When is
comes to the NFL Draft, IU is the real ‘Mr. Irrelevant’
By Howie Baker,
THG Sports
The last weekend in April
is a time that all real football fanatics look forward to. This is when the
National Football League holds their annual draft, where each NFL team hopes to
pick the league’s next superstar or find a player that fills a pressing need,
perhaps the last piece of the puzzle that will turn a mediocre club into a
playoff contender.
If you are a fan of Indiana
University football and plan on watching the draft because you are curious to see
where any of your beloved Hoosiers are going to be playing next season, I will
save you a weekend by telling you now—NOWHERE!
That’s right—it doesn’t
look like any IU players will be drafted in any of the seven rounds.
I originally was going to
write a story about IU players who have a shot at making an NFL roster. When
doing my research, however, I couldn’t find anything about an Indiana player who is even
considered a long shot.
NFL.com has a special
section devoted to draft coverage. In this section, you will find prospect
profiles listed by position, school, or alphabetically. There is only one
mention of a player from Indiana on this board—6’ 4” 332
lb. guard Khiawatha Downey. Oh, wait, Downey is from INDIANA UNIVERSITY OF
PENNSYLVANIA, a Division II program.
I knew IU’s football
program was poor, but a Big Ten Conference school without even one rose among
all of its thorns? What makes this even worse is the fact that other non
Division I-A no-name schools have draft prospects. Some of these include
Bloomsburg, Evangel, and Minnesota-Morris. Even tiny Tusculum College (Greeneville, Tennessee), a
Presbyterian school of 1,500, has THREE athletes
considered possible draftees: cornerback Ricardo Colclough, tackle Alan Dunn,
and wide receiver Kevin Wolcott.
Being an IU alum and fan,
reading this information was especially disheartening. Perhaps Coach DiNardo
made a mistake by visiting every high school in Indiana upon taking the job. It
surely hasn’t paid off in talent or wins. He should find out where Tusculum
recruits, and work those areas extensively.
The last man picked in the
NFL draft is dubbed “Mr. Irrelevant” because his chances of making the team so
poor. At least he has a chance, unlike any of IU’s players. Perhaps we should
pass a petition around the state to change Indiana University’s football team’s mascot to the “Irrevelevants” until we get a big-time
prospect or have a .500 season.
