There are lots of pro athletes out there who fish and hunt, but how many of them would skip one of the biggest days of their careers just to go fishing? Former Wisconsin Badger Joe Thomas, for one. Instead of flying to New York for the NFL Draft (held each year at the Radio City Music Hall, just uptown from the F&S offices) he kept a long-standing date with his father to chase brown trout on Lake Michigan.
"We had to tell [the NFL] that we had made plans and we didn't know they were going to invite us," the elder Thomas said. "We really want to follow through with the big plans we had for this day."
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"I didn't want to involve myself in all the craziness that goes on (with the draft). I knew it was going to be an exciting enough time where I didn't need to go to New York," Thomas said.
Playing hookey didn't seem to effect Thomas' chances in the draft, though. He was the 3rd pick overall, going to the Cleveland Browns, where he'll play left tackle. Check out the full story here, then tell us; in Joe's shoes, what would you have done?