PaladinFan
April 28th, 2008, 05:32 PM
http://www.thestate.com/state-colleges/story/388673.html
Lazy day turns hectic for Furman fullback
Lions take Felton in the fifth round, one of four with state ties to be picked
By PATRICK OBLEY - [email protected]
Sunday had been a slow day for Furman fullback Jerome Felton.
As the fifth round of the NFL draft droned on, he tried to keep himself occupied with family and friends, anything to prevent him from obsessing over the silence of his phone.
Then the phone rang. It was the Arizona Cardinals. They said to sit tight. He would be their next pick.
He hung up.
The phone rang again. It was the Buffalo Bills. They said to sit tight. They had a pick before Arizona and they were going to take him.
He hung up.
He glanced over at the television where the Detroit Lions’ selection was being announced:
Jerome Felton, FB, Furman.
The phone rang again. It was the Lions. They said “congratulations.”
“It was kind of crazy, really,” Felton said. “I thought Detroit might be in the mix. If I had to pick five teams, they would have been one of them.”
Felton became the first true fullback to be selected in the draft, a mild upset for various scouting services who projected him the fourth or fifth prospect at the position.
He is the 27th player in Furman history to be drafted and the highest-drafted from the school since safety John Keith, who was taken in the fourth round by San Francisco in 2000. Felton’s former teammate, quarterback Ingle Martin, also was a fifth-round pick, going to Green Bay in 2006. Felton was 146th overall while Martin was 148th.
Felton’s versatility ultimately was his strongest trait. While at Furman, he rushed for 2,652 yards and scored a school-record 414 points. He played in multiple formations, ranging from single-back to wishbone and occasionally caught the ball out of the backfield.
“One of the question marks about him was would he block,” Furman coach Bobby Lamb said. “He blocked well for us, but he carried the ball so much the scouts didn’t know.”
In Detroit, Felton will join third-round draft pick Kevin Smith to form a new backfield for a team best-known for its passing game.
“They have some big-time receivers, but they definitely wanted to establish the run so the play-action pass would be more effective,” Felton said. “Kevin and I, hopefully, we can get some things going. I’m excited about getting in there.”
Also a plus: Felton’s intelligence. He will graduate from Furman with a degree in political science and a 3.28 grade-point average. Lamb said Felton’s ability to pick up everything the scouts threw at him probably played as big a role as anything he did on the field.
“A Philadelphia Eagles scout spent five hours with him on the chalkboard and couldn’t believe how smart he was,” Lamb said. “Of course, all the players here are like that. He definitely had an advantage.”
Lazy day turns hectic for Furman fullback
Lions take Felton in the fifth round, one of four with state ties to be picked
By PATRICK OBLEY - [email protected]
Sunday had been a slow day for Furman fullback Jerome Felton.
As the fifth round of the NFL draft droned on, he tried to keep himself occupied with family and friends, anything to prevent him from obsessing over the silence of his phone.
Then the phone rang. It was the Arizona Cardinals. They said to sit tight. He would be their next pick.
He hung up.
The phone rang again. It was the Buffalo Bills. They said to sit tight. They had a pick before Arizona and they were going to take him.
He hung up.
He glanced over at the television where the Detroit Lions’ selection was being announced:
Jerome Felton, FB, Furman.
The phone rang again. It was the Lions. They said “congratulations.”
“It was kind of crazy, really,” Felton said. “I thought Detroit might be in the mix. If I had to pick five teams, they would have been one of them.”
Felton became the first true fullback to be selected in the draft, a mild upset for various scouting services who projected him the fourth or fifth prospect at the position.
He is the 27th player in Furman history to be drafted and the highest-drafted from the school since safety John Keith, who was taken in the fourth round by San Francisco in 2000. Felton’s former teammate, quarterback Ingle Martin, also was a fifth-round pick, going to Green Bay in 2006. Felton was 146th overall while Martin was 148th.
Felton’s versatility ultimately was his strongest trait. While at Furman, he rushed for 2,652 yards and scored a school-record 414 points. He played in multiple formations, ranging from single-back to wishbone and occasionally caught the ball out of the backfield.
“One of the question marks about him was would he block,” Furman coach Bobby Lamb said. “He blocked well for us, but he carried the ball so much the scouts didn’t know.”
In Detroit, Felton will join third-round draft pick Kevin Smith to form a new backfield for a team best-known for its passing game.
“They have some big-time receivers, but they definitely wanted to establish the run so the play-action pass would be more effective,” Felton said. “Kevin and I, hopefully, we can get some things going. I’m excited about getting in there.”
Also a plus: Felton’s intelligence. He will graduate from Furman with a degree in political science and a 3.28 grade-point average. Lamb said Felton’s ability to pick up everything the scouts threw at him probably played as big a role as anything he did on the field.
“A Philadelphia Eagles scout spent five hours with him on the chalkboard and couldn’t believe how smart he was,” Lamb said. “Of course, all the players here are like that. He definitely had an advantage.”