In 2000, Chris Samuels attended the NFL draft as an offensive tackle out of Alabama who became the third overall pick of the Washington Redskins.
In 2010, will attend the draft again, this time in a very different capacity: He’s going to be the guy turning in the card when the Redskins make their picks.
"[Redskins G.M.] Bruce Allen asked me, did I want to go up and represent the team,” Samuels told the Washington Post. “I thought it was a huge opportunity just to go up and support the organization, so it’s big time for me.”
Samuels will be stationed next to a phone on the floor of Radio City Music Hall, and when the Redskins’ war room comes to its decision on a pick, they’ll call Samuels, tell him the name to put on the card, and have him hustle up to the front to turn it in. If he doesn’t get the pick in on time the next team can leapfrog the Redskins in the draft order, so Samuels will need to show off good speed for a 300-pounder.
Samuels, who retired last month, was also on the practice field during the Redskins’ minicamp over the weekend and says he still considers himself a part of the franchise.
“Normally when you retire from the NFL, that’s pretty much it from the organization,” Samuels said. “But the owner and Bruce Allen and everybody’s basically showing me a lot of love, just letting me stick around and just stay active.”