Whenever the Ravens make the phone call to a prospect to tell him they're drafting him, General Manager Ozzie Newsome always does the honors.
But on Saturday afternoon at the Under Armour Performance Center, Assistant General Manager Eric DeCosta suggested a change to the routine for one memorable draft pick.
As the Ravens dialed the number for Navy's Keenan Reynolds in the sixth round, DeCosta asked if they could put the call on speaker phone for the entire room to hear the conversation.
"He's just a special kid," DeCosta said. "I wanted to experience that."
Newsome agreed with the suggestion, and the entire room had a chance to listen in as college football's all-time touchdown leader answered the phone.
Reynolds took the call from his home in Crownsville, Maryland. He was surrounded by friends and family, but the room went silent as he answered the phone.
"It was really quiet," Newsome said.
Reynolds recognized the Maryland area code when he picked up, and Newsome quickly shared that the Ravens wanted to draft him.
"I can't put into words what happened after that," Newsome said.
Many of the men in Baltimore's draft room had tears in their eyes during the phone call, including Owner Steve Bisciotti.
Reynolds was a player who stood out to the Ravens during the pre-draft scouting process for both his ability and his character.
He shined as a quarterback at Navy over the last four seasons, setting the FBS record with 88 touchdowns and finishing fifth in the voting for the Heisman trophy. Despite that success, Reynolds didn't even get an invitation to the NFL's Scouting Combine, and many people told him he was a long shot to get drafted.
But Reynolds didn't give up on his dream of playing football – he later told reporters "all I ever wanted to do is to be able to play on Sundays" – and he has spent the last several months working to transition from a quarterback to wide receiver. He has done all of his pre-draft training while also managing his military obligations.
The Ravens told Reynolds they wanted to give him a shot in the NFL, and the Navy prospect couldn't say "thank you" enough.
As the emotions swirled in the Ravens' draft room and pandemonium broke out in Reynolds' living room 40 miles away, the newest Raven told Newsome, "You won't regret this pick."
