Derek Barnett competes during Tennessee’s NFL Pro Day, Friday, March 31, 2017, in Knoxville, Tenn. (AP Photo/Wade Payne)The man in crimson broke the Big Orange’s draft drought.
Former Tennessee defensive end Derek Barnett, clad in a crimson tuxedo, was snagged by the Philadelphia Eagles with the 14th overall pick in the NFL draft Thursday in Philadelphia, becoming the first Volunteer selected by an NFL franchise since 2014.
Barnett’s mother, Christine, and Tennessee coach Butch Jones accompanied Barnett to the draft. It was attended by an estimated 70,000 fans, many of them with loyalties to the hometown Eagles.
“I’m very lucky to be here and lucky my mom can come with me as well and enjoy this with me,” Barnett said on the NFL Network’s pre-draft show. “There’s a lot of Eagles fans out here, and I think they want me to go to the Eagles. But I have no control in that.”
Barnett, who broke Chattanooga native and former Eagles star Reggie White’s career sack record at Tennessee, is the school’s first defender selected in the draft’s opening round since the Kansas City Chiefs picked Eric Berry fifth overall in 2010.