This NFL general manager must be a huge NASCAR fan

The unexpected turn the first round of the 2021 NFL Draft took was quite ironic, given a veteran analyst’s recent NASCAR take.

Ahead of the 2021 NFL Draft, in which the New York Giants held the 11th overall selection in the opening round, NFL Network analyst Daniel Jeremiah gave an interesting take on the rumors surrounding the possibility of general manager Dave Gettleman trading back. For NASCAR fans, it was an extremely bad take.

Stressing the unlikelihood of Gettleman trading back, despite the fact that most analysts did not view the team as having a clear target at 11th overall entering the draft unless certain top prospects dropped to them, Jeremiah stated that “I think we’ll see a right turn in a NASCAR race before we see Dave Gettleman trade back.”

Let’s give him the benefit of the doubt; we all obviously know what he meant: Gettleman wouldn’t be trading back.

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However, he didn’t exactly express that thought accurately, considering NASCAR and right turns have always gone together, despite the oft-used (and incorrect) generalization implying the polar opposite.

NASCAR’s first road course race took place at the Daytona Beach & Road Course in 1949, the inaugural season of what was then known as “Strictly Stock”. There has been at least one road course race each season ever since, with multiple road course races on the schedule in many of those years.

Additionally, this was a particularly interesting year for Jeremiah’s take, considering the fact that there are a record seven road course races on the schedule: the Daytona International Speedway road course, Circuit of the Americas, Sonoma Raceway, Road America, Watkins Glen International, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course, and the Charlotte Motor Speedway Roval.

Now, skip ahead to the first night of the draft. What does Gettleman, who never trades back, do?

Yep — he trades back. Because of course he does.

But hey; had Jeremiah’s analogy had been taken at face value, we all should have seen this coming, right?

Or maybe Gettleman is just a huge NASCAR fan and decided to go along with it. Who knows?

After the Denver Broncos selected Alabama cornerback Patrick Surtain II at #9 overall, the Dallas Cowboys, who had been seen as a surefire bet to land Surtain if he were available, given their dire defensive needs, traded the #10 pick to the Philadelphia Eagles, who had the #12 pick, just after the Giants.

The Eagles selected Alabama wide receiver DeVonta Smith, who many, including the Eagles, believed the Giants would be targeting if he were to fall that far.

Now with no clear target on their radar after the Eagles jumped them in the order, the Giants traded back to #20 overall with the Chicago Bears, who selected Ohio State quarterback Justin Fields with the #11 pick before the Cowboys did bolster their defense with Penn State linebacker Micah Parsons at #12.

So it wasn’t what Gettleman had wanted to do, but he did it. He went with Florida wide receiver Kadarius Toney, who would have been a clear reach at #11, at #20.

The next road course race on the 2021 Cup Series schedule is the second of the season, as the Daytona International Speedway road course hosted the first back in February. Circuit of the Americas is set to host its first ever Cup Series event on Sunday, May 23. With the 2021 NFL season not scheduled to get underway until September, perhaps Gettleman and Jeremiah will be tuning in.