The NFL Draft begins tonight, and several Badgers are hoping to hear their names called at some point this weekend. Hunter Wohler, Jack Nelson and Joe Huber are projected to be the three selected in this year's draft, and while getting picked whien the draft is being held in your home state is an all-time great story, the best draft moment in Wisconsin Badgers' history goes to their lone pick from the 2007 draft.
It's a well known story among Badger fans. The draft, eager to have the top college players attend in person, was missing the top overall offensive lineman. Instead, Joe Thomas opted to spend the day fishing with his dad, and got the call from the boat. He was selected third overall by the Cleveland Browns and began his Hall of Fame career just off the shores of Lake Michigan.
"A lot of non-Browns and non-Badgers fans will say to me, 'You're the guy that went fishing on draft day,'" Thomas told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinal.
"So many people follow that up with, it's a special story for me because it reminds me of my dad, we used to go fishing together and have these father-son moments. Maybe it was in a deer blind, or a baseball game, but there's a connection."
Thomas is the second-highest Badger ever selected in the draft, and the most recent Pro Football Hall of Fame inductee. Despite all that, his decision to stay out of the limelight has almost kept him in it, as a lot of fans out there still remember him as 'The guy who went fishing on draft day.'
The draft is a dream come true for players dreaming of an NFL career. For Thomas, it was just the beginning, and a moment he wanted to spend with family doing something he loved. As Wohler, Nelson and Huber get their own respective calls this weekend, a new group of stories will begin, each with the potential to be as memorable as Thomas' fishing trip.