NFL draft diary: North Dakota State QB Easton Stick gives inside story of being picked by Chargers
Former North Dakota State quarterback Easton Stick had one of the most prolific college football careers of any player in recent history, winning three FCS championships in four seasons in Fargo as Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Carson Wentz's successor. Throughout the process leading up to the NFL draft, Stick produced a draft diary for Paste BN Sports, as told to Lorenzo Reyes. His third and final entry details how he waited to hear his name called and how he celebrated the hours after he was drafted.
We were at my house in Omaha and had a lot of family with me – aunts, uncles, grandparents, cousins – and about 10 or so of my teammates from North Dakota State and some buddies from high school. I was surrounded by people I love and care about. It was a collective effort to get to this point, so I wanted to share it with everybody.
But I just tried to relax and have fun with the whole thing. I didn’t have many expectations going into it; I was just going to enjoy it. But as much as I tried to play it cool, no doubt I was anxious. It’s just the fact that you have no control over what’s happening. It’s crazy. Where you’re going to live and the situation you’re being put into, you have no say. It was really the first time as an athlete where I couldn’t control what was going on. That was difficult, but being around my friends and family was a huge help to eliminate some of that anxiety.
PREVIOUSLY: Easton Stick avoids pro day setback
FIRST ENTRY: North Dakota State QB Easton Stick takes on combine before White House visit
I was around for Day 1 and Day 2 of the draft, but I wasn’t glued in front of the TV watching it. We had it on, but we were out for dinner one night and had some people over the other night. But I wasn’t paying too much attention then. Day 3 rolled around, and then I was a little more plugged in. But I still couldn’t just sit in front of the TV. I think I would’ve driven myself crazy had I sat there all day. We had cornhole bags set up in the garage and there were people out on the deck, so I had to move around. I got two or three calls and a few text messages from teams saying, "Hey, this is kinda where we see you going and we’d love to get you, but we’ll see what happens." But I hadn’t heard from the Chargers at all.
I had taken one of my 30 formal visits out there and saw the facility and was around different people in the organization. That was really cool. I loved my time out there. And since it was close to where I trained for the draft and close to where my agents are, I’m familiar with it. It’s just a beautiful spot. There’s an awesome energy in that building. And sitting down with (offensive coordinator) Ken Whisenhunt and (quarterbacks coach) Shane Steichen and just talking ball was really exciting. I learned a ton on that visit, so I walked away feeling pretty good about that opportunity. It was just whether they would take a quarterback or not and you weren’t sure because they hadn’t taken one in a while.
We had the ESPN cameras set up in front of the TV so they could get the shot, but I was actually in the other room talking to my mom when my phone started buzzing. I looked down and saw the Santa Ana (California) area code. I picked that up pretty quick. On the other side it was (Chargers general manager) Tom Telesco. I tried to hustle back into the other room and then everyone huddled around me when I took the call. They told me they were taking me with the 28th pick in the fifth round, 166th overall. After that, I talked to the coach, Anthony Lynn. It was pretty special. It was just an overwhelming feeling. I don’t even know how to put it into words. This was the culmination of all of my works and dreams and it hit me with a phone call. It’s so unique.
My family went crazy. We celebrated for a few minutes and then I did a couple of conference calls for interviews with reporters. My phone was going crazy, but I put it away as best I could. We just stayed at home and it felt like more and more family kept finding their way over to the house. It was a little chilly, but shoot, we had so many people over that we kind of had to suck it up and go outside. We were just hanging out, spending time with people I hadn’t seen in years, so we went to bed at like 2 in the morning.
Let me tell you, I slept really well. Best night in a long time. All that anxiety that had been building up for a while was just released. It’s still pretty surreal. And I think it will be, maybe, until I get out there. I got some of the early install and playbook-type stuff. Going through that already makes it feel a little more real. Since the Chargers don’t start rookie minicamp until two weeks from now, I’ll stay in Omaha until about May 9. While it would’ve been great to get out there right away and meet everyone in the building, it was nice to celebrate with family and friends. This week I’ll probably look at figuring out what I need to bring and finding places to live.
Walking into a great organization that’s had a ton of success, where the roster is awesome, and with a QB room that has really successful players in it, I’m really excited and eager. Because they know more football than I can possibly imagine right now. I’ll attack this next step in my career the way I’ve attacked every step – just working hard, getting to know the guys, and learning as much as I can as quickly as I can.