November 16, 2021 • 31 mins
On day two of the 2021 NFL Draft, receiver Dez Fitzpatrick, and his father, Greg, strategize with agent Damarius Bilbo about Dez's positioning. At quarterback Kellen Mond's draft party, Kellen also analyzes his draft prospects, talking with his former coach at Texas A&M, Jimbo Fisher. Rounds Two and Three begin, leading to some emotional moments for the Mond Family.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Drafted is a production of tree Fork Media, Clutch Sports Group,
and I Heart Radio. What we did was put together
this why Receiver big board, and we just made a
war room in a dining room, and we've got stickies
with the top thirty receivers. So every time a guy
got picked, we put on the round what Picky was
his name? What Timmy went to? And we had twenty
(00:22):
eight slots right, and we had Dez his name and
read welcome back to Drafted. I'm Steven Johnson. And this
is episode seven of season three. The first round of
the NFL Draft is over. Kelln Mahn and Dez Fitzpatrick
(00:43):
are both still on the board, waiting for Day two
of the draft to begin and their names to be called. Des.
His father, Greg, has their living room draft board fully
updated with the five receivers that were drafted in round one,
along with velcro nameplates for the top twenty five receivers
(01:05):
still undrafted. He's as ready as anyone for round two
and three. This afternoon, Des, his mom, Wendy Fitzpatrick, describes
the experience at her ex husband's house on that first night.
Oh my goodness, the war room and that is what
he called it. Yet every wide receiver names already cut
(01:28):
out in bell Crow with the teams, so those were
already with the logo, with the helmet and the name
of the teams. All of that was vehicle. So then
we just were placing them one by one, every time
a wide receiver. And then we will look at the
batch that was left on the table of the remaining ones,
and of course Destiny's name is still there. Des appeared
(01:50):
relatively calm during the first round, even as those other
receiver names went up the board and his name remained
on the table. However, Greg's draft board didn't seem to
ease his own nerves as much as he intended. Here's
Wendy again, his father. He was pacing. He was pacing
all through the house. So we okay, we have this
(02:11):
many remaining wide receivers left. And yes, I'm like, Greg,
would you please sit down. Just a lot of nervous
energy going on. I think he was trying not to be,
but it was obvious that he is, you know, like, no, no,
I'm not no, no, no, I'm fine, And you're looking
like you're a nervous wreck. You're a nervous wreck. It
(02:32):
was very intense to say the least. As the second
and third rounds approach, Clutch agent to Marius Bilbo calls
Greg to check in on the Fitzpatrick's, perhaps with equal
concern for father and son. Here's Greg on the phone
responding about desert mental state. Man, if we got a
(02:53):
real should environment, like I was telling you yesterday, Man,
the environment that he set up at the crib is
really fun, really chill. You know, he'll have an opportunity
to just kind of be out of the way, you know,
with his boys, and just to be kind of hanging
out with his boys, you know what I mean. Sold. Yeah,
so that people aren't you know every three minutes, you know,
(03:14):
rubbing him on the bag, telling he's gonna be okay,
and days don't run, you're gonna get paid, you know. Yeah.
And then like I said, man, we got our little
war room. Tell us connect my gems. But to receive
I think I ain't thinking about the ship at this point, man,
Like I ain't. Should I nothing I can do? Yeah, Yeah,
(03:38):
that's a that's a great mindset, man. And like I said,
the worry is just it's not what we need to be.
You know. Obviously it's hard to because you got so
much on the line, You've worked so hard, and you know,
I always tell guys, this process has a way of
making you think somebody is better than you, or you
haven't done enough, or it's you're not good enough. But
(03:59):
like I say, regardless of what pick you are, you're
the only guy picked in that position for that year
and you still gotta go pool. So thoughts with his mindset, Well,
you got you know, I'll be available. I'll be sharing
information with you, and I'm interested in my draft board.
You receiver board, look look absolutely absolutely well. I appreciate you, man,
(04:26):
and we'll be talking. Yep. Although Greg maybe coming across
that's stressed or nervous death doesn't feel that way. He
still seems to be composed at the moment. He explains
his perspective going into the middle of the draft. I
(04:47):
kept telling my dad, used asked me, like, you know,
your dreams coming true, And I'm just kid telling him, like,
you know, I feel like, regardless of if I'm a
second rounder or seventh round or undrafted free agent, I
truly feel in my heart that I did everything that
I can do for me to go as high as possible.
If my dad was just more anxious, like, Okay, I
hope he gets a call, or I wonder where he's going,
(05:08):
or you know, the rams talk to him a lot. Okay,
the rams are up on the board. Okay, the rams
on the cluck, let's see. And then okay, no, that's
not you know, it's just the anxious in it. Round
two is about to begin as guests arrived at the
Fitzpatrick household in Michigan once again, and in San Antonio, Texas.
(05:31):
Friends and families show up at the man residence for
the second day, one of whom is Kellyn's grandma, Jacqueline
Mont Smith, his dad's mother, who moves in for a
hug on her grandson, Graham Graham Graham Graham's Graham grams,
(05:55):
you decided, Oh yeah, I'm pretty excited. M How do
you feel today? Feel normal? Good? How are you living?
(06:16):
You're gonna are you gonna be nervous tonight? Sure you're nervous, sire,
So you don't have to be nervous, okay. Kellen's grandma
jokingly offers to bear the anxiety for the whole family tonight,
but Kellen doesn't seem the need to take her up
on that, as he said earlier this year. He's watching
the draft at home just like he always does, and
(06:37):
the main difference is just that his name will be
called at some point. Meanwhile, in the living room, Kellen's dad,
Kevin and Clutch Sports Groups Coral Silverberg make sure everything
is set up for the virtual draft broadcast. So what's
to win? Thirty one? So here I'll show you. Really,
(07:04):
so this is a shot that is fins getting and
they're just going to NonStop make me one of that.
That's it. But they just want to make sure it's
just the mom's family on the couch with back inside
(07:27):
the house. Kellen opens the front door for another v
I P guest. Man, Oh, waiting to see it. I
know we've been Sharpen Airport for thirty minutes. Is Mark here? Yeah?
This is jimbo Fisher, Kellen's head coach from Texas A
(07:49):
and M A head coach, flying in for his players
draft party. It's almost unheard of in major college football
by this point in April. They're usually focused on recruiting
for upcoming seasons, or preparing for summer training camp, or
all the other endless demands on their time. So Jim
coming here is a true Testament to the Bond Key
and Kelen share circle were half an hour. Really. Yeah,
(08:16):
it was on the airport when we got appreciate we
don't don't. How do you do don't? Yeah? Sorry your
on you today. That's a great day man. You're watching yesterday? Yeah,
(08:38):
we were sitting here watchings Pride. Uh like Washington picking
a linebacker from Sucky, I want to say, and then
the Saints picking the defensive end. Hello, good to see you,
was saying. Washington, New Orleans and Minnesota. I know you
talked to Minnesota, talked to Minnesota, talked to Gary and
Clint and remember actaw Gary Hall of Fame thing, and uh,
(09:03):
I'll tell you the other one cross off? Yeah really?
Oh yeah, yeah yeah, I wouldn't was they who? Uh
that maybe one? Yeah? And Washington? You're at Minnesota and
who'd you say that New Orleans special for Hill. I'm
(09:25):
telling you, I've been to this thing, so damn well,
whoever you don't, whoever did word, whoever hasn't. So they don't,
they're they're so stay don't ever one they're scared the
other one's gonna jump. Yeah. Who all came down with
the team? Yeah, has right? There, chase worked out. As
(09:46):
Callen and coach Fisher continued chatting, they see NFL Commissioner
Goodell walked back onto the Cleveland stage over jackson jack
Round two is officially open and Jacksonville has the first
(10:09):
pick again. Kellen and his dad strategized based on what
happened in round one and some additional intel they got
from Kellen's agent. To Marius Bilbo, they said, no, dy
Lynman and safeties were selected last night except the two
hands from Miami. Gon'll be a lot of people, the
Mars said, a lot of lots of demons of linemen
(10:30):
going to night, a lot of secondary people going to
don't safety back now ciscot Uh. The Marius were talking
to one of the cold scouts and he said that
the cold scouts said, Um, the best of this for me,
like best teams would be in Minnesota or New Orleans.
But so New Orleans takes that sixty, Washington picks that
(10:52):
fifty one, and but Minnesota didn't have any second round picks.
But they have multiple there for the third round and
multiple four round so they may use some of those picks.
You can give them a way to train into a
second So we'll see Minnesota, New Orleans, Washington, and Denver
(11:15):
are all reportedly interested in Kelly. However, four picks in
the round two, Denver selects a running back instead of
a quarterback, Lynman and other positions fly off the board,
including two more wide receivers, but no Dez Fitzpatrick and
no quarterbacks are selected. And despite Kellen's grandma trying to
take on the nervousness for the whole family, Kellen's mom, Latitia,
(11:38):
struggles with waiting and watching, especially as the weight of
what's happening starts to finally sink in. I was definitely
the most nervous, and I think if you were to
look at the stream when the camera was on there,
I probably did not move at all that night. I
literally sat there. I don't think I really ate unless
someone handed me something. I didn't have anything to drink
(12:00):
other than having a water bottle that I was probably squeezing.
But when you think about it, you know, we had
an idea of the teens that we're looking for quarterbacks,
so we kind of knew when it was like something
was it was getting close, right, And so when you
think about it, and you know, all you could think
about is your child and how hard they have worked,
(12:25):
you know, and all you want is the best for
your kids in the end, no matter what all your ones.
It's been emotional time for me over the last couple
of months, and then we've had a lot of challengers. Also.
It wasn't just a draft adding stress. The Mond family
was also dealing with a family tragedy at the same time.
(12:46):
My mother has always been very independent. She lived on
her own, was driving at the age of eighty one,
and on April eleven, m she suffered a stroke and
based sickly was in the hospital and she was a
huge m A and m van And although she was
(13:07):
in the hospital on draft night, um, you know she
she was watching the draft. As Latitia watched the draft unfold,
she couldn't help but think of her mom in the hospital,
also watching and rooting for Kellen. Sadly, latitious mom, Sylvia Gonzalez,
(13:29):
passed away shortly after the draft ended. She was one
years old. Kellen actually did get to speak to her
a couple of days before the draft, and even though
her speech was very short and it was very difficult,
I'm so glad that he was able to talk to her,
(13:50):
you know, that last time. Yeah, we'll be right back.
(14:16):
Round two continues in Cleveland and on the television. In
the mod household, Washington has a selection soon had to
pick fifty one. This is where coach Fisher thinks Kellen
will end up. So Kellen begins to get excited and
narrate to his family in real time. We're gonna We're
(14:36):
gonna see what Washingtonton does. One. I ain't trying to
make you. Anxiety goes no call before, No, they call
you after the pig see after the Giants pick Washington
(14:57):
Parney checking balls a yesterday, I'll sitting right here and
dad walked up behind me and he was it was
Washington's pick, and like, you know, they needed a quarterback.
I guess he's like just checking phones, just checking phones.
The nerves are starting the show for Kellen's family, but
not for him. Yeah, Washington's next, Okay. Gianna's uh, She's like, yeah,
(15:23):
my anxiety is for the group. And I'm like, yeah,
you're like your hand is taking to like that's why
I keep putting my hand in my hair. On the
draft broadcast, Washington announces their pick, an offensive tackle from Texas.
The weight continues for Kellen, so, y'all, y'all, deciety can
(15:48):
go down. Now. You know what's not me? You gotta
be a QB. In the next three picks it Carolina Tennessee.
They don't need the one. They might get one. UM four.
(16:20):
Although he's tough to hear. That's coach Jimbo Fisher in
the background commenting on a draft prospect on TV. Coach
Fisher is talking about playing against him and what his
stats were in a game that happened years ago. Apparently
this sort of photographic football memory is the norm with him.
Here's Kellen in the living room again, explaining another instance. Yeah,
(16:43):
we we we mean like meetings and stuffing. He'd be like, hey,
like pull up l s U two thousand four against Arkansas.
We were going in the red drum. I'm like, dude,
that was seventeen years ago. Where he keeps team free
(17:07):
receiving players. Pick fifty seven, it's Dez Fitzpatrick's teammate and
fellow Louisville wide receiver to tow out well. He's selected
by the Los Angeles Rams, a team rumored to be
interested in death. The pick surprises everyone in the Fitzpatrick family,
(17:28):
and although Dez is happy and excited for his teammate.
He also has been watching receiver after receiver get picked
ahead of him. Here's his agent to Marius Bilbo on
how does processes all of this. He took a lot
of things in disrespect. And I think that Morsel went
(17:48):
from going to Louisville, you know, having a great freshman
year with Lamar Jackson and then kind of taking a
back seat to some other names on roster or other
guys who crossed the conference in the crawl the country.
You know, he he really took a personal approach to this.
Is that that I don't think I ever saw anyone
outside of Jarvis Landry, you know, like I'm gonna write
(18:10):
every receiver name that went in front of me. I'm
gonna write their name down. I'm gonna keep it in
my locker, and I'm gonna make sure when it's the
last man standing, you know, my name is gonna be
left on that list. And that's days And if he
told you anything different, He's lines. We'll be right back
(18:48):
back in San Antonio. The Chiefs are on the clock
with pick number. Then two picks later the things will
be up. And now that their longtime quarterback Drew Breeze retired,
They've been rumored as an another likely landing spot for Kellen.
He and his family discussed the Saints interest as the
pick approaches. What are the Saints gonna do? Because I
(19:19):
mean they called Jimbo after the meeting, like multiple coaches
from and to Marrius. So if y'all have, like, if
y'all have like food, and y'all tim and like you celebrate,
are you gonna like throw it up? Yeah? Kellen is
feeling optimistic because the Saints followed up their meeting with
him by calling his coach, Jimbo and his agent to Marius,
(19:39):
that kind of due diligence usually means the team wants
to draft you. Surprisingly, the Saints take a linebacker from
Ohio State instead. Feeling even more anxious, Kellen's mom, Letitia,
keeps eyeing her son's phone. I kept asking Kellen, when
will you be getting the call? Like, at what point
do they make the call? And he said that once
(20:02):
the clock starts for the next pick, that that was
when they would call. So we're sitting and it's pick
sixty four and it's Tampa Bay and we know that
they're looking for a quarterback and so I'm just you know,
trying to be you know, I always have a smile
on my face and looking and looking and looking, and
then all of a sudden, I see the pick is in,
(20:23):
So I thought, darn it. Okay, so it's not pick
sixty four. Okay, Now we're praying for sixty six because
that's Minnesota. Pick sixty four belonged to the defending Super
Bowl champs, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. They needed a quarterback
to back up Tom Brady, and they took one, selecting
Florida quarterback Kyle Trask instead of Kellen. That marks the
(20:48):
end of round two. Now Round three begins with Kellen
and Dez still waiting and perhaps feeling a little more nervous.
That's the second round in right now? Want the third round?
Note Roun, Hello, this is yeah, a bunch of people,
(21:13):
you know, technically a lot open right now? Yeah, yes, sir, awesome,
I got you. He said you're going in Minnesota. Watch
(21:56):
this up. That's Kellen's mom crying, and it's Coral Silverberg
from Clutched Sports trying to clear a path for the
draft broadcast because they'll be showing Kellen and his family
on TV. When the pick Is announcement with the sixty
six pick info track see Minnesota Viking select telling, Get
(22:35):
Learning here, Serious, Graham, love you anything. That was Kellen's
(23:03):
dad informing everyone they're about to get lit and that
he isn't really sure what that means. Kellen describes the
whirlwind moment from the phone call to hugging his grandma afterwards.
I don't remember any day. I didn't necessarily know who
was going to drive me or what was going on,
so I didn't tell anyone I was on the phone.
(23:24):
So whenever I said that, you know, people around me
knew what there was, like people upstairs and everyone went crazy.
Uh so, I mean it was, it was. It was
a phenomenal feeling, and you know, I tell a lot
of people that was probably one of the best feelings,
um you know, that I've ever had. After ducking into
another room to do interviews and media appearances, Kellen returns
(23:44):
to the party to celebrate with friends and family. I
was I was talking about to cry on everything with
trut To crying around me everything. Yeah, what what's the
weather like out there? Where I see? Kellen spent his
entire life in Texas and Florida. So not surprisingly, he's
(24:07):
already worried about the weather in Minneapolis. It's it's been
it's been five in Minnesota. You can thank you for coming.
(24:27):
The moment when Kelln's name was finally called impacted everyone
at the party differently. Most cheered, some cried, and some
just felt relief. Kellen's mom, Letitia, explains how watching the
pick be announced opened her eyes to something much bigger
than her son getting a new job as an NFL quarterback.
(24:50):
When you looked around the room when and I'm gonna
get emotional, but you know, there were there were so
many family members. But when you looked at a friends
and you see friends of Kellyn's that um, you know,
you saw his coaches, his first coaches there, you saw
Jimbo sitting on the couch. Um. It was such an
(25:12):
incredible experience. You see his and m teammates, and you
see kids that played middle school ball with him. It
was amazing when you looked around the room to see
who was really surrounding him, and they have all made
an impact on Kellen and one thing that I thought
was even the most special, and so many people commented
(25:32):
on this. But after everything happened and he was drafted,
and you know, we all started celebrating, and actually he was,
you know, with my brothers and sisters, with your brothers
and sisters, and just thanking them, thank you them for
their support along the way, and it was just it
was really it was really emotional. Shortly after all that,
(25:56):
Kellen takes the microphone outside and addresses the crowd, m hey,
real quick, everybody at real quick. Hey, I just want
to just yeah, yeah, yeah, oh you you you wrote this. Hey.
I just want to appreciate everybody for coming out here.
(26:17):
Uh pretty much everyone who's in here I've been a
part of a part of sometime I was a young kid,
or just somebody I've met in college. So everyone who's
been here has been a part of my support system.
So I just want to say I love you'll, appreciate
you all for coming out now, for telling yeah you
(26:48):
can meet a microphone, y'all even get it back ground,
for being out help of the family. Thank you for
everybody come out. And this has always been a port
And this is Kellen's dad, Kevin giving the speech. Now.
It's been a lifelong dream of mind to have a
child German. From the agent to starting les a quarterback
(27:11):
always said I would never a true story. I would
never ever change the damage blinds that were there from
all the footballs we threw in this house. Mrs Mom
would yell at us. We continue to do bit winds
all throughout the house. I've promised you, I honestly God said,
I would never change the blinds unless Kalman make it.
(27:37):
We have blinds in our house here yet Uh there's
been probably over a thousand footballs and hit the blinds
from throwing, having him throwing practice in the house and
heard yelling stop hitting the blinds. And we did it
all the tw years he was a kid, whether he's
three years old, four years old. I started, like I said,
at too, throwing in their football. So we have a
lot of damage blinds. But the deal was I would
(27:58):
not change out the blinds in the house after we
left him for a certain period of time until Kellen
made it to the NFL. And now college is done
and he made it to the NFL, so now I
get a chance I can go buy new blinds. But
it's kind of the symbol of her house for him
because there's like been you know, limital blinds in the house.
You know, window blinds and some have been up. But
(28:19):
you know, it's not like the house is tacky or anything.
But it was just the symbol of Kellen throwing the
football in the house, hitting the windows so our dad
make not making the catchupple ball he threw. So maybe
that was it. But you know, we've been joking about
this obviously for many, many years. Um, I actually want
(28:39):
to keep the blinds because to me, you know, it
reminds you of the journey that you've been on. Right,
maybe more than anything else. That's what the NFL draft
truly represents. It's the culminating moment of someone's entire life,
from a two year old throwing a nerve ball with
(29:01):
his dad, to a struggling college student dealing with the
weight of perfection to a wide eyed NFL rookie with
unlimited promise ahead. And it's that same zenith for his parents,
seeing his friends from youth football, his cousins and college teammates,
and even his coaches from out of town, all from
(29:22):
different chapters of his life, all coming together to celebrate
that little kid who lives in their memories. Next undrafted
(29:45):
Jesus getting worried because you know when day three happens.
It's like he could just start sliding. I don't want
to have those feelings, so let me just try to
block it out like it doesn't exist. People ask me
what I wanted to do. I said NFL and they said, well,
you gotta have a backup plan. So that night I
couldn't sleep that night, and before I went to bed,
I said, you okay, man, He goes yeah. I knew
(30:08):
it wasn't gonna happen. It was at least fourteen hours
a day of the time. You wake up at five
am and I'm not getting home until seven at night.
Then I have to do homework and then right back.
As long as he keep showing up to his training sessions,
We're gonna keep showing up to a training session. It
was about putting everything I could put into this kid
to where he can have what I didn't have. Drafted
(30:34):
is a production of tree Ford Media, Clutch Sports Group,
and I Heart Radio. The executive producers are Kelly Gardner,
Lisa Amerman, Eric Slott, Eric Weiner, and sewn to Toone.
The series is produced and written by Eric Winer. Garme
Mamalu is our coordinating producer. Coral Silverberg is our associate producer.
Tom Monahan is our senior audio engineer. The show is mixed, edited,
(30:57):
and hosted by me Stephen Johnson, additional production help from
Tim Shower and Hailey Mandelberg. For transcripts of the show
and more information undrafted, go to Tree for dot fm,
and for more podcasts. For my Heart, visit the I
Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to
your favorite shows.
Drafted is a production of tree Fork Media, Clutch Sports Group,
and I Heart Radio. What we did was put together
this why Receiver big board, and we just made a
war room in a dining room, and we've got stickies
with the top thirty receivers. So every time a guy
got picked, we put on the round what Picky was
his name? What Timmy went to? And we had twenty
(00:22):
eight slots right, and we had Dez his name and
read welcome back to Drafted. I'm Steven Johnson. And this
is episode seven of season three. The first round of
the NFL Draft is over. Kelln Mahn and Dez Fitzpatrick
(00:43):
are both still on the board, waiting for Day two
of the draft to begin and their names to be called. Des.
His father, Greg, has their living room draft board fully
updated with the five receivers that were drafted in round one,
along with velcro nameplates for the top twenty five receivers
(01:05):
still undrafted. He's as ready as anyone for round two
and three. This afternoon, Des, his mom, Wendy Fitzpatrick, describes
the experience at her ex husband's house on that first night.
Oh my goodness, the war room and that is what
he called it. Yet every wide receiver names already cut
(01:28):
out in bell Crow with the teams, so those were
already with the logo, with the helmet and the name
of the teams. All of that was vehicle. So then
we just were placing them one by one, every time
a wide receiver. And then we will look at the
batch that was left on the table of the remaining ones,
and of course Destiny's name is still there. Des appeared
(01:50):
relatively calm during the first round, even as those other
receiver names went up the board and his name remained
on the table. However, Greg's draft board didn't seem to
ease his own nerves as much as he intended. Here's
Wendy again, his father. He was pacing. He was pacing
all through the house. So we okay, we have this
(02:11):
many remaining wide receivers left. And yes, I'm like, Greg,
would you please sit down. Just a lot of nervous
energy going on. I think he was trying not to be,
but it was obvious that he is, you know, like, no, no,
I'm not no, no, no, I'm fine, And you're looking
like you're a nervous wreck. You're a nervous wreck. It
(02:32):
was very intense to say the least. As the second
and third rounds approach, Clutch agent to Marius Bilbo calls
Greg to check in on the Fitzpatrick's, perhaps with equal
concern for father and son. Here's Greg on the phone
responding about desert mental state. Man, if we got a
(02:53):
real should environment, like I was telling you yesterday, Man,
the environment that he set up at the crib is
really fun, really chill. You know, he'll have an opportunity
to just kind of be out of the way, you know,
with his boys, and just to be kind of hanging
out with his boys, you know what I mean. Sold. Yeah,
so that people aren't you know every three minutes, you know,
(03:14):
rubbing him on the bag, telling he's gonna be okay,
and days don't run, you're gonna get paid, you know. Yeah.
And then like I said, man, we got our little
war room. Tell us connect my gems. But to receive
I think I ain't thinking about the ship at this point, man,
Like I ain't. Should I nothing I can do? Yeah, Yeah,
(03:38):
that's a that's a great mindset, man. And like I said,
the worry is just it's not what we need to be.
You know. Obviously it's hard to because you got so
much on the line, You've worked so hard, and you know,
I always tell guys, this process has a way of
making you think somebody is better than you, or you
haven't done enough, or it's you're not good enough. But
(03:59):
like I say, regardless of what pick you are, you're
the only guy picked in that position for that year
and you still gotta go pool. So thoughts with his mindset, Well,
you got you know, I'll be available. I'll be sharing
information with you, and I'm interested in my draft board.
You receiver board, look look absolutely absolutely well. I appreciate you, man,
(04:26):
and we'll be talking. Yep. Although Greg maybe coming across
that's stressed or nervous death doesn't feel that way. He
still seems to be composed at the moment. He explains
his perspective going into the middle of the draft. I
(04:47):
kept telling my dad, used asked me, like, you know,
your dreams coming true, And I'm just kid telling him, like,
you know, I feel like, regardless of if I'm a
second rounder or seventh round or undrafted free agent, I
truly feel in my heart that I did everything that
I can do for me to go as high as possible.
If my dad was just more anxious, like, Okay, I
hope he gets a call, or I wonder where he's going,
(05:08):
or you know, the rams talk to him a lot. Okay,
the rams are up on the board. Okay, the rams
on the cluck, let's see. And then okay, no, that's
not you know, it's just the anxious in it. Round
two is about to begin as guests arrived at the
Fitzpatrick household in Michigan once again, and in San Antonio, Texas.
(05:31):
Friends and families show up at the man residence for
the second day, one of whom is Kellyn's grandma, Jacqueline
Mont Smith, his dad's mother, who moves in for a
hug on her grandson, Graham Graham Graham Graham's Graham grams,
(05:55):
you decided, Oh yeah, I'm pretty excited. M How do
you feel today? Feel normal? Good? How are you living?
(06:16):
You're gonna are you gonna be nervous tonight? Sure you're nervous, sire,
So you don't have to be nervous, okay. Kellen's grandma
jokingly offers to bear the anxiety for the whole family tonight,
but Kellen doesn't seem the need to take her up
on that, as he said earlier this year. He's watching
the draft at home just like he always does, and
(06:37):
the main difference is just that his name will be
called at some point. Meanwhile, in the living room, Kellen's dad,
Kevin and Clutch Sports Groups Coral Silverberg make sure everything
is set up for the virtual draft broadcast. So what's
to win? Thirty one? So here I'll show you. Really,
(07:04):
so this is a shot that is fins getting and
they're just going to NonStop make me one of that.
That's it. But they just want to make sure it's
just the mom's family on the couch with back inside
(07:27):
the house. Kellen opens the front door for another v
I P guest. Man, Oh, waiting to see it. I
know we've been Sharpen Airport for thirty minutes. Is Mark here? Yeah?
This is jimbo Fisher, Kellen's head coach from Texas A
(07:49):
and M A head coach, flying in for his players
draft party. It's almost unheard of in major college football
by this point in April. They're usually focused on recruiting
for upcoming seasons, or preparing for summer training camp, or
all the other endless demands on their time. So Jim
coming here is a true Testament to the Bond Key
and Kelen share circle were half an hour. Really. Yeah,
(08:16):
it was on the airport when we got appreciate we
don't don't. How do you do don't? Yeah? Sorry your
on you today. That's a great day man. You're watching yesterday? Yeah,
(08:38):
we were sitting here watchings Pride. Uh like Washington picking
a linebacker from Sucky, I want to say, and then
the Saints picking the defensive end. Hello, good to see you,
was saying. Washington, New Orleans and Minnesota. I know you
talked to Minnesota, talked to Minnesota, talked to Gary and
Clint and remember actaw Gary Hall of Fame thing, and uh,
(09:03):
I'll tell you the other one cross off? Yeah really?
Oh yeah, yeah yeah, I wouldn't was they who? Uh
that maybe one? Yeah? And Washington? You're at Minnesota and
who'd you say that New Orleans special for Hill. I'm
(09:25):
telling you, I've been to this thing, so damn well,
whoever you don't, whoever did word, whoever hasn't. So they don't,
they're they're so stay don't ever one they're scared the
other one's gonna jump. Yeah. Who all came down with
the team? Yeah, has right? There, chase worked out. As
(09:46):
Callen and coach Fisher continued chatting, they see NFL Commissioner
Goodell walked back onto the Cleveland stage over jackson jack
Round two is officially open and Jacksonville has the first
(10:09):
pick again. Kellen and his dad strategized based on what
happened in round one and some additional intel they got
from Kellen's agent. To Marius Bilbo, they said, no, dy
Lynman and safeties were selected last night except the two
hands from Miami. Gon'll be a lot of people, the
Mars said, a lot of lots of demons of linemen
(10:30):
going to night, a lot of secondary people going to
don't safety back now ciscot Uh. The Marius were talking
to one of the cold scouts and he said that
the cold scouts said, Um, the best of this for me,
like best teams would be in Minnesota or New Orleans.
But so New Orleans takes that sixty, Washington picks that
(10:52):
fifty one, and but Minnesota didn't have any second round picks.
But they have multiple there for the third round and
multiple four round so they may use some of those picks.
You can give them a way to train into a
second So we'll see Minnesota, New Orleans, Washington, and Denver
(11:15):
are all reportedly interested in Kelly. However, four picks in
the round two, Denver selects a running back instead of
a quarterback, Lynman and other positions fly off the board,
including two more wide receivers, but no Dez Fitzpatrick and
no quarterbacks are selected. And despite Kellen's grandma trying to
take on the nervousness for the whole family, Kellen's mom, Latitia,
(11:38):
struggles with waiting and watching, especially as the weight of
what's happening starts to finally sink in. I was definitely
the most nervous, and I think if you were to
look at the stream when the camera was on there,
I probably did not move at all that night. I
literally sat there. I don't think I really ate unless
someone handed me something. I didn't have anything to drink
(12:00):
other than having a water bottle that I was probably squeezing.
But when you think about it, you know, we had
an idea of the teens that we're looking for quarterbacks,
so we kind of knew when it was like something
was it was getting close, right, And so when you
think about it, and you know, all you could think
about is your child and how hard they have worked,
(12:25):
you know, and all you want is the best for
your kids in the end, no matter what all your ones.
It's been emotional time for me over the last couple
of months, and then we've had a lot of challengers. Also.
It wasn't just a draft adding stress. The Mond family
was also dealing with a family tragedy at the same time.
(12:46):
My mother has always been very independent. She lived on
her own, was driving at the age of eighty one,
and on April eleven, m she suffered a stroke and
based sickly was in the hospital and she was a
huge m A and m van And although she was
(13:07):
in the hospital on draft night, um, you know she
she was watching the draft. As Latitia watched the draft unfold,
she couldn't help but think of her mom in the hospital,
also watching and rooting for Kellen. Sadly, latitious mom, Sylvia Gonzalez,
(13:29):
passed away shortly after the draft ended. She was one
years old. Kellen actually did get to speak to her
a couple of days before the draft, and even though
her speech was very short and it was very difficult,
I'm so glad that he was able to talk to her,
(13:50):
you know, that last time. Yeah, we'll be right back.
(14:16):
Round two continues in Cleveland and on the television. In
the mod household, Washington has a selection soon had to
pick fifty one. This is where coach Fisher thinks Kellen
will end up. So Kellen begins to get excited and
narrate to his family in real time. We're gonna We're
(14:36):
gonna see what Washingtonton does. One. I ain't trying to
make you. Anxiety goes no call before, No, they call
you after the pig see after the Giants pick Washington
(14:57):
Parney checking balls a yesterday, I'll sitting right here and
dad walked up behind me and he was it was
Washington's pick, and like, you know, they needed a quarterback.
I guess he's like just checking phones, just checking phones.
The nerves are starting the show for Kellen's family, but
not for him. Yeah, Washington's next, Okay. Gianna's uh, She's like, yeah,
(15:23):
my anxiety is for the group. And I'm like, yeah,
you're like your hand is taking to like that's why
I keep putting my hand in my hair. On the
draft broadcast, Washington announces their pick, an offensive tackle from Texas.
The weight continues for Kellen, so, y'all, y'all, deciety can
(15:48):
go down. Now. You know what's not me? You gotta
be a QB. In the next three picks it Carolina Tennessee.
They don't need the one. They might get one. UM four.
(16:20):
Although he's tough to hear. That's coach Jimbo Fisher in
the background commenting on a draft prospect on TV. Coach
Fisher is talking about playing against him and what his
stats were in a game that happened years ago. Apparently
this sort of photographic football memory is the norm with him.
Here's Kellen in the living room again, explaining another instance. Yeah,
(16:43):
we we we mean like meetings and stuffing. He'd be like, hey,
like pull up l s U two thousand four against Arkansas.
We were going in the red drum. I'm like, dude,
that was seventeen years ago. Where he keeps team free
(17:07):
receiving players. Pick fifty seven, it's Dez Fitzpatrick's teammate and
fellow Louisville wide receiver to tow out well. He's selected
by the Los Angeles Rams, a team rumored to be
interested in death. The pick surprises everyone in the Fitzpatrick family,
(17:28):
and although Dez is happy and excited for his teammate.
He also has been watching receiver after receiver get picked
ahead of him. Here's his agent to Marius Bilbo on
how does processes all of this. He took a lot
of things in disrespect. And I think that Morsel went
(17:48):
from going to Louisville, you know, having a great freshman
year with Lamar Jackson and then kind of taking a
back seat to some other names on roster or other
guys who crossed the conference in the crawl the country.
You know, he he really took a personal approach to this.
Is that that I don't think I ever saw anyone
outside of Jarvis Landry, you know, like I'm gonna write
(18:10):
every receiver name that went in front of me. I'm
gonna write their name down. I'm gonna keep it in
my locker, and I'm gonna make sure when it's the
last man standing, you know, my name is gonna be
left on that list. And that's days And if he
told you anything different, He's lines. We'll be right back
(18:48):
back in San Antonio. The Chiefs are on the clock
with pick number. Then two picks later the things will
be up. And now that their longtime quarterback Drew Breeze retired,
They've been rumored as an another likely landing spot for Kellen.
He and his family discussed the Saints interest as the
pick approaches. What are the Saints gonna do? Because I
(19:19):
mean they called Jimbo after the meeting, like multiple coaches
from and to Marrius. So if y'all have, like, if
y'all have like food, and y'all tim and like you celebrate,
are you gonna like throw it up? Yeah? Kellen is
feeling optimistic because the Saints followed up their meeting with
him by calling his coach, Jimbo and his agent to Marius,
(19:39):
that kind of due diligence usually means the team wants
to draft you. Surprisingly, the Saints take a linebacker from
Ohio State instead. Feeling even more anxious, Kellen's mom, Letitia,
keeps eyeing her son's phone. I kept asking Kellen, when
will you be getting the call? Like, at what point
do they make the call? And he said that once
(20:02):
the clock starts for the next pick, that that was
when they would call. So we're sitting and it's pick
sixty four and it's Tampa Bay and we know that
they're looking for a quarterback and so I'm just you know,
trying to be you know, I always have a smile
on my face and looking and looking and looking, and
then all of a sudden, I see the pick is in,
(20:23):
So I thought, darn it. Okay, so it's not pick
sixty four. Okay, Now we're praying for sixty six because
that's Minnesota. Pick sixty four belonged to the defending Super
Bowl champs, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. They needed a quarterback
to back up Tom Brady, and they took one, selecting
Florida quarterback Kyle Trask instead of Kellen. That marks the
(20:48):
end of round two. Now Round three begins with Kellen
and Dez still waiting and perhaps feeling a little more nervous.
That's the second round in right now? Want the third round?
Note Roun, Hello, this is yeah, a bunch of people,
(21:13):
you know, technically a lot open right now? Yeah, yes, sir, awesome,
I got you. He said you're going in Minnesota. Watch
(21:56):
this up. That's Kellen's mom crying, and it's Coral Silverberg
from Clutched Sports trying to clear a path for the
draft broadcast because they'll be showing Kellen and his family
on TV. When the pick Is announcement with the sixty
six pick info track see Minnesota Viking select telling, Get
(22:35):
Learning here, Serious, Graham, love you anything. That was Kellen's
(23:03):
dad informing everyone they're about to get lit and that
he isn't really sure what that means. Kellen describes the
whirlwind moment from the phone call to hugging his grandma afterwards.
I don't remember any day. I didn't necessarily know who
was going to drive me or what was going on,
so I didn't tell anyone I was on the phone.
(23:24):
So whenever I said that, you know, people around me
knew what there was, like people upstairs and everyone went crazy.
Uh so, I mean it was, it was. It was
a phenomenal feeling, and you know, I tell a lot
of people that was probably one of the best feelings,
um you know, that I've ever had. After ducking into
another room to do interviews and media appearances, Kellen returns
(23:44):
to the party to celebrate with friends and family. I
was I was talking about to cry on everything with
trut To crying around me everything. Yeah, what what's the
weather like out there? Where I see? Kellen spent his
entire life in Texas and Florida. So not surprisingly, he's
(24:07):
already worried about the weather in Minneapolis. It's it's been
it's been five in Minnesota. You can thank you for coming.
(24:27):
The moment when Kelln's name was finally called impacted everyone
at the party differently. Most cheered, some cried, and some
just felt relief. Kellen's mom, Letitia, explains how watching the
pick be announced opened her eyes to something much bigger
than her son getting a new job as an NFL quarterback.
(24:50):
When you looked around the room when and I'm gonna
get emotional, but you know, there were there were so
many family members. But when you looked at a friends
and you see friends of Kellyn's that um, you know,
you saw his coaches, his first coaches there, you saw
Jimbo sitting on the couch. Um. It was such an
(25:12):
incredible experience. You see his and m teammates, and you
see kids that played middle school ball with him. It
was amazing when you looked around the room to see
who was really surrounding him, and they have all made
an impact on Kellen and one thing that I thought
was even the most special, and so many people commented
(25:32):
on this. But after everything happened and he was drafted,
and you know, we all started celebrating, and actually he was,
you know, with my brothers and sisters, with your brothers
and sisters, and just thanking them, thank you them for
their support along the way, and it was just it
was really it was really emotional. Shortly after all that,
(25:56):
Kellen takes the microphone outside and addresses the crowd, m hey,
real quick, everybody at real quick. Hey, I just want
to just yeah, yeah, yeah, oh you you you wrote this. Hey.
I just want to appreciate everybody for coming out here.
(26:17):
Uh pretty much everyone who's in here I've been a
part of a part of sometime I was a young kid,
or just somebody I've met in college. So everyone who's
been here has been a part of my support system.
So I just want to say I love you'll, appreciate
you all for coming out now, for telling yeah you
(26:48):
can meet a microphone, y'all even get it back ground,
for being out help of the family. Thank you for
everybody come out. And this has always been a port
And this is Kellen's dad, Kevin giving the speech. Now.
It's been a lifelong dream of mind to have a
child German. From the agent to starting les a quarterback
(27:11):
always said I would never a true story. I would
never ever change the damage blinds that were there from
all the footballs we threw in this house. Mrs Mom
would yell at us. We continue to do bit winds
all throughout the house. I've promised you, I honestly God said,
I would never change the blinds unless Kalman make it.
(27:37):
We have blinds in our house here yet Uh there's
been probably over a thousand footballs and hit the blinds
from throwing, having him throwing practice in the house and
heard yelling stop hitting the blinds. And we did it
all the tw years he was a kid, whether he's
three years old, four years old. I started, like I said,
at too, throwing in their football. So we have a
lot of damage blinds. But the deal was I would
(27:58):
not change out the blinds in the house after we
left him for a certain period of time until Kellen
made it to the NFL. And now college is done
and he made it to the NFL, so now I
get a chance I can go buy new blinds. But
it's kind of the symbol of her house for him
because there's like been you know, limital blinds in the house.
You know, window blinds and some have been up. But
(28:19):
you know, it's not like the house is tacky or anything.
But it was just the symbol of Kellen throwing the
football in the house, hitting the windows so our dad
make not making the catchupple ball he threw. So maybe
that was it. But you know, we've been joking about
this obviously for many, many years. Um, I actually want
(28:39):
to keep the blinds because to me, you know, it
reminds you of the journey that you've been on. Right,
maybe more than anything else. That's what the NFL draft
truly represents. It's the culminating moment of someone's entire life,
from a two year old throwing a nerve ball with
(29:01):
his dad, to a struggling college student dealing with the
weight of perfection to a wide eyed NFL rookie with
unlimited promise ahead. And it's that same zenith for his parents,
seeing his friends from youth football, his cousins and college teammates,
and even his coaches from out of town, all from
(29:22):
different chapters of his life, all coming together to celebrate
that little kid who lives in their memories. Next undrafted
(29:45):
Jesus getting worried because you know when day three happens.
It's like he could just start sliding. I don't want
to have those feelings, so let me just try to
block it out like it doesn't exist. People ask me
what I wanted to do. I said NFL and they said, well,
you gotta have a backup plan. So that night I
couldn't sleep that night, and before I went to bed,
I said, you okay, man, He goes yeah. I knew
(30:08):
it wasn't gonna happen. It was at least fourteen hours
a day of the time. You wake up at five
am and I'm not getting home until seven at night.
Then I have to do homework and then right back.
As long as he keep showing up to his training sessions,
We're gonna keep showing up to a training session. It
was about putting everything I could put into this kid
to where he can have what I didn't have. Drafted
(30:34):
is a production of tree Ford Media, Clutch Sports Group,
and I Heart Radio. The executive producers are Kelly Gardner,
Lisa Amerman, Eric Slott, Eric Weiner, and sewn to Toone.
The series is produced and written by Eric Winer. Garme
Mamalu is our coordinating producer. Coral Silverberg is our associate producer.
Tom Monahan is our senior audio engineer. The show is mixed, edited,
(30:57):
and hosted by me Stephen Johnson, additional production help from
Tim Shower and Hailey Mandelberg. For transcripts of the show
and more information undrafted, go to Tree for dot fm,
and for more podcasts. For my Heart, visit the I
Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to
your favorite shows.
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