The NFL Draft is full of emotions, and one of the most emotional moments during the process is prospects receiving calls from teams. While it was a recent trend in this year’s draft with a ton of people prank calling prospects with no issues, the same can’t be said for NFL General Managers, owners, and coaches.
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While they aren’t making prank calls, they are making huge decisions for their franchises moving forward.
Take Tampa Bay Buccaneers General Manager Jason Licht as an example. He’s been the Bucs’ GM for over a decade but is still nervous when making the initial phone calls to prospects his team is going to draft.
In a recent appearance on the Pat McAfee Show, Licht opened up on how nervous he gets on draft day while making calls to the new players.
“I get a little nervous making those calls on draft day because that recording lives in infamy and it’s the most important day for these players, so I don’t want to come out and sound like a dork,” said Licht.
“I get a little nervous making those calls on draft day..
It’s such an important day for the players and I don’t wanna sound like a dork
One day one of them is gonna say they don’t wanna come to Tampa Bay and I’m gonna say fuck you” ~ @jasonrlicht #PMSLive pic.twitter.com/iNxepiWIHC
— Pat McAfee (@PatMcAfeeShow) April 30, 2025
Licht also revealed he feels nervous making the call to the rooks for two more reasons: he doesn’t want to mess up pronouncing their names, and he tries to think of something different to say each time.
He then revealed another fear about making the call to McAfee. He said that he fears a player might one day reply to the call, saying that they don’t want to play for the Buccaneers. Licht fears he could face a similar situation as the San Diego Chargers did with Eli Manning in 2004.
Licht then jokingly said if a player told him that he would respond by saying, “Hey f**k you,” as the panel started laughing.
McAfee then joked with Licht about a scenario where a player would be drafted by the Bucs in the first round, getting the call from Licht, and jokingly saying that they didn’t want to play for his team. The two laughed together.
McAfee then suggested to Licht that maybe they can get a teleprompter in the draft room, and Licht finished the joke of,f saying maybe he’ll use ChatGPT to help with the calls next time.
The Buccaneers added six new players in the draft, with Ohio State wide receiver Emeka Egbuka being their first-round pick. The next four picks were defensive, with the team selecting two defensive backs and two defensive linemen. Their draft concluded by drafting WR Tez Johnson in the seventh round.
