For American football fans, the off-season can be a frustrating time. It can seem like it goes on forever, but at least it has a few bright spots. The brightest has to be the college draft. It is one time during the spring and summer that football fans around the country can enjoy. Here's how you can prepare for the best event of the NFL off-season.

The first step in the draft process, for fans anyway, is to watch the NFL Combine. The Combine is where college football players run drills in order to show their skills to NFL scouts. Often times, the Combine determines where a player will get selected during the NFL Draft.

Read the local newspapers and online forums of your favorite NFL team. This will give you a good idea on what your team is looking for in the NFL Draft. Watch NFL Draft preview shows on TV as well. Just about every sports network will have plenty of pre-draft coverage. Check your local listings the weeks before the NFL Draft in order to find out when these shows will air.

The best thing you could do to prepare is buy magazines previewing the NFL Draft. Many sports magazines will have a special edition before the NFL Draft. Search your local newsstand a few weeks before the Draft in order to find these. There are even some magazines that are totally devoted to the NFL draft.

Something really fun to do is to have a mock NFL Draft among you and your friends. This will let you know what others think will happen during the NFL Draft and can be a fun way for you and your buddies to get pumped up about the upcoming draft. You could even make it interesting by placing a bet on your mock draft and making draft day that much more interesting.