The following is a smattering of interesting tidbits about the players and schools that will be represented in the 75th NFL Draft to be held Thursday in New York City.
SEMPER FIDELIS: Ball State defensive end BRANDON CRAWFORD is anything but your typical NFL prospect.
At 33, Crawford was older than five of his assistant coaches in his senior season! Following a windy road that included several years of work at an automobile plant and a five-year stint in the Marines, Crawford thinks he has what it takes to play professional football.
"I believe I have a shot at getting drafted," says Crawford, who received an honorary discharge from the Marine Corps in 2003. "If you turn on the film, it doesn't lie. My age might make some people put a blinder on, but I think you've got to see the film first."
Crawford, who initially enrolled at Ball State in 2004 and earned a bachelor's degree in criminal justice in 2008, totaled 138 tackles and 15.0 sacks during his college career, starting his final 39 games.
The five oldest rookies to appear in an NFL game (non-kickers and punters):
PLAYER |
TEAM |
YEAR |
AGE* |
WR Vince Papale |
Philadelphia Eagles |
1976 |
30 years, 307 days |
DL Gary Dulin |
St. Louis Cardinals |
1986 |
29 years, 244 days |
QB Chris Weinke |
Carolina Panthers |
2001 |
29 years, 159 days |
RB Leon Burns |
San Diego Chargers |
1971 |
29 years, 95 days |
Waddell Smith |
Dallas Cowboys |
1984 |
29 years, 30 days |
12 TIDBITS: A dozen interesting notes on the draft class of 2010
PLAYER |
NOTE |
Tennessee DB ERIC BERRY |
Studied dentistry at Tennessee and interned at a Georgia dentist office this past summer. |
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Oklahoma QB SAM BRADFORD |
Is the first person of Cherokee descent to start at quarterback for a Division I university since Sonny Sixkiller, a full-blooded Cherokee, who played for the University of Washington (1970-72). |
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Kentucky FB JOHN CONNER |
Was nicknamed "The Terminator" by his teammates because of his hard-nosed blocking style and his name’s resemblance to the John Connor character from the 1991 Arnold Schwarzenegger film "Terminator 2: Judgment Day." |
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Wake Forest DB BRANDON GHEE |
Is working to create a charitable organization called the Ghee Force Foundation, whose mission will be to support our nation’s military veterans. |
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Florida DB JOE HADEN |
Is the oldest of five brothers whose names all begin with the letter J (Josh, Jordan, Jacob and Jonathon). Joe is just the first college football player in the family. Josh is currently a running back at Boston College, while Jordan enrolled at Florida this January to play safety. |
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Louisiana State DB CHAD JONES |
Is one of two players in NCAA history, along with teammate Jared Mitchell, to capture a BCS football title (2007) and a College World Series championship (2009). |
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Michigan P ZOLTAN MESKO |
Moved to the United States from Romania when he was 11 years old. His parents entered a green card lottery and were among the 55,000 chosen to receive a green card out of the 200,000 that applied. |
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South Florida WR CARLTON MITCHELL |
His mother Angela is the "cut-man" for professional boxer Antonio Tarver. |
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Penn State DT JARED ODRICK |
Has invited his mentor LARRY JOHNSON, SR., the PSU defensive line coach and father of Redskins running back LARRY JOHNSON, to sit with him in the Green Room at Radio City Music Hall on draft day. |
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Oklahoma State T RUSSELL OKUNG |
Has the opportunity to become the first OSU lineman to be picked in Round 1 since JOHN WARD (1970, Minnesota). |
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Clemson RB C.J. SPILLER |
Is the first Clemson running back to be Academic All-ACC and first team All-ACC. |
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Nebraska DT NDAMUKONG SUH |
Is the son of two foreign-born parents. His mother Bernadette is from Jamaica, while his father Michael hails from Cameroon. |
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Florida QB TIM TEBOW |
Was born in Manila, Philippines while his parents were abroad doing missionary work. Tebow has accompanied his father, Bob, back to the Philippines for the past three summers for mission work. |
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Virginia T ED WANG |
May become the first player of full Chinese descent to be selected in the NFL Draft. His parents, Nancy and Robert, were both members of the Chinese Olympic track and field team in the 1970s. |
FAST FIRST ROUND: Last year’s first round was completed in three hours and 23 minutes, seven minutes shorter than 2008 and roughly half the time of the first round of the 2007 draft, which took six hours and eight minutes.
It was the shortest first round since 1990 – which took three hours and 24 minutes. The shortest first round since 1970 was in 1972 – two hours flat.
First-round durations since 2000:
YEAR |
FIRST ROUND |
|
YEAR |
FIRST ROUND |
2000 |
5:30 |
|
2005 |
5:47 |
2001 |
4:18 |
|
2006 |
4:48 |
2002 |
5:48 |
|
2007 |
6:08 |
2003 |
4:58 |
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2008 |
3:30 |
2004 |
5:24 |
|
2009 |
3:23 |