The 2020 NFL Draft will open two weeks from tomorrow — ushering with is the start of hundreds of new NFL careers. And as things currently stand, no one is set to welcome more players into the NFL than the Miami Dolphins, who are scheduled to pick 14 times before this year’s draft is said and done. If it sounds like an impressive number, it is because it is. And each of these added talents is going to have a unique draft day experience — although probably not as unique as the one experienced by former Dolphins standout receiver OJ McDuffie.
McDuffie recalled his personal NFL Draft experience for the Dolphins and lets just say the NFL Draft is a bit more mainstream than it was when McDuffie got the call in 1993.
“…I knew I wasn’t going in the top 20. So after a long night at Penn State, I drove home. And what’d I do? I took a nap!”
Imagine hearing this story during the first round of this year’s NFL Draft, if you can. To McDuffie’s credit, everyone passes the time differently, but a nap while waiting to get drafted is an impressive feat.
McDuffie would go on to log over 5,000 receiving yards for the Dolphins and 29 receiving touchdowns over his 8 seasons with the team. McDuffie appeared well on his way to having an even more successful and prosperous career too — before a nagging toe injury forced him into early retirement at the age of 31. It’s hardly the ending that anyone involved on that draft night phone call in 1993 wanted, but McDuffie would still finish his career as the man who caught the third highest percentage of passes from Dan Marino and successfully logged a 1,000 yard season in 1998.
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