of said player, often beginning his responses with his nasally-thick Brooklynese “Ooohhh-KAY! … ” as if he was revving up the engine of a Mustang before putting the rig into gear.

Periodically, Buchsbaum would invoke his favorite saying of lesser players, “Looks like Tarzan; plays like Jane.”

Pleasantries were not a forte of Buchsbaum. He was not rude, not even close, but he was very short and impatient with rambling callers.

Joe still remembers a caller asking Buchsbaum about a player the caller claimed was a starting cornerback at Utah. Buchsbaum, in his shrill, nasally, thick Brooklyn accent, corrected the caller almost immediately. No, no, the player is not from Utah, Buchsbaum said, but from Utah State. And in fact, he was a backup cornerback.

This did not stop Buchsbaum from launching into why the player was not starting despite his abilities.

Mind you, this was long before the days of laptops and the internet, so Buchsbaum couldn’t have Googled the player’s name in five seconds to pull up his information because neither Google nor the internet existed. This also was during the infancy of BSPN, so Utah State football may as well have been Charles University of Prague football or some team playing on Mars, for all Joe knew.

Buchsbaum’s knowledge was unreal. And in Joe’s circle of fellow football friends, guys who rarely if ever listened to an AM station, Buchsbaum was like fresh honey to flies. He was the football version of the Rain Man.

Fast forward maybe 15 years and the Sporting News decided to name the best draftnik. They researched Buchsbaum, Mel Kiper and a third guy Joe had not heard of and still can’t remember his name. The Sporting News broke down each man’s final mock draft through four rounds for three consecutive years.

Buchsbaum won big.

A true recluse, Buchsbaum died 23 years ago. In a perverted way Joe was jealous of the guy. All he did was study football, read football, write football, talk football and work his many NFL and college inside sources. Included at the top of the list was Bill Belichick, who tried to hire Buchsbaum several times but was spurned with each offer.

(The guys Joe looked up to in sports growing up are all just about gone now: Bobby Knight, Whitey Herzog, Beano Cook, Bill Walsh, John McKay, John Madden, Bobby Bowden, Buchsbaum. Seems like Barry Switzer, Bill Parcells and Tom Osborne are the last guys left. And rarely do any of them make public appearances any longer.)

Whenever Joe hears mock draft guys who pump out three mocks a week starting in January brag that they have no interest in accuracy — a draft dude currently employed by the four-letter actually told Joe that years ago at the combine — it really offends Joe on several levels. Buchsbaum would be appalled.

So as Day 1 of the draft is here, and maybe by midnight we’ll find out if Kenyon Sadiq or Kayden McDonald will be wearing pewter and red this fall and terrorizing Bucs opponents for the next decade, Joe can’t help but remember Buchsbaum and that unforgettable voice.

Here’s a nugget from acclaimed football scribe and friend of Buchsbaum, John McClain, Houston Chronicle columnist emeritus.

Did you know Buchsbaum was on ESPN when the network first televised the draft? He looked like such a nerd. I imagine the network executives didn’t like the way he looked or sounded, so they hired Mel “Ki-pa.”

Chad Finn of the Boston Globe decided to dig up Buchsbaum’s breakdown of Tom Brady coming out of Michigan. With the “positives,” Buchsbaum nailed the analysis (on a sixth-round pick!).

Positives: Good height to see the field. Very poised and composed. Smart and alert. Can read coverages. Good accuracy and touch. Produces in big spots and big games. Has some Brian Griese in him and is a gamer. Generally plays within himself. Team leader.

Negatives: Poor build. Very skinny and narrow. Ended the ’99 season weighing 195 pounds and still looks like a rail at 211. Looks a little frail and lacks great physical stature and strength. Can get pushed down more easily than you’d like. Lacks mobility and ability to avoid the rush. Lacks a really strong arm. Can’t drive the ball down the field and does not throw a really tight spiral. System-type player who can get exposed if he must ad-lib and do things on his own.

Summary: Is not what you’re looking for in terms of physical stature, strength, arm strength, and mobility but he has the intangibles and production and showed great Griese-like improvement as a senior. Could make it in the right system but is not for everyone.

Urban legend is that Belichick, one of the few friends Buchsbaum had, took a flyer on Brady based on Buchsbaum’s recommendation. Belicheat since has acknowledged he would annually go over his draft board with Buchsbaum — a non-team employee — in the hours leading to the draft, a practice absolutely unheard of in NFL circles.

Joe will raise a beer later tonight, remembering Buchsbaum.

Enjoy the draft! Buchsbaum sure would.

Happy Joel Buchsbaum Day!