Getty Indianapolis Colts general manager Chris Ballard reenacted a famous NFL Draft moment on The Pat McAfee Show.
Indianapolis Colts quarterback Matt Ryan appeared to have a lot of fun while on The Pat McAfee Show on April 27. It was Chris Ballard’s turn on April 28.
The Indianapolis Colts general manager was one of four big-named guests for the show’s third annual draft spectacular. One of the show’s hosts has made a tradition out of impersonating NFL Draft analyst Mel Kiper Jr. of ESPN. The show calls the running gag, “Mad Mel Kiper.”
With “Mad Mel Kiper,” Ballard took the opportunity to reenact one of the most famous moments in NFL Draft history.
“Good talking to ya again. Listen, I know everyone is talking about how good this team is on paper,” Mad Mel Kiper said. “But as I’m looking at your roster, listen, you guys got a lot of holes to fill. I hate to be the one to break it to you, okay, but you do. And I know that you said that you’re not really thinking about moving up in the draft.
“But there’s a lot of receivers out there that Matt Ryan might be thinking, ‘Hey, I’d love to play football with this guy.’ So what do you say? Are you moving to [No.] 15? Higher? Where are we thinking?”
Ballard played right along with the gag.
“Mel Kiper? I mean, Mel f****** Kiper? Are you kidding me? What does Mel Kiper know?”
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Famous Mel Kiper Jr. Draft Moment From 1994
Ballard and the host impersonating Mel Kiper Jr. didn’t get the exact lines correct, but the exchange was meant to be a reenactment of real gibs between the real Kiper and former Colts general manager Bill Tobin.
In 1994, Kiper heavily criticized the Colts for failing to draft quarterback Trent Dilfer twice in the first 10 picks.
“Here is a team that needed a franchise quarterback. There were two out there. They have a chance at [No.] 2, they don’t take him,” Kiper said while analyzing the Colts’ selections at the beginning of the 1994 NFL Draft. “They end up coming back into the picture to get Trent Dilfer, they take an outside linebacker.
“But to pass up a Trent Dilfer when all you have is Jim Harbaugh, give me a break. That’s why the Colts are picking second every year in the draft, not battling for the Super Bowl like other clubs in the National Football League.”
Tobin responded in classic fashion.
“Who in the hell is Mel Kiper anyway? Here is a guy that criticizes everybody, whoever they take. He’s got the answers of who you should take, who you shouldn’t take,” Tobin said in an interview with reporter Chris Mortensen of ESPN. “In my knowledge of him, he’s never, ever put on a jock strap. He’s never been a coach, he’s never been a scout, he’s never been an administrator. And all of the sudden, he’s an expert.
“Mel Kiper has no more credentials to do what he’s doing than my neighbor, and my neighbor is a postman, and he doesn’t have season tickets to the NFL.”
Although not as lengthy, Ballard’s reproduction of the infamous 1994 draft moment on The Pat McAfee Show was just as funny.
Tobin Continued to Pile on Mel Kiper Jr.
While the “who the hell is Mel Kiper” comeback is the most famous line of Tobin’s quote, he actually continued to rail back at the ESPN draft analyst in a post-draft press conference in 1994.
Tobin brought up that Kiper is from Baltimore and said the analyst was personally upset when the Colts left the city in 1984.
“Every chance that Mel Kiper gets to shoot at the Colts and Indianapolis, he’s going to do it,” said Tobin.
In retrospect, both Kiper and Tobin can lay claim to being right about how the Colts approached the 1994 draft.
Indianapolis drafted running back Marshall Faulk with the No. 2 pick that year. Faulk rushed for 12,279 yards and made the Pro Football Hall of Fame. But the team’s second choice at No. 5 was linebacker Trev Alberts, who started just seven games in the NFL.
Dilfer went to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers with the next selection at No. 6 overall. While he played 13 seasons in the league and won a Super Bowl, ironically, with Kiper’s hometown Baltimore Ravens, Dilfer posted just a 58-55 record during his career.
He also threw 129 interceptions versus 113 touchdowns.
Ballard is hoping the player he picks at No. 42 overall in the second round of the 2022 NFL Draft has a better career than both Alberts and Dilfer.
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