John McClain of the Houston Chronicle, the longtime NFL writer and Pro Football Hall of Fame voter, pens a piece on the late Joel Buchsbaum today. One can't be writing on the NFL draft without noting the impact Buchsbaum had in his role as NFL editor for Pro Football Weekly.
In the piece, McClain writes about how much respect Bill Belichick had for Buchsbaum.
"Among the stories Belichick told about Joel was trying to hire him when he was the head coach at Cleveland and after he was hired by New England," McClain writes of the service that was held after Buchsbaum died. "As Belichick explained, Joel politely declined, saying he felt like he worked for every team as long as he was at PFW and covered the league.
"For those of you who never got to hear or read Buchsbaum, here's the ultimate compliment I can pay him. We all know how super-secret Belichick is. At the service in Indianapolis, Belichick told a story that showed how much respect he had for Joel's personnel acumen.
"Belichick said every year, the day before the draft, he called Joel and disclosed his draft board. Belichick said he actually made a few changes now and then based on Joel's evaluations.
"On Wednesday, I seriously doubt Belichick is going to be calling any of the current draftniks and revealing his draft board to get their opinion."
McClain's piece had me looking back in the archive for a piece on Buchsbaum written by Juliet Macur of the Dallas Morning News. That also detailed the connection that Bill Belichick, Scott Pioli and Bill Parcells had with Buchsbaum.