The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
NFL Draft brings Benson to The Big Apple
04.21.2005 | Football
From the day Cedric Benson first strapped on the pads for the Midland Colts as a 13-year old Pop Warner star, his dream has been to one day make it to the National Football League. That day is quickly approaching and after months of testing, meeting and preparing, Benson will get his first real dose of the NFL when he's an invited guest at the 70th Annual NFL Draft this weekend at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center.
The 2004 Doak Walker Award winner (nation's top RB), first-team All-American and the sixth-leading rusher (5,540 yards) in NCAA history will attend this weekend's NFL Draft festivities with friends and family. He's heading to the Big Apple on Thursday for events that begin early on Friday.
"I'm excited to see where I'm headed for the next step in my football career," Benson said. "This is something I've been preparing for my entire life so I'm looking forward to it getting here. New York's going to be fun, but honestly, the biggest thing I'll be thinking about the whole time is that walk to the podium to shake hands with the commissioner and hold up my team's jersey."
Benson is one of only six players that will be in attendance at this year's draft. The other five players scheduled to be in New York are RB Ronnie Brown (Auburn), WR Braylon Edwards (Michigan), QB Aaron Rodgers (California), CB Antrel Rolle (Miami) and QB Alex Smith (Utah).
"It's a great weekend for the players and their families," said Gil Brandt, former director of player personnel for the Dallas Cowboys who now works for NFL.com and for the past 10 years has helped coordinate the college players invitations to the draft. "We try to invite five or six of the guys that are projected among the top 10 picks and bring them in for the draft. They'll have a chance to participate in a national TV morning show, ring the bell at the stock exchange, meet the commissioner and there's a big press conference on Friday that's covered by members of the media from all over the world.
"They'll stay pretty busy and have a lot of fun. Then, they go get drafted on Saturday and smile for the cameras."
Benson isn't the first Longhorn in recent years to be invited to New York for the draft. As a matter of fact, he'll be the fifth player in the last five years holding up his NFL jersey in front of a national television audience. That's more than any other college program during that stretch.
"We've been fortunate enough to have a lot of players that have worked extremely hard to prepare themselves to be among the NFLs top prospects," said Head Coach Mack Brown. "They've improved every year on the field, been very coachable, stayed all four years and grown into tremendous leaders in our program. That's paid off for them on draft day."
Texas has had at least one player invited to the draft in four of the last five years. WR Roy Williams made the trip last year and was taken with the eighth pick by the Detroit Lions. Texas' tandem of OT Mike Williams and CB Quentin Jammer were in New York in 2002 and were selected fourth and fifth by the Buffalo Bills and San Diego Chargers, respectively. They became the first Longhorns duo in school history to be selected in the top five overall. OT Leonard Davis was on hand for the festivities in 2001 and was selected second overall by the Arizona Cardinals.
Dating back to Mack Brown's first year at Texas, the Longhorns have been represented at the draft five times in seven years. RB Ricky Williams capped his Heisman Trophy year by being selected with the fifth overall pick by the New Orleans Saints in 1999.
LB Derrick Johnson, who wasn't among the 2005 invitees, also is projected as an early first-round pick. He, along with DT Casey Hampton and DT Marcus Tubbs, who were not in New York as draftees, but were selected in the first-round by the Pittsburgh Steelers (No. 19) and Seattle Seahawks (No. 23), respectively, will extend a streak of Longhorn first-round success that goes back to 1999.
Benson and Johnson will increase the Longhorns first-round draft pick total to nine since Mack Brown arrived in Austin. UT will have at least one first-round pick in five of the last seven draft and two first-round picks in four of the last five NFL Drafts.
Saturday could mark the fourth time in the last five years that UT has featured one of the draft's top 10 selections. Texas enters the 2005 draft tied with Miami for top 10 draft picks over the last four years with four. The Longhorns three top five draft picks over the last four years are one more than Miami.
For complete Longhorn draft coverage go to Mack Brown-TexasFootball.com's Draft Index. Check throughout the week for player info, features, history, mock drafts, and coverage from around the country on Texas and the NFL Draft. Mack Brown-TexasFootball.com will also bring you the most in-depth coverage of the Longhorn selections as they happen during the draft, which begins at 11 a.m. CT on Saturday, April 23, on ESPN.
