On Friday, Ian Rapoport reported that the Oakland Raiders sent all their scouts home before the final stretch entering the draft, because Jon Gruden and GM Mike Mayock did not know who to trust. That prompted Gil Brandt, the longtime personnel man for the Dallas Cowboys, to share a story of what they did to one scout they did not trust.
We never cleared the room but sometimes we’d lay traps for scouts we didn’t trust. In 1987 we showed our board to a scout with us taking Mike Junkin, a LB we didn’t like. Two days later, Cowboys beat writer Jim Dent wrote story saying we were taking Junkin.
Hook, line, stinker. https://t.co/ETAM1JNZSv
— Gil Brandt (@Gil_Brandt) April 19, 2019
The practice of fake leaks is something that everyone with an interesting in sharing confidential information needs to be aware of, and this is confirmation that some of the stories that get out in the media may just be plants to do some sleuthing work by organizations.
The twist to this story is that the Cleveland Browns traded a bunch of picks and star linebacker Chip Banks to move up to fifth overall (Dallas had the 12th pick) in order to take Mike Junkin, one of the biggest busts in Browns history. It was also the moment that caused Joe Posnanski to re-evaluate the nature of his Browns’ fandom, after an interaction with Junkin when he was a young reporter.
