Cleveland Browns General Manager John Dorsey have been known to do more than his fair share of wheeling and dealing. He surely must have made more trades than anybody else since he stepped into the position with the Browns less than two years ago. It’s something that he has become well-known for. But apparently he’s known for something else, too.
Prank calls during the draft.
And that habit got the better of him more than usual this year as he found himself twiddling his thumbs on the first day of the 2019 NFL Draft with nothing to do, given that the Browns traded away their first-round draft pick this year in exchange for former New York Giants wide receiver Odell Beckham, Jr.
At least, he has that relationship with one other general manager in particular, that being Chris Ballard of the Indianapolis Colts. There is a great clip from draft day in which you see the Colts’ war room and the phone rings. Ballard hesitates for a moment, picks up the phone, says, “I’m working”, and hangs it right back up as the room shares a laugh.
Remember prank calls?@Browns GM John Dorsey does…
Since he prank calls @Colts GM Chris Ballard every year on Draft Day 😂 pic.twitter.com/xvZtjqf67X
— GMFB (@gmfb) May 7, 2019
This is clearly nothing new for them, and frankly I’m sure it’s not just Dorsey who’s done this before. General managers talk and socialize. They have to have a working relationship with one another because, well, they have to work together once in a while to facilitate a deal or work on some sort of rule proposal, something of that nature. So there can be a bit of a sense of brotherhood in that respect.
It wasn’t just Ballard, however. There is also a brief clip of the Arizona Cardinals’ war room in which you see somebody pick up a phone, look in General Manager Steve Keim’s direction, and simply say, “Dorsey”.
Keim responds by offering an amused snort before he has to explain to the owner what’s going on. “Dorsey”, he said. “John Dorsey. I’m sure he was calling to **** with me”. Keim later called Dorsey back, asking, “you joking? You trying to reach me at a fragile moment? Holler at me if anything comes up”.
Now, I get the feeling that Pittsburgh Steelers General Manager Kevin Colbert doesn’t get involved in a lot of prank calls, and in turn other general managers likely know not to prank him. Of course, I don’t know exactly what his sense of humor is behind closed doors, but he has a pretty business-like approach to, well, business.
Still, there’s nothing wrong with a little levity here, in my opinion, provided that it’s all done in good faith.
