NFL GM tells brutal story about how Raiders gifted Ravens a Hall of Famer
Stories emerge from time to time that should never be revealed. Sometimes it’s best to just let the past go and concentrate on the here and now. Occasionally, it’s preferable to simply scroll past that Tweet without clicking.
For example, disregard any footage of Ravens general manager Eric DeCosta that you may happen to stumble upon today if you’re a Raiders supporter! You cannot get anything by reaching out. DeCosta narrates an NFL Draft tale in the aforementioned video that will have Raiders fans banging their desks—but not in the enjoyable, thrilling, way that makes you feel like you’re on an adrenaline rush after signing Christian Wilkins.
You can’t say you weren’t warned.
NFL GM tells brutal story about how Raiders gifted Ravens a Hall of Famer
DeCosta was recently on some podcast with some former baseball player, and the two got to talking about guys who fall in the NFL Draft. He used the example of how, a while back, the Ravens really wanted a certain player that the Raiders took, and had to settle for someone else. You don’t need to do this to yourself.
“Somebody always falls,” he said. “Somebody’s always there. There’s never been a draft where there wasn’t a player picked, so someone’s always there. Now some years you think you’re going to get a guy, and he’s not there, and you get somebody else who may not end up being better than the guy you were going to take…”
“I go back to the Ed Reed draft. We had the 24th pick and we were going to take Napoleon Harris. He was 17th on our board, Ed Reed was 24th. Napoleon Harris got selected 23rd by the Oakland Raiders at the time. And it was like quiet and painful in our draft room, because we were going to get the 17th best player. Now we have to settle for a safety from Miami who’s undersized, a step slow, the 24th best player in the draft. Long story short: Hall of Famer vs. Napoleon Harris. Where is he now? No one knows.”
OK, fine, whatever. We get it. The Ravens are good at drafting. Ed Reed was good at football. But for whatever it’s worth, Harris has been an Illinois state senator for the last decade, and has run for higher office twice. So, he’s doing fine. The only ones not doing fine are Raiders fans who had to hear this story for no reason today.
