It’s always fun to see the guts of an NFL Draft war room.
In-house media teams have given us quite the insight into the biggest moments of the most exciting three days of the offseason. While watching players learn of their pro destinations tug at our hearts and off-the-cuff trade calls allow fans to witness the drama, mini-documentaries have also showed the lighter side of NFL executives.
Namely, the pranks.
On the latest episode of Cardinals Flight Plan, the Arizona Cardinals kicked off the picking, but they didn’t select Kyler Murray No. 1 before receiving a very unimportant phone call from Cleveland Browns general manager John Dorsey.
“I’m sure he was calling to (explicit) with me,” said GM Steve Keim after missing a phone call from Cleveland.
“You told me to go dark, was I dark enough?” Keim said to Dorsey when he called the Browns GM back. “You joking? You trying to reach me at a fragile moment? Holler at me if anything comes up.”
This isn’t exclusively a Keim and Dorsey thing.
Apparently, Dorsey has a habit of ringing the GMs he knows well during the draft.
The Indianapolis Colts’ draft-day look-in also includes their general manager, Chris Ballard, taking a meaningless phone call from Dorsey.
“I’m working,” Ballard said while on the clock, slamming the phone down and laughing about hanging up on Dorsey.
“John’s like a brother,” the Colts GM explained in a post-draft interview. “Every year during draft day, when we get on the pick I always get this call from Dorsey. I always know if it’s on the pick that … he’s joking and trying to get me riled up in the middle of making a decision.”
Dorsey helped Cleveland turn things around last year, yet it was Ballard who earned the NFL Executive of the Year award.
For his draft-day efforting in fun, we think Dorsey deserves more consideration for such honors.