There was a late flurry of Terp action in yesterday’s NFL Draft.
After Darrius Heyward-Bey came off the board Saturday and Kevin Barnes was selected early yesterday, several Terps had some tense moments before earning phone calls from drafting teams.
It was more than eight hours into yesterday’s portion of the Draft before Moise Fokou (230th), Jaimie Thomas (236th) and Dan Gronkowski (255th) found out they were being taken with three of the final 26 picks.
Fokou said he didn’t want much to do with the early part of the Draft after hearing he’d probably go somewhere between the fourth and seventh rounds. But once he sat down in front of the TV during the fourth round, he had to wait a while before seeing his name flash across ESPN’s bottomline as the newest Philadelphia Eagle.
“It was long and it was gruesome,” Fokou said last night. “You get nervous. Once that seventh round comes around, you start thinking, ‘Oh my goodness. I’m not going to get drafted.’ But I’m so happy I got picked up by the Eagles.”
Gronkowski, who went to the Detroit Lions, was taken just one pick ahead of South Carolina kicker Ryan Succop, who as the final pick gets a pretty lavish ceremony in California for being “Mr. Irrelevant.”
Fokou said he knew what Gronkowski was going through as the Draft wound down but guessed that all his drafted teammates feel the same way as he does now that the Draft is done.
“I’m ready to go back to practicing and strap those cleats on to play football again,” Fokou said. “This has been a long process, and I’m glad it’s over.”
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Tags: Dan Gronkowski, Darrius Heyward-Bey, Jaimie Thomas, kevin barnes, Moise Fokou, NFL Draft, Ryan Succop