2 years later, Raiders’ Ingold has his draft moment

CLEVELAND — Alec Ingold endured the playful ribbing from his Raiders teammates. He was going to take the NFL draft stage, step to the podium — and mispronounce the names of the team’s third-round picks.

Or so they said.

But when the third-year fullback stepped on the stage Friday night, there were no such shenanigans. He calmly walked to the podium, flashed a grin, honored the late great Willie Brown and read the names on the index card.

“Malcom Koonce. … Divine Deablo,” he said, pronouncing every syllable perfectly.

Roger Goodell couldn’t have said it any better.

Ingold finally experienced the NFL draft in all its glory, more than two years after all 32 NFL teams elected not to draft him. Better late than never, though, for the 24-year-old fan favorite, who the Raiders sent to Cleveland to announce their second-day pick on their behalf.

“Alec (got) an excellent opportunity here to be a part of the draft,” said teammate Foster Moreau, who traveled with Ingold to Cleveland. “I don’t know how much it means to him, but it sure means a lot to us.”

Ingold traveled to Cleveland from Las Vegas on Thursday and recalled his experience in 2019 during a layover in Minneapolis with his friend, Moreau, a fourth-round pick that same year. He played four seasons at Wisconsin and excelled in the bruising Big Ten, blocking for future NFL running backs like Corey Clement and Jonathan Taylor.

He also scored 21 touchdowns during his college career, an impressive total for a fullback. His play and production warranted invitations to the prestigious Senior Bowl in Mobile, Alabama, where he played for Raiders coach Jon Gruden.

He also was the lone true fullback invited in 2019 to the NFL Scouting Combine.

With that in mind, Ingold said he thought he’d be drafted that April. He watched the NFL draft with his family but did not hear his name called over the course of seven rounds.

“That’s something you prepare for. You believe it with your whole heart, and that’s what makes it even worse,” Ingold said. “You put in all that work, that effort for three, four years, and to fall short like that on the very last day of the draft was tough.”

Said Moreau: “Trevor Lawrence probably thinks he could go higher. Every guy thinks he can go higher. That’s how it works.”

The Raiders called Ingold on the third day of the draft, and his friends and family thought he was going to be selected. But they called only to tell him of their interest in signing him as an undrafted free agent, adding to the “heartbreak” he was already experiencing.

“You try and take emotion out of it. You understand it’s a business,” he said.

The fullback also fielded phone calls from other franchises, but his familiarity with Gruden from the Senior Bowl sealed the deal. He announced minutes after the draft concluded that he’d be signing with the Raiders and hasn’t missed a game in his two NFL seasons.

Ingold says he still has a chip on his shoulder stemming from experience as an undrafted player. Fortunately for Koonce and Deablo, they won’t have to go through that.

Thanks in part to Ingold.

“To be able to be announcing (the pick) for another guy who (got) that call, it’s kind of full circle,” said Ingold, the franchise’s Walter Payton Man of the Year nominee in 2020.

“We’re excited for this new draft class.”

Contact reporter Sam Gordon at sgordon@reviewjournal.com. Follow @BySamGordon on Twitter.