Albuquerque Journal

NFL Dreaming

They each flourished after being rushed to service during their college football careers. Their composure will come in handy heading into the biggest weekend of their football lives and the ensuing buzz of acitivity this summer.
   
Former University of New Mexico football standouts Travis Brown, Devin Clark and Marcus Smith are among hundreds of hopefuls awaiting phone calls from teams in the NFL Draft— the 2008 version unfolding Saturday and Sunday.
   
"It's just one of those things where I've done everything I can do on my part to get ready for this moment," says Brown, a two-time All-Mountain West Conference first-team wide receiver. "I'm just enjoying the whole process, living the dream, letting it take its course."
   
Sunday— in which the final five rounds of the draft will take place— figures to be the day of interest for the trio— Clark, an offensive lineman, and Smith, a wide receiver, also received first-team All-MWC honors last season.
   
"I think that Marcus is probably the one with the best chance of being drafted," UNM coach Rocky Long says. "I think that Travis and Devin will go in the late rounds or be free agents. That's just a feeling I get from the NFL people who have called and asked about their character."
   
Smith came to UNM as a running back but converted to wide receiver as a redshirt freshman in 2004. He scored two rushing touchdowns that season, including a 65-yard end around against UNLV.
   
"He's made a tremendous adjustment athletically because he'd always been a running back and he converted to receiver," Long says. "He turned into a really good receiver the last two years, and that's really difficult."
   
Smith broke a school record with 91 receptions last season for 1,125 yards and four TDs. The season was even more remarkable, considering his mother died of a brain aneurysm on Sept. 16— a day after he helped lead UNM to a 29-27 victory at Arizona.
   
Smith, who did not return phone calls from the Journal this week, said last month that his mother's absence would temper the excitement of hearing his name called this weekend.
   
"It'll be kind of bittersweet because a big part of the reason I've gotten this far is her," Smith said. "I always wanted to take care of her the way she took care of me. I don't know how I'll feel if I get drafted, but I know it won't be as special as it would if she was here to share it with me."
   
Todd McShay of Scouts Inc. projects on ESPN.com that the 6-foot-1, 221-pound Smith will be a sixth-round pick to Kansas City. The Sporting News' April 21 edition projects Smith going in the seventh round to New England.
   
The Sporting News lists Clark (6-4, 305) as a sixth-round pick for Miami. McShay doesn't include Clark in his mock draft.
   
"I have no clue where I might be going," says Clark, who came to UNM from Scottsdale (Ariz.) Community College. "All I'm looking for is an opportunity to get in a training camp. I'm just trying to stay very humble about this whole thing."
   
Clark came to UNM in the summer of 2006 but was not cleared academically to practice until the middle of fall camp. Three weeks later, he became the starter at right tackle and stayed there for the next two seasons.
   
His agent, Mike Abadir, not only is confident Clark will get drafted, but goes so far as to predict the division that'll take him.
   
"I have a feeling he'll be playing for a team in the NFC East," Abadir says. "He fits that mold of football, a little bit more of a blue-collar mentality. We've had lots of conversations with those clubs."
   
McShay projects Brown as a seventh-round pick to Chicago, where ex-Lobo Brian Urlacher plays.
   
Like Urlacher, Brown played his true freshman season at UNM. In 2004, UNM burned Brown's redshirt year because he was the second best WR on the team, behind Hank Baskett.
   
Despite losing out on a year to develop, the 6-2, 202-pound Brown says he's ready to take the next step.
   
"There's no doubt in my mind I can make a team," he says. "It just comes down to which training camp I'm going to. From there, I feel there's no reason why I would be sent home. I've worked too hard— I'm 100 percent confident I'll be able to stick around."