Over the past few years, the NFL has had many guests announce picks at the NFL Draft. From former players to children to animals, it’s now a part of the experience of the draft.
Former QB Jeff Garcia revealed he was going to be announcing a third round pick for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Garcia spent two seasons of his 18-year CFL and NFL career with the Buccaneers so I wasn’t exactly expecting him to be announcing a pick for them. But he is and seemed happy to do so.
https://twitter.com/JeffGarciaJGFA/status/988602552211009537
Anyway, when word came out that the Buccaneers traded their third-round pick, Garcia got a bit heated with Tampa Bay Times reporter Greg Auman.
https://twitter.com/JeffGarciaJGFA/status/988655601067544576
Garcia apologized on Twitter both to Auman directly and to the public in general and credited his response as a misunderstanding over what his exact role was on draft day since plans changed.
https://twitter.com/JeffGarciaJGFA/status/988777623059709952
https://twitter.com/JeffGarciaJGFA/status/988779876525031426
Yes, the response was rather strong, but I have to say I might’ve acted the same if I was in Garcia’s shoes. I would’ve just done it privately. It’s a peek behind the curtain in terms of how the logistics of a moment like this works. When something is planned and set, then plans change, it can get frustrating. We just don’t see this publicly.
At the same time, one can be proud of going to Dallas to represent a team you used to play for and announce a pick, while at the same time not being obsessed with reading mock drafts and speculating what name he was announcing. In that instance, Garcia is probably too busy to be aware of the Bucs’ middle-round draft progress and whether it’s a third or in some other round, it didn’t much matter to Garcia as long as he got to announce a pick. It just came out sounding like Garcia didn’t care about what it was he was doing and was doing it because he had to.
[Tampa Bay Times/Photo: Getty Images]
