Bill Belichick and the New England Patriots made a very surprising pick during the first round of the 2022 NFL Draft with the selection of Tennessee-Chattanooga offensive lineman Cole Strange at No. 29. New England had traded back from No. 21 to 29 in a deal with the Kansas City Chiefs.
Draft analysts had expected Strange to still be available in the second or third round (and perhaps still available at No. 54, New England’s second-round pick).
Even NFL head coaches and general managers were surprised.
Los Angeles Rams head coach Sean McVay and general manager Les Snead were in the middle of a press conference when they saw that the Patriots drafted Strange.
As Snead was speaking to the media, McVay interrupted with, “Cole Strange just went!”
Snead followed with, “Oh my, UT-Chattanooga to the first round!”
And then (a cackling) McVay said, “How about that? And we wasted our time watching him, thinking he’d be at [pick] 104 maybe!”
Incredible. The laughter really caps it off.
And if only we could see Belichick’s reaction to that video.
[Photo Credit: Los Angeles Rams; Andrew Siciliano]