Patriots: Rob Ninkovich’s Draft Day story shows playing in NE was fate

Things don’t always turn out the way you intended them to, but occasionally, after a few years of floating, your grand plan falls bizarrely into place.

Such is the case with Rob Ninkovich, New England Patriots linebacker turned aspiring member of the NFL media.

This draft day, Ninkovich is able to sit back from a place of comfort and strength and get to work evaluating hundreds of NFL hopefuls who are about to enter the most stressful day of their professional lives, uncertain where their suitcase will lie tomorrow.

In 2006? Ninkovich was just a 22-year-old out of Purdue, about to live his own personal nightmare.

With the benefit of hindsight, Ninkovich was one of two former Patriots (the other being Rich Ohrnberger) who spoke with The Big Lead ahead of Thursday’s draft to recount their own experiences.

Though he wouldn’t be a Patriot on draft night, something told him he’d someday be a member of this very exclusive family.

As Ninkovich recalled to The Big Lead’s Ryan Phillips, he had a borderline premonition about being drafted by the Patriots, only to instead see his fate tied to his worst-case scenario, the New Orleans Saints:

"I thought I was going to New England. I know that sounds crazy, but I had a workout with Dean Pees. I had an interview with the Patriots at the combine, they had a lot of interest in me. I personally thought it was gonna be Cincinnati, New England, Cleveland — a team that ran a 3-4 defense because I was a hybrid. So, I didn’t think I was going to New Orleans, that’s for sure.My mom asked me on draft day, “What is the one team that you do not want to go to?” I said New Orleans. They had a 4-3 defense that didn’t fit my body type, didn’t fit my scheme, what I thought I would go play. And also with Katrina, you know, the city was devastated, I just didn’t think that was a great fit for me. But God works in mysterious ways and now I have three children, my wife’s from New Orleans, we met in New Orleans. So now I hold New Orleans near and dear to my heart. So it’s crazy how things work out because I did not want to go to New Orleans."

The Patriots were so set in stone as the destination in Ninkovich’s mind that hearing Sean Payton’s voice on the phone instead in the fifth round instead of Bill Belichick’s gravely check-in legitimately shocked him.

Hey, did he ever make it to New England after all after making all those lifelong connections in the Bayou? Inquiring minds want to know.

Ohrnberger, on the other hand, got the call from Belichick that Ninkovich had been expecting. Though the emotions of the moment were overwhelming, the veteran OL assured Phillips that his chat with the legendary coach was par for the course. “Hey, we think you’re a good player, let’s move on.”

In 2009, after bouncing from New Orleans to Miami following his rookie season, then spending two years in the swamp, Ninkovich arrived in New England after all, and carved out a seven-year, two-title career with the Pats.

Just don’t ask him to forecast any prospect’s destination Thursday night when the first round arrives. His connection is a little spotty.

https://www.thebiglead.com/posts/nfl-media-members-draft-day-experiences-joe-thomas-adam-archuleta-tiki-barber-rich-ohrnberger-rob-ninkovich-01f48pqz64b4