Eagles Draft A Man Whose Decision Helped Bring Roy Halladay To The Phillies

Well this is one of the more bizarre stories you will ever come across in an NFL Draft. For the second time in his life, Riley Cooper was drafted by Philadelphia. Of course, the Eagles did not draft him twice. His last drafting by a Philadelphia team before today came in 2006 when the Phillies drafted him.

But the fun does not end there. Not only was Riley a 15th round draft pick for the Phillies (#457 overall), but if Riley Cooper did not go to Florida, things might be very different at Citizens Bank Park right now. How could a 15th round draft pick make such a difference? Check out this report on Cooper written June 9, 2006.

Cooper, 6 feet 4, 212 pounds, was rated by most recruiting services as a first-rounder when the spring began. He was touted for his blazing speed and raw power, shining in a number of showcases during the summer before his senior season.

But he sustained a season-ending injury in March when he was involved in a late-night scrape in Clearwater. Cooper sustained a deep cut to his right arm throwing a punch through a car window.

According to Larry Cooper, Philadelphia told him it was going to take Riley Cooper with the 18th overall pick in the draft before being talked out of it. "They were asking us if they drafted Riley in the first round, would he sign, and we said no," Larry Cooper said. "As of (Monday) night, they wanted to take us in the 10th-15th round and pay us first-round money and see if they can get us up in Philadelphia by the 25th. That's still their plan."

Riley Cooper said he will report to Gainesville on June 27. Gator football coach Urban Meyer was one of the first to call after his selection, to congratulate one of his prize recruits and make sure he won't wilt under the pressure from the Phillies to sign.

"I don't think so," Cooper said.

As I have already mentioned, Cooper was taken 457th overall, not 18th overall, and he committed to Florida, instead of signing with the Phillies. However, there is one last twist to this story.

The Phillies did make a selection with that 18th overall pick. With that pick in the draft, the Philadelphia Phillies selected Kyle Drabek. Kyle Drabek was recently traded to the Toronto Blue Jays for Roy Halladay.

My question is: what if Riley Cooper does not commit to Florida? Is he now a Toronto Blue Jay? Or would he not be the prospect Drabek is and in turn we would never get Halladay? Would the Phillies have traded top prospect Dom Brown instead? And where would that leave the farm?

Okay, so maybe there are some stretches there, but the coincidence that the Phillies wanted to draft a guy but did not because he wanted to play football in Florida and in turn drafted a guy that got traded to Toronto for Halladay and the guy the Phillies originally wanted to draft that went to Florida to play football is now an Eagle, is beyond amusing. Anyone that followed that last mega run-on sentence is my hero. For realz.

(Hat tip to Bleeding Green Nation)