Daily
Nebraskan
Tuesday, April 26, 1994
Sports
Third round is
charm for Jones
By Tim Pearson
Senior Reporter
OMAHA — No longer will Ne
braska fans see Calvin Jones sporting
the scarlet and cream of the
Cornhuskers.
Jones made that abundantly clear
when he and his entourage of family
and friends walked into a press con
ference at the Ramada Inn proudly
wearing silver and black.
Jones, who left
P
Nebraska early to
go pro, found out
Monday morning
thathewasdraflcd
by the Los Angeles
Raiders in the third
round.
He was one of
five Nebraska
- , players selected in
Jones thc dran#
Linebacker Trev Alberts, thc fifth
pick of the draft, went to Indianapol is.
The Los Angeles Rams selected Toby
Wright in thc second round with thc
49th pick.
On the second day, Jones was the
80th pick. Safety John Recce was se
lected by the Arizona Cardinals on the
113th pick in the fourth round. And
New Orleans made offensive tackle
Lance Lundberg the 213th pick.
Jones said being selected by thc
Raiders made up for thc disappoint
ment of not being picked on the first
day of the draft.
“They definitely need help in their
backficld,” he said. “I hope I can go in
and contribute as much as possible.”
The Raiders didn’t talk to Jones
before the draft, but they did talk to
Huskcr running backs coach Frank
Solich on Friday.
“We had contacted several teams,”
Jones said. “The Raiders were a team
that really didn’t show their cards.”
However, the Raiders have always
been high on the list of teams for
which Jones wanted to play.
“I looked at some of the running
backs that got drafted ahead of me,”
he said. “They have guys ahead of
them who will be there for a couple of
years. That’s not the situation I’m in.
“You couldn’t ask for a better situ
ation.”
Jones said he thought the emphasis
on defense in the first round—not his
shoulder and knee injuries — led to
him being drafted in the third round
instead of the second.
Jones injured his shoulder in the
Orange Bowl against Florida State on
Jan. 1, but that shouldn ’ t be a problem
when next season rolls around, he
said.
“I feel 100 percent,” he said. “The
shoulder’s been healed for a couple
months.”
Jones left Nebraska as the Husk
ers’ second-leading all-time rusher
with 3,153 yards and 40 touchdowns.
Jones said he would always re
member his years as a Huskcr.
See DRAFT on 8
L. A. Ram phone call ends
Wright’s draft day trauma
By Derek Samson
Senior Reporter_
Finally, after one of the longest
days of his life, former Nebraska de
fensive back Toby Wright received
the phone call he had waited for his
entire life.
r
Wright wascho
sen by the Los An
geles Rams as the
49th pick overall in
Sunday’s National
Football League
draft.
“I was just hop
ing they didn’t for
get about me,”
Wright said irom
Wright his home in Phoe
nix, Ariz. “It was one of the moments
where you feel all alone. You talk
about traumatic stress— I had it in the
third degree.”
And then after watching 48 picks
—including teammate Trev Alberts
(fifth pick overall) — throughout the
afternoon, Wright missed seeing his
name flash across the television.
“The phone rang and it wasn’t
near the TV,” he said. “As soon as 1
answered it a voice said How would
you like to be a Ram?’ At the same
time, all my family in the other room
started cheering when they saw that I
was picked.”
Wright had his work cut out for
him after transferring to Nebraska
from Phoenix Junior College, where
he wasajunior college All-American.
The 6-foot-1-inch Phoenix native
said he knew he had to make an
impact quickly, to make a name for
himself.
“As far as my success goes at Ne
braska, it was hard because 1 came
from a junior college and 1 wasn’t a
big name here,” he said. “I tried to use
the big games to make a name for
myself. 1 tried to play every game like
it was our biggest of the season and
just keep improving.”
Wright, who had 13 tackles in both
the UCLA and Colorado games last
season, also helped get recognition by
being one of the hardest hitters on the
Huskcr defense.
“I always took pride in the way I
hit,” he said. “I also wanted to be a
good fundamental defensive back. My
See WRIGHT on 8
Photos by Jon Waller/DN
Above: Darin Erstad kicks
during the Spring Game
Saturday at Memorial
Stadium. Right: Two hours
later, Erstad hits in the
baseball game against
Kansas.
‘Superman’
kept busy
on 2 fields
By Jeff Griesch
Senior Editor
Before the annual Red-White
spring football game on Sunday,
Darin Erstad stepped out of his
personal phone booth in the Ne
braska football locker room wear
ing football pants, a helmet, shoul
der pads...
And a red cape around his neck.
Actually, it wasn’t a red cape: it
was a red jersey with a white No. 8
on it.
On Saturday afternoon, Erstad
tried to do his best impersonation
of Superman—or in the least, two
sport man — as he switched from
the football field to left field in a
matter of two hours.
After successfully kicking two
extra points and knocking one punt
out of bounds inside the 20-yard
line at Nebraska's Spring Game at
1 p.m., Erslad changed into his
baseball uniform and prepared to
prowl the outfield at Buck Bcltzer
Field.
Erslad made a couple of spar
kling defensive plays during the
baseball team’s 9-7 loss to Kansas,
but he managed only one hit in five
at-bals.
“I never felt really mentally into
the game,” Erstad said. “I usually
do a certain pattern of th ings before
a game, and I think maybe I was
thrown out of that normal rhythm
today.
‘‘My body just didn’t know how
to react.”
After performing double duty
on Saturday, Erstad said he needed
a chance to catch his breath.
Erstad didn’t get home until just
a few minutes before midnight on
Friday night, after Nebraska’s
opener with Kansas lasted 13 in
nings.
Erstad was the one responsible
for sending the game into extra
innings with a game-tying homer
in the bottom of the ninth.
After ashort night’s rest, Erstad
headed to Memorial Stadium to
begin his football day just before 11
a.m.
As the nearly 29,000 fans filed
into the stadium, Erstad said he
began to feel some unexpected ten
sion.
“I was a lot more nervous than I
thought I would be,’’ he said. “I am
sure that was by far the biggest
crowd I have ever played anything
in front of, and I felt like there was
See ERSTAD on 8
NFL draft game deals ‘Sorry Charlie ’ card to Ward
Charlie Ward won the Heisman
T rophy.
ward also won the national cham
pionship, leading Florida State to an
18-16 victory over Nebraska in the
Orange Bowl.
Along with being No. 1 on the
football field, Ward also ran the No. 1
point guard spot on the Florida State
basketball team.
During the heart of the football
season, some people, including his
unofficial agent, ABC’s Keith
“Ooooohhhhh Chari ie, cr, uh, Nell ie’’
Jackson, were touting Ward as the No.
1 pick in the NFL draft and a first
round pick in the NBA draft.
But after a disappointing senior
season of basketball, it looked like
Ward’s NBA status was, at best, un
certain, and he would have toscttlc for
looking forward to a football career.
But as draft day approached.
Ward’s stock continued to fall in the
eyes of the NFL scouts and the “draft
expert" —ESPN’s Mel Kiper.
The pros started calling in their
numbers early Sunday afternoon, but
Ward’s number was never called.
Sorry, Charlie.
The Bcngals used their No. 1 pick
to select the giant defensive tackle,
Dan Wilkinson, from Ohio Stale.
The Redskins used the No. 3 pick
to select Tennessee’s Heath Shuler as
the first quarterback. And after India
napolis traded with the Rams to get
Trev Alberts with the No. 5 pick,
Trent Dilfer became the second quar
terback chosen.
Jeff
Griesch
No other quarterbacks were cho
sen on Sunday as the NFL owners and
general managers drafted defense first.
So after pick No. 65 on Sunday, it
looked like Ward would have to wait
until Monday to learn which team
would take the rights to the Hcisman
Trophy winner.
But as the picks kept rolling by on
Monday, Ward was neither present
nor accounted for. .
The last two picks came down to
the Buffalo Bills and the New En
gland Patriots.
If ever two teams were in need of a
winner, it was these two teams. But
Ward’s name was not called.
Sorry, Charlie.
Somehow the NFL scouts decided
that the dozen or so quarterbacks cho
sen had more talent and potential than
the 1993 Hcisman Trophy winner.
These same scouts decided it was
worth the risk to take chances on two
unproven players from Wayne Slate
College, a Division II school in Ne
braska, but didn’t think Ward was
worthy of one of the 222 picks in the
draft.
How did Ward and the media mag
net that is Florida State pull the wool
over the eyes of the mill ions of college
football analysts and fans?
A ftcr two seasons of drool ing over
the Randall Cunningham-like skills
of Charlie Ward, how did Ward’s
potential fall to such dismal levels?
Doesn’t winning the Heisman Tro
phy mean anything?
Ward beat the Heisman jinx that
plagued Mike Ro/.icr, Gino Torreta,
Vinny Testaverde and Hcrschcl
Walker in national championship
games, but he started a j inx al I h is own
by not being drafted.
Sorry. Charlie.
Griesch Is a junior news-editorial major
and Is the Dally Nebraskan assistant sports
editor.
