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The NFL Draft is often framed as a game of unpredictable board falls and random chance. However, former Pittsburgh Steelers pass rusher Bud Dupree recently revealed that his arrival in Pittsburgh at No. 22 overall in the 2015 NFL Draft was actually set in motion by a subtle piece of pre-draft gamesmanship from then-head coach Mike Tomlin.
Speaking with his former teammate, Cameron Heyward, on his podcast, “Not Just Football with Cam Heyward,” Dupree opened up about a pivotal moment at Kentucky’s Pro Day. Fresh off clocking an explosive 4.56-second 40-yard dash at the NFL Scouting Combine, Dupree was warming up to run the 40 again in front of scout teams, aiming to post an even faster time.
That was until Tomlin, who attended the workout alongside then-outside linebackers coach Joey Porter Sr., decided to intervene.
"I was about to get ready to run my 40. So I'm warming up and then like Coach Tomlin, like, ‘Why'd you run a 40 again?’ and I'm like, ‘Why wouldn't I run a 40?’ I was trying to run a 4.3 and he was like, ‘No, don't run a 40. You already ran. You ran fast already,'" Dupree said, recalling the conversation with Tomlin.
Tomlin’s gentle discouragement kept the 6-foot-4 edge rusher from putting another blistering speed metric on paper, subtly preventing rival front offices from moving up to snag him earlier in the night.
"Looking back at it, man, Coach Tomlin stopped me from getting drafted high end so I can go to the Steelers," Dupree explained. "cuz I definitely would have ran high faster than I ran at the combine, man. And I definitely would have been a top higher pick."
Tomlin’s quiet Pro Day maneuver paid massive dividends, ensuring Pittsburgh landed a long-term defensive cornerstone who went on to rack up 39.5 sacks across six seasons in the black and gold.
This article originally appeared on Steelers Wire: How Mike Tomlin tricked Bud Dupree into falling to the Steelers
