For most NFL rookies, Draft Night is about hearing their name called, embracing their family, and then hitting the club to celebrate the start of their pro careers. But for CeeDee Lamb, his introduction to the NFL was anything but typical. Instead, his draft moment went viral for a split-second interaction with his then-girlfriend, Crymson Rose.
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For those out of the loop, after Lamb was announced as the 17th overall pick by the Dallas Cowboys, the cameras panned to him sitting along with his family and girlfriend. At that moment, the star wideout was on a call with one phone while his second phone rested on his lap. Suddenly, his girlfriend reached for the second device, prompting Lamb to quickly snatch it back and shake his head in disapproval.
The way CeeDee Lamb snatched that phone back (via @mixeduppasha) pic.twitter.com/zi33F4Lp8L
— Overtime (@overtime) April 24, 2020
The clip was short, but the reaction was immediate, as Lamb’s phone-snatching moment went viral. It became so iconic that even five years later, the star receiver’s reaction still pops up in funny draft-night compilations.
It resurfaced again during his casual chat with streamer N3on at McDonald’s. Fans began spamming, “Ask him about the phone snatch,” which the host N3on was clueless about. “What is that?” the streamer said, while Lamb started laughing, acting innocent, like he didn’t know what everyone was talking about.
“Huh? What is what? I don’t know what chat talking about. They be tripping sometimes.”
And as N3on kept pressing, Lamb continued laughing before finally clarifying, “Nah, it was the draft, bro. They’re crazy [the fans who kept spamming the moment]. I got drafted, and I snatched my phone from my girlfriend at the time.”
“That’s a baller move bro. I feel it’s something I would do,” N3on reacted, but Lamb quickly shut it down. “No, you wouldn’t… It was a crazy night.”
NFL Star CeeDee Lamb talks about the VIRAL moment when he snatched his phone from his gf on Draft night… pic.twitter.com/TvDG6X13wk
— N3on Lies (@n3onlie) March 12, 2025
While this response doesn’t add much to the viral moment, knowing how aloof CeeDee Lamb is most of the time, his laughter makes it clear that the internet’s wildest conspiracy theories back then were all nonsense.
When the clip went viral in 2020, netizens made a host of vile comments about the couple, ranging from calling Rose, Lamb’s ‘side chick’ to accusing his girlfriend of trying to steal his thunder.
This led Crymson to take to X, formerly known as Twitter, to shut the haters up by revealing that she was simply trying to be the girlfriend who answers her man’s phone.
“His agent was FACETIMING him while he was on the phone with the Cowboys,” she tweeted at the time. “I was doing the GF thing. Gonna answer it for him. Sheesh.”
His agent was FACETIMING him while he was on the phone with the Cowboys, I was doing the GF thing gonna answer it for him sheesh https://t.co/lXR0XUTLJ0
— Crymson Rose (@Crymson_Rose) April 24, 2020
Lamb, back then, also stepped in to support Rose, shutting down all the crass theories made by the netizens. “Y’all really gotta chill wasn’t even like dat,” he tweeted.
y’all really gotta chill wasn’t even like dat https://t.co/ziQaGkAWbT
— CeeDee Lamb (@_CeeDeeThree) April 24, 2020
All said and done, it’s hilarious that for a guy who is one of the best wide receivers in the NFL today, one of the most unforgettable moments associated with Lamb is related to an incident that didn’t even happen on the field. But hey — when you play for Jerry Jones, everything you do is under a microscope.