ESPN's NFL Draft pick chime has a fun backstory — and yes, it can be your ringtone

Q: What is the backstory of ESPN's NFL Draft pick chime?

The chime has a fun history that contributes to its popularity during NFL Draft picks.

Q: Can I download ESPN's NFL Draft pick chime as a ringtone?

Yes, the NFL Draft pick chime is available for download as a ringtone.

Q: When does the NFL Draft pick chime play?

The chime plays when each NFL Draft pick is announced, and it is also used during the NBA Draft.

ESPN's NFL Draft pick chime has a fun backstory — and yes, it can be your ringtone originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

It's a sound familiar to every NFL fan -- the little chime that plays when each NFL Draft pick is in (and yes, it's also the tune during the NBA Draft).

But where did it come from? How did it become so omnipresent? Shoot, can you make it your ring tone?

Those are all important questions, and they all have answers.

You've come to the right place to learn more.

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What's the NFL Draft pick chime?

The NFL Draft pick chime is a recognizable sequence of 10 notes.

It plays when a pick is submitted in the NFL Draft, and in the NBA Draft, and in the WNBA Draft -- which are all broadcast by ESPN.

Who created the NFL Draft pick chime?

ESPN itself created the chime through work of Kevin Wilson and Steve Ackels in 2006.

Ackels was an associate producer at the time, and Wilson was the creative director of ESPN Music.

“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.”

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When did the NFL Draft pick chime start?

It actually didn't debut with a draft's first pick, but rather the No. 8 pick in the 2006 NFL Draft.

Right before the Buffalo Bills chose safety Donte Whitner, the chime chimed for the first time.

The rest is history.

“You never think something like that will last,” Ackels said. “But the simplicity of it is part of the charm. It’s a new beginning for many — the player, the team, the fan base. It’s cool that a sound can evoke that meaning.”