My favorite part of every NFL draft weekend is seeing the phone calls from the front offices to the players sitting at home with their families and friends. Just hearing how emotional these guys are and seeing the happiness on the faces of general managers and coaches when they realize that they just made a kid’s dream come true is just a cool emotional roller-coaster.
Michigan State had a couple of guys realize their dreams come true over the weekend, and the Washington Commanders posted Matt Gulbin’s phone call and I just so happened to stumble across Ryan Eckley’s even though I didn’t see it when it was originally shared by the Ravens.
Gulbin’s was emotional and you could tell he was thrilled but they didn’t show his point of view. Eckley got a good video of him taking the call and the Ravens shared a cool split-screen of the conversation.
Inside the call that made @RyanEckley1 a Raven: pic.twitter.com/QYYHcq3Kxq
— Baltimore Ravens (@Ravens) April 26, 2026
Something about these calls just gets me right in the feels. Just finding out that you’re going to be moving to a new city to live out your childhood dream has to be surreal and you can tell that the emotions are sometimes hard to process.
Eckley now has a chance to be the starting punter for former Michigan defensive coordinator Jesse Minter and the Baltimore Ravens.
Ryan Eckley was a bright spot during a dark time
There weren’t a ton of bright spots during the Jonathan Smith era, but several of them had to be special teams-related. The main special teams star for Michigan State over the past couple of years has been Eckley. The multi-year starter at punter became an All-Big Ten and All-American player shortly after replacing Bryce Baringer.
Eckley was unfortunately one of the most exciting parts of Michigan State games. While punting isn’t fun or really all that cool, he came out, pinned teams deep, and walked off the field with swag.
I think everyone remembers the hype he delivered when he helped Michigan State beat Boston College in that electric game back in September. He was on top of the world and the season had a different feeling to it — until it didn’t. The same issues popped up again and we saw way more of Eckley than we would have liked. Still, he led the nation in yards per punt and was as consistent as any punter in program history.
Now he gets to lead the punt unit for an organization that’s prided itself on special teams. He’s replacing a Pro Bowler but he’s ready.
Eckley could really solidify Michigan State as ‘Punter U’.
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