GREEN BAY — It was almost 11:30 on NFL draft night in Middletown, Connecticut, and the campfire was crackling.
The temperature had dipped near the freezing mark, but Tim Boyle, his sisters Amanda and Amy, and one of Boyle’s close friends were still in the backyard, enjoying the night. Then, the Green Bay Packers traded up and were on the clock with the 26th pick in the first round.
“It was late,” Boyle remembered. “I can still remember it.”
Across the country — 2,929 miles away — Boyle’s teammate, friend and quarterback mentor, Aaron Rodgers, was tuning into the draft himself at his home in Malibu, California.