BEREA, Ohio — When the NFL Draft hands you lemons, make lemonade.
It’s an adage Quinshon Judkins should trademark after the former Ohio State back was scooped up by the Cleveland Browns at No. 36 in the second round of the draft on Friday — all because of how he nearly missed answering his draft day phone call.
“I went to go get a drink,” Judkins said with a laugh. “I went to go get a cup of lemonade and I came back and my mom was like, ‘Oh (expletive),’ like they’re on the phone.”
Judkins’ mom, Teva, could be seen in picking up her son’s phone off the couch on the NFL Network broadcast. She answered it and even got a laugh out of Browns GM Andrew Berry.
The back has been watching the draft in Atlanta with a crew of family, friends and former coaches at his side.
True to his 4.48-second 40-yard dash form, Judkins, who led the Buckeyes last year with 1,060 rushing yards (194 carries, 5.5 per carry), and 14 rushing TDs, left the lemonade behind and got moving when his phone started buzzing on Friday night.
“Pretty fast,” Judkins said. “Pretty fast when they were cheering my name. Pretty fast. I ran back really fast. I wasn’t that far away. I literally had just stepped away, man, my phone rung up so fast.”
Once Judkins finally connected with his new team, it was all the usual feelings you would expect.
“I was just so excited and so thrilled to be a Brown,’ he said.
Everyone can make a lemonade toast to that.
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