‘Draft Day’ comes early for Browns

Some people are draftniks. They just love looking at the available college talent, assessing the needs of the 32 NFL teams and putting together one mock draft after another.

Knock yourselves out, guys. It’s just not for me.

Until the Browns are on the clock on May 8, I’ve got better things to do, such as seeing what fictional Browns GM Sonny Weaver Jr. will do with the top pick in the movie “Draft Day,” which hits theaters Friday.

What does it say about me that, right now, I’m more interested in what Kevin Costner’s Browns GM will do on celluloid than what Browns real-life GM Ray Farmer will do?

Well, until and unless the real Browns do something different, I’ve seen enough of their draft days to last a lifetime. Maybe Costner’s Browns will get it right.

His track record in sports movies is a good one, but most of them — “Bull Durham,” “Field of Dreams” and “For the Love of the Game” — were baseball movies. “Tin Cup” was about golf.

The 59-year-old Costner — who took part in a conference call with reporters last week — didn’t feel the need to immerse himself in NFL culture to prepare for the role of Sonny Weaver Jr.

“I talked to a couple of general managers, but I didn’t do a tremendous amount of research,” he said. “I’ve been watching football for years. I just wanted to perfect the language we used so it would be authentic.”

Authenticity was critical in other ways, too.

“I wouldn’t have done this if the NFL wasn’t involved,” Costner said. “The last thing I would want to do is a football movie with jerseys I don’t recognize and the names of teams that I don’t recognize. For some reason, it just loses all its appeal when there is stuff that is unrecognizable.”

But that meant a certain level of NFL involvement in the production.

“They are protective of their brand,” Costner said. “But I think they had a comfort level with the script on its face value and I think they had a high comfort level with me. I think they could see that I appreciate the vulgarity and the poetry of their sport when they looked at the body of my work.”

But one scene — when Costner’s character looks out a window to see Browns fans burning him in effigy — didn’t make the NFL cut.

“As funny as I thought it was and as realistic as I thought it was, it was a scene they didn’t want in the movie,” Costner said.

Costner said he believes “Draft Day” can be as successful as his previous sports movies. Half of that battle figures to be its treatment of the Browns and their fans. It sounds like Costner approached the project with more respect for the franchise and its fans than some national media types have had in recent years as the team has struggled on and off the field.

“I watched that organization since I was little,” he said. “I remember watching Leroy Kelly run and I remember that team. I’ve never equated Cleveland with the joke it’s been made to be.”

Filming “Draft Day” gave Costner a feel for what Browns fans have endured.

“What they are is loyal,” he said. “Yeah, I do root for them. I think anyone who follows the NFL will root for a team with a fan base that loyal.”

Write Vindicator Sports Editor Ed Puskas at epuskas@vindy.com and follow him on Twitter, @edpuskas_vindy.