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Patriots select Navy long snapper Joe Cardona with the 166th pick in the Draft. #PatsDraft pic.twitter.com/wSOXQqI8Xn
— New England Patriots (@Patriots) May 2, 2015
Couldn't be happier to be a Patriot!!! Can't wait to head up to Foxborough!
— Joe Cardona (@joecardona93) May 2, 2015
Well, this is certainly a surprise. No, not the fact that Cardona was drafted. I'm not even surprised that he was drafted by Bill Belichik and the New England Patriots. What I am surprised by is the fact that they took him with the 166th pick of the draft, when they still have four more draft picks over the remaining two rounds. I guess they like Cardona that much?
Anyways, as we covered in his profile, Cardona is a unique talent. Unique because he is absolutely superb at his job (long snapping), unique because of how the Navy has molded him into an amazing young man, and also unique in that he will need to decide whether to pursue his NFL career or his military one, and what the exact timing of that will be.
Good luck to him either way, though, he has earned it.