Imagine how excited you would be to begin working at your dream job. San Francisco 49ers rookie wide receiver Quinton Patton can certainly relate.
After being chosen by the 49ers in the fourth round of last week’s draft, the ex-Louisiana Tech star bought a plane ticket and flew out to the Bay Area from Nashville before renting a car and heading out to 49ers’ headquarters to start working with his new team.
The problem? Patton didn’t tell his new bosses that he’d be coming in to work early.
“We had to go, ‘You’re where? What airport did you fly in to? You’re in a rental car driving here?'” Harbaugh said (KNBR-AM via NFL.com) after Patton called the team from his rental car. “‘Yeah, coach, 20 minutes away.’ We go, ‘He can’t be here, he can’t come here. He’s not allowed to be at our facility.'”
Other than participating in the usual post-draft media introductions, rookies are prohibited from working out at team facilities until rookie mini-camps begin.
The 49ers had to tell Patton to go home to Nashville until the start of rookie mini-camp on May 10.
While there’s little doubt that Harbaugh appreciated Patton’s enthusiasm, it will be interesting to see whether or not Patton maintains his eager spirit later this summer during his first NFL training camp.