Nike was the secret star of Draft 2020, the dog of Patriots trainer Bill Belichick made his big entrance at Pick number 37. Girlfriend Linda Holliday now reveals what’s behind it all.

It was a picture to the gods. It was hilarious. Undoubtedly a highlight of the virtual draft.

When the New England Patriots pulled the Safety Kyle Dugger with their 37th Pick, ESPN immediately switched to Belichick’s “War Room” – but there was only a dog sitting in the seat of trainer Bill Belichick.

Examining look
The fact that the subtitle announced the head coach of the Patriots rounded off the curious picture. Nike, Belichick’s dog, looked as if he was taking a peek into his master’s laptop and paging through some last data to select the next pick.

Belichick’s girlfriend Linda Holliday now revealed how the bizarre situation came about in Adam Schefter’s podcast. She actively helped with the draft in the home office, because the island Nantucket, where Belichick lives, has very strict visiting rules in the Corona crisis.

“So I worked with the Patriots’ IT people and said, ‘Teach me everything, I’ll do the lighting, I’ll do the IT. I do everything”, she said.

So Belichick had left some treats on his laptop when he left the table. “Suddenly he looks and says, ‘Look at the table. Nike sits there and waits patiently because he knows that his treats are there. That’s why he sat down at the table and just waited patiently to take his treats.”

Put this in the Smithsonian. pic.twitter.com/krplmziCHS

— CBS Sports (@CBSSports) April 24, 2020

The reward followed on his foot: Belichick strolled calmly back to the table and rewarded Nike with a treat from his hand.

Nike, a two-year-old Alaskan Klee Kai, is now a small Instagram star, by the way.

When the draft started, Nike had around 1000 followers. Now there are 16.400. People love him, and the criticism for the Patriots’ strange draft got its master completely.