Bills' former 1st-round pick is forever tied to ESPN's NFL Draft pick chime originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.If you're a Buffalo Bills fan and want an incredible bit of sports trivia, you've come to the right place.Did you know that a former Bills first-round pick was preceded by ESPN's first-ever use of its now-ubiquitous draft pick chime?It's true.It was 2006, and ESPN had just created this new chime.“Kevin Wilson and I were just messing around with an electric piano in the basement of Building Three,” Ackels said, via ESPN Front Row.
"... The chime was just one idea among many we were trying out that year. Some stuck, others didn’t. That’s the nature.
That’s also what makes it a great story — the life it has taken on after little fanfare.”MORE: Shedeur Sanders sets the bar for NFL Draft crazinessThey needed to debut it to see if it worked, though.For whatever reason, they didn't use it right off the bat in 2006. They let seven picks pass by chime-less.But before the eighth pick, which was the Bills choice, they played the chime.It stuck.MORE: The full origin story of ESPN's NFL Draft pick chimeAnd oh yeah, then the Bills made a pick -- Donte Whitner, the hard-hitting safety.Whitner played five seasons for the Bills, then suited up for San Francisco, Cleveland and Washington.He retired after the 2016 season.The chime?
It's long outlived Whitner, and it isn't going anywhere.More NFL Draft news:How A.J. Brown trade rumors matter to Patriots' 2026 NFL DraftWhy Keon Coleman matters to Bills' draft plansThe scary truth with Ohio State's Jeremiah Smith