Will Levis was all dressed up with no place to go Thursday night. After not being selected in the first 31 picks, the Kentucky quarterback went home.
“I didn’t know how yesterday was going to go,” Levis said in a conference call with media. “I thought it was going to go a little differently.”
He endured a three-hour flight delay and then traffic to get back home just in time for the start of the second round.
Wearing a hoodie and with only extended family watching, Levis was “stuffing my face” when a Nashville area code came up on his phone. The Titans selected him 33rd overall.
Levis cried.
“I ended up where I was meant to me, and I’m just looking forward to competing and getting started,” Levis said.
Only a week ago, Levis was the betting favorite to be the second quarterback selected. He was the fourth, with Bryce Young, C.J. Stroud and Anthony Richardson going in the top four picks.
“Regardless of where I got picked, I feel like it’s not going to change my work ethic, regardless if I went first overall or 33rd,” Levis said. “You can’t let the circumstances dictate your preparation and the level of intensity you bring to your every day practice. Definitely a little bit of a chip [on my shoulder], but I was going to work hard regardless of where I got picked.”
There was a report Thursday night that Levis’ stock might have fallen because of an injured toe. He said he has consulted with the top specialists in the country, and that it has been fully healed since early February.
“It feels great. It feels good,” Levis said. “It was tough, because it was a pain in the foot. The second half of the season, that definitely affected my play style and my athleticism. My feet is something that I feel like is one of the strengths of my game and to not have that, it sucked. But that’s the nature of this game. This is a game where most people aren’t playing at 100 percent week in and week out. I learned mentally and physically how to perservere through difficulties and it helped me for my future.”
Levis said he would have stayed on site in Kansas City for the second round, but his family has a planned celebration for Saturday after anticipating he would go Thursday. He wouldn’t have gotten back in time for the gathering if he had stayed, Levis said.
