Strange gets strange call

As the opening night of the 2022 NFL Draft dragged on, Cole Strange watched the broadcast from the couch in Lenoir City, Tenn., with his father, Greg.

The offensive lineman from UT-Chattanooga was one of the best guard prospects in the field, and his camp had gleaned that he’d probably be picked somewhere between Nos. 30-40; very late first round or early second. It seemed every team was using its entire 10minute allotment on the clock, and Strange and his father both started to fade as teams in the mid-20s made their picks.

Then around 11 p.m., Strange’s cellphone lit up with an unknown number.

Strange slid down to the couch next to his father and put the call on speaker phone. The voice on the other end of the line said it was the Patriots, but Cole has some friends (and a brother) who are pranksters, so he was naturally a little leery.

Here’s how that phone call went, according to Greg Strange:

“(Cole) said, ‘Sir, I don’t mean to be disrespectful at all, but I’ve gotta know because I’ve got some crazy friends. Is this a prank?’ The guy said, ‘Hold on just a second.’ And then Bill Belichick got on the phone and of course, unless you’ve been under a rock for the last 20 years, you know Bill Belichick’s voice.

“As soon as I heard Bill Belichick’s voice, Cole and I both started screaming and hugging and acting crazy. Probably saying a bunch of inappropriate stuff. We were so excited. To his credit, you’ve gotta love the guy, Belichick is sitting there and when we got through, the first break he had, he said, ‘Hey Cole, you’ve gotta act like you’ve been there, man.’ It was classic to us. We absolutely loved it.”

And just like that, Strange was bound for Foxborough.

Antonio Gates