Bill O’Brien lost his mind in front of the NFL Draft cameras, and we can blame Matt Patricia for the freakout.
We spent the first two nights of the NFL Draft waiting with bated breath for the inevitable technical snafu. With every NFL head coach and general manager working this draft remotely thanks to COVID-19 quarantine, the betting odds were on someone screwing something up.
We didn’t get the accidentally muted mic or a team missing a pick because they didn’t know how Zoom works, but if there was a favorite to be the football person to be defeated by technology it was Bill O’Brien.
We almost got that moment.
O’Brien was caught on ESPN’s draft cameras visibly upset by something while the Houston Texans were on the clock with the 90th pick.
While initially everyone thought O’Brien was freaking out over a malfunction with his Work From Home setup, it turns out Bill O’s ire was directed at a specific team and specific front office executives.
Texans beat writer clarified that it wasn’t an IT person that was incurring the wrath of O’Brien, rather it was Bob Quinn, Matt Patricia, and the Detroit Lions. According to Houston Texans beat writer John McClain, what ESPN cameras captured was O’Brien learning in real-time that the Lions were backing out of an agreed-upon trade to move into the 90th pick.
“Texans had a deal with Detroit for the 90th pick but Lions backed out at last instant and Bill O’Brien was furious,” McClain explained. “You could tell by his reaction on TV.”
Houston eventually selected Jonathan Greenard with their pick, and he’ll probably be thrilled to know that his dream moment of being drafted came true under duress.
It’s also a rare moment where we are all on Bill O’s side of a problem. Usually he’s the root cause of whatever terrible thing is happening to the Texans, but it’s hard to not side with him being left at the trade alter — especially when the one leaving him there is Matt Patricia.
Bill O’Brien and Matt Patricia should get together more often, because the fireworks are glorious.