Saturday, September 6, every corner of the National Lacrosse League universe will be focused on the 2025 NLL Draft. Broadcasting from league studios at DOME Productions, Teddy Jenner and Pat Gregoire will host the annual gathering of the game’s next generation of stars. Coverage activates at 1:00 p.m. ET with the entirety of the first round exclusively broadcast on NLL+.
While Teddy and Pat will adeptly man the mics, NLL Commissioner Brett Frood will announce the selections of the just-off-the-factory-shelf array of box lacrosse talent.
But, it will be another entity all together that will serve as the driving force behind all the twists and turns of the day’s festivities. An entity that goes by the name of the Toronto Rock.
In a remarkable turn of events, the Rock own the top three spots in the first-round draft order. The second slot represents the Rock’s original pick, with the first and third choices making their way to the shores of Lake Ontario courtesy of trades with the Desert Dogs and Wings, respectively. In the wake of a disappointing 6-12 campaign in 2025, owner/general manager Jamie Dawick and head coach Matt Sawyer are well positioned to quickly right the ship and return the blue-blood franchise back to its typical winning ways.
Just how unique is a situation of this magnitude?
In the near four-decade history of the NLL, precisely zero clubs have ever held the first three picks in the draft.
Commissioner Brett Frood with Rock draft pick Zack Kearney in 2023.
Similar recent scenarios occurred in 2015, when the Georgia Swarm owned slots one, three and five of the draft, which included the reeling in of living legend Lyle Thompson with the first overall choice.
Circa 2013, the Minnesota Swarm possessed positions one, two, four and seven, walking away with three-time All-American Logan Schuss at the very top of the gala.
Over the course of earlier NLL history, multiple teams have resided in the top two rungs of the draft, but Toronto stands alone with their one-in-a-million trifecta of possibilities.
Stepping away from the NLL, it is interesting to note when similar draft driven circumstances have been present at other league’s yearly selection meetings. Nothing is quite on the level of the ’25 Rock, but there are some conditions that are definitely in the ballpark.
In the NFL, the closest comparable development was in play all the way back in the pre-internet, rolled-up-jeans days of 1992, when the Indianapolis Colts picked Steve Emtman and Quentin Coryatt with the first two picks of the draft. Sadly for the Colts, the pair never really distinguished themselves amid their dueling tenures in the Hoosier State.
Two years later, the Colts were at it again, selecting hall of famer Marshall Faulk and LB Trev Alberts in placements two and five.
More recently, the Cleveland Browns grabbed Heisman Trophy winner Baker Mayfield and Denzel Ward with the first and fourth picks of the 2018 gathering. The Houston Texans ran an analogous route in 2023, grabbing franchise QB C.J. Stroud with the second pick, followed by ’23 defensive rookie of the year Will Anderson Jr. at three.
On the NBA hardwood, parallel manifestations have come to light in those instances when hoops organizations owned the top pick, while also laying claim to a second significant lottery choice.
The 2023 NLL Draft at the TRAC in Oakville.
In 2011, the Cleveland Cavaliers held this distinction, choosing championship cornerstones Kyrie Irving and Tristan Thompson at numbers one and four.
Rewinding back to the big hair and bright colors of the 1980’s, 1988 witnessed the Los Angeles Clippers swipe Kansas legend Danny Manning with the first pick, followed by Hersey Hawkins at six, with Hawkins immediately traded to the Philadelphia 76ers for the third guy in that year’s draft, Pitt forward Charles Smith.
Two years prior, those very same Cavs enlisted multi-time All-Star Brad Daugherty and multi-time NBA champion Ron Harper at spaces one and eight, while the Houston Rockets nabbed Virginia great Ralph Sampson and Rodney McCray with the draft cards reading the numbers one and three, during the 1983 undertaking.
On a frozen sheet of ice, the turn of the century served as a seminal era for top of the draft dominance by an NHL squad.
In 1999, the Vancouver Canucks finagled the iconic Sedin brothers (Daniel and Henrik) with the second and third swings. Then, one year later, the New York Islanders acquired Rick DiPietro and Raffi Torres at the one and five thresholds.
As can be deduced from the non-NLL aspects of this article, particularly in recent memory, it’s hard to locate an example of another club owning the upper echelons of a draft in anything close to the manner of the Rock. Simply stated, Toronto resides in a league of their own, with the decisions made by the six-time champions setting the tone for every bit of palace intrigue to follow.
Come September 6, NLL fans will be treated to a spectacle that will be ensconced in their collective memory banks, for many years to come.
Kick your feet up and enjoy the ride!
