It was supposed to happen sometime on Sunday, the second day of the National Football League Draft.
Former Northwestern quarterback Brett Basanez would get a phone call from an NFL team telling him they were selecting him, he’d see his name pop up on ESPN and his highlights would play while ESPN’s Chris Berman and Mel Kiper Jr. picked apart his good and bad qualities.
But as Basanez relaxed in Lake Geneva, Wis., with his girlfriend, the last picks of the seventh and final round of the NFL Draft scrolled across the screen, and Basanez found himself in a situation he hadn’t quite anticipated.
Despite the fact that he had received phone calls from teams as early as the fourth round indicating they were ready to select him, the most prolific passer in NU history had been passed over by all 32 teams in the draft.
And though being passed over disappointed Basanez, he didn’t have much time to let the surprise of not being selected in the draft sink in. As soon as the final pick of the draft was announced, Basanez’s phone started to ring off the hook.
“Literally, you start getting phone calls as soon as the draft ends, and in the next 15 minutes you have to make a decision,” Basanez said.
The decision wasn’t an easy one. The teams calling all had appealing qualities. The Tennessee Titans, Baltimore Ravens, Jacksonville Jaguars, Philadelphia Eagles and Carolina Panthers. Basanez sat down with his girlfriend, called his agent and started to go over his options.
In the end, Basanez chose the Panthers, a team where a former undrafted free agent, Jake Delhomme, is the starting quarterback.
“I was disappointed I wasn’t drafted from a pride standpoint,” Basanez said. “But at the same time I am excited about the place I am in.”
TOUGH ROAD AHEAD
Both Basanez and former NU receiver Mark Philmore, who signed as an undrafted free agent with the Chicago Bears, know it’s an uphill battle to break into a regular season roster as an undrafted free agent.
But Basanez believes that both he and Philmore have what it takes to play in the NFL.
“Mark and I might have wanted to get drafted, but that’s not the way it happened so now we just have to make the best of the situation,” Basanez said. “Maybe this is just a blessing in disguise.”
For Basanez, getting passed over in the draft is fuel in his battle to prove people wrong … again.
In his four years at Northwestern, Basanez was questioned often and critiqued even more.
His senior season pushed many of those doubters to the side, but now at the professional level, Basanez will be starting from square one.
“I can tell that his competitiveness will be his survival tool,” ESPN’s Chris Mortensen said. “He is going to go through some hard stuff, and he has to have enough swagger to get over those things. If he is going to survive in the league, (his competitiveness) is going to carry him.”
And Basanez surely will need that competitiveness starting this summer when he will face heavy competition during training camp. The Panthers return all three quarterbacks from last years’ roster.
Delhomme is entrenched as the starter and backup Chris Weinke and third-stringer Stefan LeFors, a fourth round draft pick out of Louisville last year, will both be back to battle Basanez.
But the Big Ten Offensive Player of the Year shouldn’t worry about walking into a situation where his draft status keeps him from a fair competition.
“His chances are based on his own abilities not based on a hierarchy of where they’re drafted,” Panthers offensive coordinator Dan Henning said. “Does he have the personality, the demeanor, the fortitude to start brand new on the bottom? You have to be a pretty strong guy, not physically, but mentally and emotionally, to be able to deal with these things. We think he’s got those traits …
“If he shows a potential that we see in him and continues to grow as we practice with him, then he will have a definite chance to compete with everybody else.”
For Basanez, that chance is all he asks for.
“They aren’t shying away from guys just cause they aren’t drafted,” Basanez said. “Signing bonuses, geographic locations – none of that stuff matters if you’re going to be home at the start of the season looking for another place to play. For me it was about a chance to make the team.”
Reach Paul Tenorio at [email protected].
