Lots of NFL dreams will be coming true tonight.
The NFL draft will start this evening at 8PM EST, and of course, many prospects will be gathered in Green Bay, Wisconsin for the first time, and it will be held at Lambeau Field, which will certainly make for an interesting night that’s very different than what they’ve done in years past in New York City and even Nashville.
The Tennessee Titans have the first pick tonight, and they’re expected to take Miami quarterback Cam Ward… my Panthers have the eighth overall pick, and while I’ve of course heard different things, it seems likely that we’ll be taking Georgia’s Jalon Walker Michigan’s Mason Graham, but who knows… anything can happen on draft night.
I can’t imagine how nerve-racking it can be, especially if you expect to be drafted in the first round, and NFL great and former linebacker Clay Matthews recalled a funny moment during his 2009 NFL draft night when he was selected in the first round of the draft (26th overall)., after the team traded up to make the selection.
In an interview with FOX News, he recalled how nervous he was and how scary it can be to have no idea where you might end up:
“It’s nerve-wrecking to say the least. Unless you’re the guy who’s going No. 1, or top-two or three, you know your financial security and where you’re going to be is. For me, having gone 26th, not knowing where I was going to go, I thought I was going to end up in Denver at one point, perhaps Houston, and then New England was on the clock.
Green Bay, which had already drafted that year with the ninth pick for B.J. Raji, I didn’t expect to end up in Green Bay. They traded back up and picked me.”
His mom, though, missed the trade-up and thought he was going to play with Tom Brady in New England, and for a good hour she thought her son would surely be on the path to a Super Bowl victory in his rookie season because this was obviously during the prime years of Tom Brady, Bill Belichick and company:
“Green Bay called and traded up in the Draft, so everybody knows I’m going to Green Bay – it flashes up on the screen. But my mom, she somehow missed it and thought I was going to New England. So, for about an hour or so afterwards – now, mind you, this is prime New England, Super Bowl, Tom Brady – she was fired up.
About an hour later when she found out I was going to Green Bay, she was like, ‘What?! We’re not going to New England?!’ I didn’t get all worked up, though. Two years later, we won the Super Bowl, I had amazing success during my 10 years.”
Like he mentioned, it obviously worked out in the long run and he did ultimately win a Super Bowl with the Packers in 2011, and spent a decade in Green Bay where he went to six Pro Bowls and was named the 2010 Defensive Player of the Year.
He is also now a member of the Packers Hall of Fame, and says it’s been amazing to see the town transformed for this draft, in a place where he spent the glory days of his career:
“It’s amazing to be in here right now. As someone who was drafted in the first round, but didn’t partake in the festivities that come along with being in New York at the time, what Lowe’s has been able to accomplish and do in here is truly remarkable.
To have the Draft in Green Bay, it only makes sense. I was just out on stage admiring what it’s going to be like for these young men tomorrow night. Hopefully everyone appreciates the hard work that’s gone on, that the city has put on.”
I’m sure his mom would’ve been happy no matter where he got drafted in the first round, but it’s pretty funny to think about her celebrating with everyone for a good hour thinking she’s about to spend several seasons getting to watch her son play with Mr. Brady… and I can’t say that I blame her, because he’s both easy on the eyes and the greatest to ever do it.
Here’s him explaining it quite a few years ago:
