NFL Draft 2023: Chad Ryland, Sidy Sow share ‘emotional’ FaceTime after reuniting in New England

Chad Ryland and Sidy Sow spent four years together as teammates at Eastern Michigan before Ryland transferred to Maryland prior to the 2022 season. They are now reunited in New England after the Patriots selected them both in the fourth-round of the 2023 NFL Draft.

Once Sow was selected just five picks after Ryland, he immediately knew who his first call would go too.

“I was about to realize my dream but right after that the first person that I called was Chad because I knew that he had just gotten drafted by the Patriots,” Sow said in his introductory conference call. “I just thought that was the craziest thing in the world, so I needed to talk to him.”

“I think there were a little bit of tears in both of our eyes,” Ryland added. “It was a pretty emotional moment for us.”

While Ryland and Sow were no longer together on the field last season following the kicker’s transfer, they remained close off of it. The two remained in group chats together while also being Call of Duty partners.

“We’ve been really, really, really good friend from the time we were both at Eastern Michigan,” Ryland said. “Sidy is an awesome dude, awesome competitor, super strong and just overall a really hard worker and great guy.”

“I still talk to him to this day,” Sow added. “It’s crazy that once again, teammates.”

The once-again teammates will now get to go through rookie life together in Foxboro, where they will have each other to lean on throughout the process.

“To be honest, having a really close friend and like us getting to go through this whole process, especially this summer and heading into next season, having someone like him who is going through the same thing every single day will be amazing,” Sow said. “On the call, we just talked about how crazy this is and it is just awesome.”