JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Devin Lloyd had no intention of lifting NFL commissioner Roger Goodell when he hugged him after being called up as a first-round pick for the Jacksonville Jaguars on Thursday night.
But he wasn’t going to disobey his mother.
“I just told Devin to make sure he picks up Roger Goodell off the floor,” Ronyta Johnson said. “I didn’t know he was going to pick it up like that.”
Lloyd went beyond his mother’s intention. He wrapped Goodell in a bear hug, leaned back and lifted him off the ground several feet.
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Lloyd said his mother proposed shortly after the Jags selected the former Utah linebacker with the 27th overall pick. So he only had a few moments to figure out what he was going to do.
“I had no intention of choosing him right after I got the call [from the Jaguars]”, he said. “It just happened.”
The most important question in all of this, however, is this: why did Lloyd’s mother want him to pick up Goodell? The reason is, surprisingly, quite simple.
“I just wanted to see if he could,” Johnson said.
Hug form project on point 💀@DevinLloyd_ | #DUUUVAL pic.twitter.com/7XcmBjdOFi
— Jacksonville Jaguars (@Jaguars) April 29, 2022
“Make sure you get Roger Goodell back.”@DevinLloyd_‘s mom prepared him well for Draft Night 🥹@Dream_Finders | #DUUUVAL pic.twitter.com/mjHs5xPntG
— Jacksonville Jaguars (@Jaguars) April 30, 2022
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