METAIRIE, La. -- Former LSU quarterback Garrett Nussmeier said he hoped he would be able to celebrate his upcoming selection in the NFL draft with his father, Doug Nussmeier.
He just wasn't sure how much time together they would actually get. Doug, the New Orleans Saints' offensive coordinator, will be busy working once the draft begins on Thursday night.
Garrett said at LSU's pro day in March that he planned to hold his draft party close to the Saints' facility to give his dad a chance to see him after he gets drafted.
"I'm going to be doing draft in New Orleans, hopefully as close to the Saints' facility as possible so my dad can try to stay over after my name gets called," Garrett said at the time. "But yeah, obviously there's going to be a lot of emotion. One, just kind of everything that I went through this year, the expectations, things like that. To see it kind of come into fruition is going to be unbelievable. It's something I've been dreaming about since I was four years old."
As it turns out, the Nussmeiers won't have to split their time at all.
The Saints granted Doug permission to spend the draft with Garrett, encouraging him to be with his son, who is the fourth-ranked quarterback on Mel Kiper's most recent Big Board and could be a Day 2 pick.
"It's a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity," said Saints general manager Mickey Loomis on Wednesday.
Loomis said that they'll still call on the older Nussmeier if they need his input, but at this point, most of the work is done.
"All these questions that may come up in the draft are mostly answered. I don't anticipate a lot of questions coming when we're on the clock or during the draft, but I know Doug will be available and we value his input," Loomis said.
Garrett said that his father, a fourth-round pick of the Saints in 1994, has been a valuable source of information leading up to the draft. Doug called the situation of guiding his son through the draft process "unique."
"I've never been in this situation. I don't know how it's going to go," Doug said following his son's pro day. "So you just kind of go through the process. Obviously you have background in what the process is and that type of stuff. But to have somebody, your own son going through it, like I said, you've got to feel blessed. And at the same time, you're just pulling for them to do their best."
But if Doug has an opinion about where he wants his son to land, he's not saying it publicly.
"One of the NFL teams. How about that?" Doug said with a smile.
