"Up until you told me April 20 was the day, I didn’t know,” Newsome said earlier this month. "I just looked at my calendar, and April 20 is just a blank date.”
In talking with a dozen people linked to this draft, they all pointed out how Newsome’s understated personality and leadership became the calming influence in the midst of an unprecedented offseason storm.
Owner Art Modell fired his head coach — Bill Belichick, future winner of six Lombardi trophies — after the team had scouted players at the combine. Team officials then moved their operations from modern 5-year-old headquarters in Cleveland to a dilapidated police academy outside Baltimore just 19 days before the draft.