Three hours away, just outside of Charleston, S.C., in the riverside town of Mount Pleasant, Freeling was floored when his phone rang with a 704 area code. He had received some feedback from his agent that the Panthers were a possibility if he was still available at No. 19, but for the phone to actually ring, and for it to all be happening, he’s been in a dream-like state ever since.

“I think Detroit was still on the clock, and I got a call, and I was like, hold on, let me pick this up, and they’re like, ‘Hey, this is the Carolina Panthers.’ I was like, ‘No way. There’s just no way.’

“It was surreal, and it’s still surreal, and I don’t even know if it’s set in quite yet that I’m staying home and I’m only a three-hour drive from home, and it’s closer than I was in Athens, so it’s still not really setting in yet. But I imagine that in the next 24 hours, maybe even the next week, it’s going to really hit me that I’m here and I’m blocking for a former teammate of mine, and it’s everything I’ve ever wanted.”