Indefensible Logic Mistake No. 1: On the morning of the draft, Seattle calls Costner and offers no. 1 overall (landing him the draft’s fictional Franchise QB) for Costner’s next three no. 1 picks. Costner immediately accepts without (a) checking with his owner, (b) checking with his staff, and (c) doing any background intel on a Franchise QB that he never expected to pick. I mean … you can’t even make a fantasy football trade with a drunk buddy at 2 a.m. in 30 seconds anymore. Seriously, that’s how the movie starts!?
It's obvious you didn't pay much attention to the movie. Firstly, Costner's character, Sonny Weaver Jnr, turns down the initial trade offer which was essentially Bo Callahan for two 1st round pick and one 3rd round pick. He laughed it off as a ridiculous offer.
Secondly, Sonny only then eventually trades for the 1st pick overall for three 1st round picks out of desperation because the Browns' owner had made it clear he wanted Sonny to make a "big splash" this year. In the first 20 minutes of the movie it's made very clear that Sonny is highly unpopular with fans following the sacking of his father, the poor results after QB Brian Drew's injuries, etc, and is most likely on the verge of being sacked, hence why the owner was hinting strongly about making a splash. This is why Sonny then caves in and makes the trade, he's desperate and panicking, and you can even tell it in his voice when he tells the Seahawks GM "I'm not panicking". And he was right to because the Browns' owner was delighted with the prospect of getting Bo Callahan, as were the Browns fans.
Thirdly, they had looked at Bo in detail, albeit not in as much intense depth (i.e. off-field character and personality traits) as they would have. But they knew he was a great College player with superb talent and potential, one who all fans were excited about. So at this stage of the movie, Sonny is going to pick Bo
unless they found something which suggested he shouldn't.
It simply is
not the case that Sonny traded three 1st round picks away knowing he'd not go with Bo Callahan. When Sonny wrote the note “Vonte no matter what”, it was before the initial trade offer and before his meeting with the Browns’ owner.
Indefensible Logic Mistake No. 2: Costner becomes worried about the Franchise QB, does some background intel, investigates some possibly bogus story that nobody showed up at the QB’s birthday party, then calls him at the draft and asks him if winning is important to him. When he doesn’t like the answer, Costner decides NOT to take the QB — only he doesn’t tell his owner or his staff, he doesn’t try to trade down, and instead takes a linebacker who was expected to fall into the teens first overall. So basically, he traded three no. 1 picks to move up six spots to take someone who would have been there at no. 7.
Again, did you not watch the movie? This is all part of the plot. Describing only one part of it doesn’t mean it’s stupid if you then discard all of the events that explain the rationale.
Sonny intended to take Bo Callahan when he made the trade because it was the big splash the Browns owner wanted. So when Sonny accepts the trade, the intention was to get Callahan, and that’s what he would have done had the following events not changed his mind:
- Callahan’s character is questionable. Might not be a team player, isn’t honest, was shaken by Vonte and only ended up recovering after Vonte was booted from the game (Sonny had missed this, again because they didn’t take an intense close look at Callahan).
- The fitness report from the fitness trainer about how strong Brian Drew has returned. Very fit, throws 15 yards further, etc. Brian trashing Sonny's office (as well as being the only kid to mail back the $100) was also another example of the guy's passion. This contrasts to the overly dull personality of Bo. Sonny now has another dilemna, that he may have his previously suspect QB back to lead the team to glory.
- Vonte’s personality shining. Sonny realises this is a genuinely good guy who is exceptionally talented. Not only this, but Vonte is telling Sonny that Bo is a "poser" who is going to bust in the NFL. Vonte doesn't have the personality to be lying here, so this weighs on Sonny's mind, even more so when he sees that Vonte was telling the truth.
I think Sonny realised at this point (about 2/3 of the way through the movie) that Callahan had a high risk of being a bust because he possibly wasn't up to the mental requirements of the NFL, although it's difficult to decide (hence why Sonny is struggling and phoning Bo and Bo's College coach to find out more). Whereas Vonte was the real deal both in terms of ability and as a person. And even though no one really rated Vonte because he’s a linebacker, Sonny is now thinking this is the person who will succeed at NFL level. However, Sonny is now worried because the Texans are thinking about drafting Vonte at 15.
Sonny now has 2 choices. Go with Bo and appease the owner/fans, or go with Vonte as his only 1st round pick, piss owner and fans off, but maybe ride the storm out until they see that Vonte is great and that it was worth sticking with Brian Drew at QB (with Bo being a bust). Sunny picking Vonte was a big call and showed he was a GM with real integrity, the ability to do what he felt was right instead of doing what he had to to survive in his job - in the end he went with his gut and got over the panic he suffered from earlier in the movie.
So at this stage in the movie, Sonny has now accepted that he has traded away two extra 1st round picks for Vonte + Brian Drew with the logic being that he now firmly believes Bo could be a bust and fail to make the grade in the NFL.
As for trading down, the movie could have very easily thrown in an extra 5 minute segment where Sonny tried this. But the movie already had shown that the Buffalo Bills were willing to offer 2 first round picks for next year and the year after, plus two players, and Sonny turning them down because at this stage he's still interested in Bo (plus figures out his coach had initiated this offer) and also explains that he didn't want to lose this year's pick as it meant he could get fired without getting to make his main pick for "his team".
Indefensible Logic Mistake No. 3: Now everyone’s mad at Costner — his owner, his coaches, his staff, everyone. Somehow, the Franchise QB starts miraculously dropping after Cleveland passes on him. What’s wrong with the Franchise QB??? (Imagine Indy passing on Andrew Luck at no. 1, then Luck inexplicably dropping out of the top five, and it gives you a sense of how idiotic this script idea was.) With the Jags on the clock at no. 6, Costner decides to trade for their pick … he ends up getting it for his next three second-rounders in about 40 seconds, thanks to Jacksonville’s young GM grabbing the offer without shopping it around or letting anyone else know the pick had become available. Because that would happen.
The movie explained that some of the other teams at picks 2-5 already have experienced QBs who are seasoned pros and who went with the picks they were “expected to” (i.e. based on educated guesses). Those teams went with their picks. Only a couple, including Jacksonville, were in any need of Bo, but they were worried as to why other teams had avoided him. This has happened in the past in the real life NFL draft, so it’s not impossible at all.
The Jacksonville GM didn’t have time to shop around. He didn’t know who would be interested in the trade. And as stated, he was inexperienced, especially since his first two choices were picked by others (which shows how he was out of the loop in terms of guessing who the other teams were going to pick).
Anyway, Costner owns no. 6, and Seattle’s GM (picking no. 7) is taking major heat from Seahawks fans for passing up the Franchise QB even though (a) five other teams just passed on him, and (b) everyone watching this knows they already have Russell Wilson and is wondering why the Draft Day writers didn’t pick a different team. Costner calls him and offers no. 6 for Seattle’s three no. 1 picks.
“I want my picks back!”
Does Seattle’s GM immediately cave? Of course! He agrees after his boss tells him (I’m paraphrasing), “We still get the QB we wanted, only now we’re saving $7 million on the cap.” Totally! That would make perfect sense if I had a head injury. But wait! Costner just welched on the trade — now he’s asking for three first-rounders AND their punt returner. Does Seattle say yes? OF COURSE! Woo-hoo! Hugs galore in the war room!
I don’t see the relevance of saying the Seahawks have Russell Wilson. This is a fictional movie with primarily fictional players/teams/coaches/etc with only a few real-world name drops of past drafts.
I also don’t see how this is “indefensible logic”. It was made clear that the Seahawks fans were furious at not getting Bo – and what you’re forgetting is that Sonny was threatening to pick Bo at number 6. This is what unsettled the Seahawks GM – he wasn’t sure if Sonny was bluffing or not.
As the characters in the movie highlight, the Seattle GM has potentially more to lose by not making the trade. If the Browns get Bo, Seattle are left with a number 7 pick who they probably don’t want/need (e.g. Ray Jennings who had recently been arrested), and a lot of angry fans. The GM could be sacked long before he gets to use the Browns’ extra 1st round pick the following year. He’s now starting to realise this.
The ability to get Bo within the salary cap is then the deciding factor. Also, remember that whilst the Browns traded away three 1st round picks, it’s only really two extra 1st round picks in year 2 and year 3 , so whilst it may have been better to have the extra two 1st round picks, there’s no guarantees there, and as mentioned the GM could be sacked by the time it’s available.
Really, the movie is fairly solid and covers all bases. The people who seem to dislike it are ones who struggled to consider all of what happened in the movie and get fixated on individual trades only in isolation. The whole point of this movie was that this was an exceptionally rare and remarkable set of trades where a talented but under pressure GM pulled rabbits out of a hat with a bit of luck thrown in. Of course the movie was never going to be about an ordinary set of trades, but at the same time this doesn’t mean the trades we did see weren’t possible or “realistic” given the factors presented to us.
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spacemanspiff00
10 years ago
This has to be either Scott Rothman or Rajiv Joseph. No one else would go to such lengths to defend a movie with so much terrible football logic.
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macnernie
10 years ago
"Really, the movie is fairly solid and covers all bases. The people who seem to dislike it are ones who struggled to consider all of what happened in the movie and get fixated on individual trades only in isolation."
As someone who spends February through April obsessed with the draft I can assure you this movie is so far from solid. The only thing that is "Solid" is the deuce I dropped in the toilet this morning that resembles the football logic in this movie.
Simmons nailed it. Anyone who is a hardcore draftnik knows this is so ridiculous and far fetched. You dont come to epiphanies on Draft Day. Your scouting department has spent the last 9 months preparing for this day. You don't make split second decisions in round 1. This has all been researched and spitballed and covered over and over and over.
You don't give up the farm (3 1st round picks) on a lark then somehow trade to get them all back from the same guy you traded with to begin with. It's just so ridiculous.
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Snatchy
10 years ago
You clearly don't follow the NFL or the NFL draft. None of your "explanations" are remotely reasonable. The movie is pure fantasy.
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