 
|
|||||||||||||
              
|
Monday, April 17, 2000 By Phil Axelrod, Post-Gazette Sports Writer
Penn State's Brandon Short spent Saturday watching his good friends and teammates selected on the opening day of the NFL draft.
Defensive end Courtney Brown and linebacker LaVar Arrington were the first two players taken and cornerback David Macklin went in the third round as the 91st selection overall.
"I was ecstatic for them because they got what they deserved," Short said, "but I was frustrated for me."
Short, a 6-foot-3, 254-pound linebacker from McKeesport, had only a short wait yesterday before he was picked in the fourth round by the New York Giants.
One hundred and four players were drafted ahead of Short.
"That's something I'll never forget," he said. "Now I have the opportunity to prove to the whole league they made a big, big mistake. I'll be showing them all my career. Playing in the NFL is motivation enough, but I have added motivation.
"This was a slap in my face."
Short described the draft experience as "stressful and emotional."
"I thought I'd go much higher, but I slipped for one reason or another. I don't know why. The word I got was that I might go in the bottom of the first round."
But Short agonized for 10 hours Saturday as 94 players were drafted.
"I know LaVar was going through my pain with me and was getting upset as I kept dropping. I'm just happy to have it done with. No more guessing games," Short said. "I can't worry about things I can't control. I can only control what's happening on the football field."
Short, whose comfort zone is inside linebacker, said the Giants drafted him to possibly play all three linebacker positions.
"I think the Giants are a good fit for me," he said. "I looking forward to going to New York. It's one of the biggest cities in the world, and I'm going to have to get acclimated to life in New York."
Once he joins the Giants, Short expects the playing field to be even.
"It doesn't matter where you were drafted," he said. "Everybody has to go out and perform. It's a professional business, and they'll play the best players they have. I think Penn State prepared me well for the NFL."
After a pause, Short added with a smile, "We'll see about that when I get there."
Being overlooked or overshadowed is nothing new for Short, who enjoys proving people wrong about his abilities.
"Most of my career, nobody thought I'd excel at sports," he said. "That's always made me work that much harder. I know I can handle it in the NFL because I've played in the best conference in America [the Big Ten] against the best competition."
Asked what it means to him that Penn State had four defensive players drafted, Short said, "It tells me we had some athletes on that side of the ball. I know I'm a good player."
Marc Bulger, a 6-3, 210-pound senior quarterback from Central Catholic, became the fourth West Virginia University player taken in the draft when he went to New Orleans in the sixth round.
WVU tight end Anthony Becht (first round, New York Jets), wide receiver Jerry Porter (second round, Oakland) and linebacker Barrett Green (second round, Detroit) were selected Saturday.
Bulger, who holds school records with 8,153 career passing yards and 7,890 yards of offense, was the fifth quarterback and 168th player drafted. He was taken five picks after the Steelers chose Tennessee quarterback Tee Martin. Bulger passed for 1,729 yards and 11 touchdowns last season despite missing four games because of a twisted knee, sprained ankle and a fractured finger.
|
||||||||||||
