Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports
Draft Tumble Could Bring Good And Bad For Titans Rookie
NASHVILLE - Tennessee Titans rookie second-round quarterback Will Levis endured one of the worst and most public embarrassments a future NFL player could endure on day one of last week's NFL Draft.
On the cusp of fulfilling a lifelong dream, the young man showed up in Kansas City, dressed in his best suit, with his family and his girlfriend on his arm, expecting to hear his name called early in the proceedings.
Unfortunately for him and his family, that didn't happen, as he sat there at the mercy of the teams on the clock, as pick after pick rolled off the boards, and the television cameras caught his every move and expression.
While I can imagine what it must have felt like for Levis unless you've been there, it's hard to know what it felt like, but as the night wore on, I felt sad that he was enduring such a public humiliation on such a worldwide stage.
Following the draft, some reports indicated that perhaps part of his draft night tumble could have been partly caused by some teams feeling he came off as cocky or arrogant during the pre-draft process.
Of course, this could all be a rumor, and we know how many of those flew about during the last few months.
While I've yet to meet Levis in person and only got to be in front of him on a Zoom conference call shortly after his selection by the Titans, he didn't come off as anything other than grateful to have been selected.
So what's the good and bad of this for Levis?
If the rumored reports are accurate, and he was cocky or arrogant, this experience should curtail some of that. We all learn lessons throughout our lives, and for Levis, this couldn't have been more public and most likely had a humbling impact. That should be good for Levis as he moves forward into his NFL career.
The bad falling from a top ten pick to No. 33 overall into the second round will cost him financially for the first four years.
According to the projections from Sportrac.com, Levis's rookie deal with the Titans should be in the four-year, $9.5 million range, with an estimated $7 million guaranteed.
Don't get me wrong; I'm not crying or ready to start a GoFundMe campaign for him, but considering what new Colts quarterback Anthony Richardson, taken No.4 overall, is projected to get, Levis took a beating.
Richardson is projected to get a four-year deal worth $33.9 million, with $21.75 guaranteed. It doesn't take a math major to see the difference between these two young men who spent most of the pre-draft days linked together as two of the top four quarterbacks in this draft.
Make no mistake; if Levis is bright, seems to be, and managed his newfound money well, he should be just fine. If he produces on the field, he will be in line for a second contract, at or above those numbers Richardson is set to receive.
What's left now is for Levis to show up and play, and if he does that well, his draft night tumble will soon become a small piece of history.
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