An NFL draft handled remotely because of the coronavirus pandemic is the latest twist to an event that has become as popular as any pro football happening short of the Super Bowl.

Roger Goodell alerted NFL teams in a memo Thursday night that the dates of this year’s draft would remain April 23-25. There has been chatter from franchises about wanting it pushed back, and Goodell threatened disciplinary action against any teams publicly criticizing the decision.

So next month’s draft, originally set for Las Vegas, will have a pretty much unadorned look. And with club facilities shut at least through April 8 and likely for much longer, Goodell told the teams: “All clubs should now be doing the necessary planning to conduct draft operations in a location outside of your facility, with a limited number of people present, and with sufficient technology resources to allow you to communicate internally, with other clubs, and with draft headquarters.

“Needless to say,” he added, “we will be prepared to adjust to changed circumstances in the next several weeks, including the prospect of clubs being able to resume even limited operations within their facilities.”

The draft will be televised and, given the scarcity of sports offerings, the ratings for this “selection meeting” could be impressive.

As is the history of the draft.

It began because Bert Bell had been burned and sought a way to get even. His creation, the NFL draft, has become an industry unto itself.

Bell owned the Philadelphia Eagles in 1933 and was hot to sign Stanley “King Kong” Kostka of the Minnesota Gophers. But Kostka signed with the Brooklyn Dodgers.

On Feb 8-9, 1936, in a Philadelphia hotel owned by the Bell family, the draft was born.