Joe Thomas had a choice to make.
On April 28, he could have either spent the afternoon in the pressure-filled, stuffy, $1,000-suit confines of Radio City Music Hall's Green Room or in the relaxing, airy, shorts-and-T-shirt limitless bounds of Lake Michigan.
Spend the day with Mel Kiper Jr. and his famous hair or spend it fishing with Dad.
In the end, Thomas would be landing a trophy of an NFL contract at some point during the day, so why not go for a trophy fish, too?
"Some of my best memories are of fishing with my dad, and I'd rather spend a nice Saturday morning doing that than sitting in New York waiting to see what happens to me," Thomas told Sports Illustrated earlier this month.
What will likely happen to Thomas is being selected near the top of the NFL Draft. Most mock drafts have Thomas going anywhere from No. 2 overall (Detroit) to No. 5 (Arizona). If that were to happen, Thomas would become the highest Badger drafted in more than 50 years when Heisman Trophy Winner Alan Ameche was selected second overall by the Baltimore Colts in 1955.
The draft itself, however, is not of the utmost importance to Thomas.
"[T]o me, draft day's not the important day," Thomas told SI. "It's what I do after draft day that's important."
Along with his level head and an aversion for the limelight, one of Thomas' greatest attributes is his smart approach to the game. As the lone senior on the offensive line last season, Thomas made sure to spread his wealth of knowledge around to the rest of his line mates.
"When you're watching tape on practice, you can kind of see the big things you can work on that you did wrong, but he'll point out the really little things that you wouldn't see in yourself, which can make a really, really big difference," said sophomore left tackle Jake Bscherer, who along with Gabe Carimi is fighting to replace Thomas on Wisconsin's offensive line.
While Thomas may not put all that much stock in the proceedings of Saturday's draft, Bscherer will be watching with anticipation.
"It's an honor, is what it is," Bscherer said of having a former teammate drafted highly. "Joe's a great guy, a great person as well as a great athlete. I tried to absorb everything I possibly could from him last season, and I wish him the best of luck."
