NEW YORK -- Everyone is happy during the NFL draft. Even a
star receiver whose career has soured, and a Heisman Trophy winner
who sinks to the bottom of the fifth round.
Going so low, on the 174th pick to Baltimore, was a thrill for
Ohio State's Troy Smith. And going cross-country from the NFL's
worst team to the best of the decade was equally exciting for Randy
Moss.
Moss never took advantage of his few opportunities in two
seasons with the Oakland Raiders and was dealt to the Patriots on
Sunday for a fourth-round pick, No. 110 overall. New England never
backs off on a player with talent if coach Bill Belichick and
player personnel director Scott Pioli believe they can turn him
around.
That's clearly their opinion on the once-dynamic Moss, who even
admitted to dogging it on some plays in Oakland.
"Bill and Scott have shown that they can assemble players,
especially veteran players, who can acclimate to our culture,"
Patriots owner Robert Kraft told The Associated Press in a
telephone interview. "If people don't adjust to our standards,
they won't be here."
For now, Moss is in New England, and saying all the right
things.
"I've made a lot of money and I still have money in the bank.
So by me coming to an organization such as the New England
Patriots, why would money be a factor?" Moss said. "I'm still in
awe that I'm a part of this organization."
"Just really last night me and coach Belichick really talked
for the first time about what's been going on," Moss said. "He
asked me how excited I (would be) if the opportunity would present
itself for me to become a Patriot and, really, I was overwhelmed
because I didn't expect to hear from coach Belichick."
Smith was hopeful he'd hear from some NFL team. Despite leading
Ohio State to the verge of the national championship and romping
his way to the Heisman, he was viewed as a low-end NFL prospect by
most teams.
But the Ravens saw plenty of value in Smith. And he saw the same
thing in the Ravens.
"The critics are going to be here for the rest of my life.
There's nothing I can do about them," Smith said. "In a lot of
ways, they make people stronger or they take people under. My whole
life I've been fighting that battle. It turned out positive right
now and I'm going to continue to stay the course and fight the
critics. They're not going anywhere and I accept them for who they
are."
Who Smith will be hanging with is a very impressive group.
Indeed, the leadership in Baltimore was one reason general manager
Ozzie Newsome was comfortable taking Smith.
"I said, `Here you are, coming off a big-time career at Ohio
State, playing in the national championship game, the Heisman
Trophy winner, and you're probably going to be a nobody because
we've got some Hall of Famers that are in that locker room.' And
you know what? He really relished that opportunity," Newsome said
of Smith.
The second day of the NFL draft hardly was without big names and
drama, even if it couldn't match the previous day's slide of Brady
Quinn and the dealing of three 2008 first-round picks.
The Raiders pumped up their offense by taking quarterback
JaMarcus Russell of LSU at the top of the draft; tight end Zach
Miller of Arizona State in the second round; wide receiver Johnny
Lee Higgins of UTEP and tackle Mario Henderson of Florida State in
the third; and Michael Bush.
Bush, a likely first-rounder before breaking his leg in
Louisville's opener last season, was the opening pick of the second
day after the Raiders had nearly 12 hours to contemplate the
selection.
"I was just stunned," the big, fast running back said of not
going in the first three rounds, probably because he needed a
second surgery in March, when a new rod was inserted into his leg
after the bone didn't heal quickly enough. "I didn't know what to
expect, what to think. My agent and I didn't have anything to go
by. I just felt like maybe it wasn't right for me to go on the
first day. It was a little disappointing, but everything worked out
fine."
While New England was adding Moss and had selected Miami
Hurricanes safety Brandon Meriweather in the first round --
Meriweather served a one-game suspension in college for stomping on
opposing players during a brawl against Florida International --
Denver also was unafraid to grab two players with character issues.
Florida defensive tackle Marcus Thomas -- for whom the Denver
Broncos traded their two remaining picks Sunday and a third-rounder
in 2008 -- was considered a first-round talent. But after being
suspended for a game last season for marijuana use, he then was
kicked off the team for leaving Gainesville with friends to go to
Orlando against coach Urban Meyer's orders.
When Denver saw a change to get him in the fourth round, it
pounced.
"You talk about taking an educated gamble," coach Mike
Shanahan. "If they do make a mistake, then you have to release a
player and let them go. No one's bigger than the team. We've had
players before that have been in this situation, and it's been the
best thing that's ever happened. They come into the NFL without a
second chance.
"Time will tell. I can't tell you 100 percent. If I didn't have
a very good gut feeling about the guy he wouldn't be with our
organization."
Shanahan also chose Gators DE Jarvis Moss in the first round.
Moss tested positive for marijuana in the middle of the 2006 season
and was suspended for one game.
Other notable selections Sunday were Ohio State RB Antonio
Pittman, fourth round to New Orleans; Michigan WR Steve Breaston,
fifth round to Arizona; Pittsburgh linebacker H.B. Blades, sixth
round to Washington; UTEP quarterback Jordan Palmer, the brother of
the Bengals' Carson Palmer, sixth round to Washington; and WR
Jordan Kent, who played three sports at Oregon and is the son of
Ducks basketball coach Ernie Kent. Jordan Kent went at the end of
the sixth round to Seattle.
The final pick of the longest draft ever -- 18 hours, 5 minutes --
was Alabama defensive back Ramzee Robinson by Detroit.