Crable's draft tale

Bill Belichick previously explained how the team's draft-day trade with the Chargers -- in which the Patriots swapped a 2008 third-round pick for a 2009 second-round pick and 2008 fifth-round pick -- came up at the last minute.

It happened so fast, in fact, that the Patriots actually had Michigan LB Shawn Crable on the phone ready to select him at No. 69. But the team had to explain to Crable that something had come up unexpectedly.

Crable tells the story from his perspective.

"The first time they called me, I kept hanging up on them. [The phone number] was [showing up] restricted and I was trying to clear my line. They called my mom's house, then they called me back and said 'Why does it keep going to voicemail?' I thought they were a little mad at me. Then they said, 'we're going to call you back' and I thought I messed it up."

Crable figured that since he didn't initially answer the phone, the Patriots had decided not to draft him. He initially had his hopes raised after hearing Bill Belichick on the other end of the line.

"It was weird," he said. "I was thinking 'Hey, I got a call, I'm finally ready to go.' Then he was like 'Hold on, hold on, we're going to have to call you back.' I was just praying he was going to call me back."

What Crable later came to learn was that the Chargers had swooped in with the late trade offer. It turns out the Patriots were true to their word of calling him back, as they picked him with the 78th overall selection.

"It was worth the wait," Crable said.