NFL Draft 2014: Carolina Panthers GM created virtual War Room so he can attend son’s graduation
By Josh Hill
There are always cool draft stories we come across each year, like the Jaguars keeping their desire to draft Blake Bortles a complete secret to the story we continue to follow with Michael Sam, but one of the more bizarre stories revolves around the Carolina Panthers but comes out of the coastal Northeast.
According to NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport, Panthers GM David Gettleman isn’t working this year’s draft at the team facility but is instead literally phoning in his participation from a hotel room in Worcester. While that sounds bad, the reason is actually pretty touching as Gettleman is going through all of this technical trouble so that he can keep a promise to his son that he’d watch him graduate college in person.
Cool what #Panthers did for GM Dave Gettleman. Sent IT to Worcester, MA to set up a “draft room” in a hotel so he can see his son graduate
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) May 10, 2014
The Panthers may have made some crappy decisions in free agency and in letting virtually all of their receivers go to new teams, but this is clearly a good decision on the part of Gettleman. Carolina isn’t having that bad of a draft haul either, and Gettleman is getting to see his son graduate which makes the impressive draft class this year for the Panthers that much more special.