Blount’s Etiquette Won Over Dominik
March 28th, 2011
Joe loves the draft as much as any red-blooded American male who regularly watches the NFL Network. But after a point, all the talk about 40-times and playing hopscotch with cones wears on Joe pretty quick.
That would be roughly 50 minutes before the Great American Track Practice NFL Combine begins.
So for all the talk about a guy’s shuttle speed and long jump ability and his all-important, all too rehearsed 15-minute interviews at the Great American Track Practice NFL Combine, it is sometimes the little things that makes the biggest differences.
Take LeGarrette Blount. The Bucs rookie standout running back was brought into One Buc Palace last year for what was basically an all-day interview. In a story about how worthless Pro Days are, Peter Schrager of FoxSports.com got a neat nugget from Bucs rock star general manager Mark Dominik about what others would perceive as trivial but what eventually sold Dominik on Blount.
“We had about eight players eating lunch together at the facility, and after the meal, only one of the guys took the time to go back into the kitchen and thank all the chefs. That kid was LeGarrette Blount.”
Blount, of course, was suspended for much of his 2009 senior season at Oregon for punching an opposing player in the face on national television.
“Thanking the chefs showed us something about LeGarrette and his values. We knew that he’d appreciate the guy taping him up in the training room, the scout breaking down the film. We knew he was a guy we could see in our system.”
As Joe has stated before, the combine judges which players were good track athletes, not football players. Pro Days are little more than scripted rehearsals. It is when a player comes into a team’s facility for a day is when the real business of judging if the guy can be a value on Sunday afternoons takes place.
Even if that edge is with a couple of cooks.
March 28th, 2011 at 8:09 am
Thank you for being nice to the chefs Blount! The rest is history…
March 28th, 2011 at 8:10 am
Lol the chef story again? This has been WELL documented here already, but I guess hearing it for the 4th time is a reminder….
March 28th, 2011 at 8:23 am
It is a nice story, to bad the Bucs did not actually draft him……
March 28th, 2011 at 8:36 am
@Travis
It was the first time I heard the story, so it served a valid purpose 😉
@Jerrjenn2
Decent point. It was the coach of the team he was with that convinced Raheem to take him. That coach called Raheem and informed him that he should get Blount off waivers. The rest is history.
March 28th, 2011 at 8:45 am
@Pete
Fisher never called Rah out of the blue to claim him off waivers. Rah was interested in Blount and talked to Fisher about him that’s when the recommendation came about
March 28th, 2011 at 8:53 am
@Jared
I could be wrong, but I could swear Fisher initiated that call because he and Raheem are friends and Fisher wanted to help Blount. I think it was published in a story…but I wouldn’t know where to look for it.
March 28th, 2011 at 8:55 am
Let me add that it would be nice if this sight had a search option, because I am almost sure Joe would have covered the story.
March 28th, 2011 at 9:27 am
Joe,
Love you buddy, but don’t you read your own site. This chef story is old news on here. Have another cold one. Keep the draft stuff coming.
March 28th, 2011 at 1:28 pm
Guys, we needed a feel good story after hearing about Talib and his mother shooting at some scumbag in Texas.
I guess the only feel good story is an oldie but a goodie..