FOR USE AS DESIRED
NFL-22              4/19/05

They have been timed at 10, 20 and 40 yards. They have done their vertical jumps and short shuttles. They have bench-pressed 225 pounds numerous times.

The numbers are in for the NFL Draft class of 2005. And behind the numbers are the stories that tell the human side of the draft.

Some of the interesting notes on the class of ’05:

AARON & ALEX: They are the two top-rated quarterbacks in the draft. California’s AARON RODGERS or Utah’s ALEX SMITH could be the fifth consecutive quarterback selected No. 1 overall in the NFL Draft this Saturday.

The experts say they are "this close" in ability. They were "this close" in working out for the team that will choose first in the draft, the San Francisco 49ers. The ‘Niners watched them perform at their colleges on successive days in late March.

"It was a neat way to do it," says new 49ers head coach MIKE NOLAN. "You saw these guys back-to-back. That is a lot better than waiting a week to 10 days before you see two guys and then saying, "Gee, was that other guy like this or what was he like?"

As similar as they are, Aaron Rodgers and Alex Smith do have differences. Following are five each that make the QBs, indeed, different:

TEXAS BORN ‘N BRED: Texas running back CEDRIC BENSON was born in Midland, Texas; played for famed Midland Lee High School in West Texas, leading it to three consecutive state championships while scoring five touchdowns in each title game; and last season for the Longhorns won the DOAK WALKER Award, given to the nation’s top RB (1,746 yards).

How does he feel about his home state? "I want to make my home in Texas," says Cedric, "retire in Texas, and die in Texas."

STICKING CLOSE TO HOME: Many high school seniors think they want to get away from home.

Then there’s Miami cornerback ANTREL ROLLE. He’s a "momma’s boy," and proud of it.

Considered the top defensive back prospect in South Florida when he played for South Dade High in Homestead, Antrel opted to go no further from home than to the University of Miami. "I’m a big-time momma’s boy, so I didn’t really want to be far from home," he says. "The furthest I would have gone was the University of Florida."

There is one family strain ROLLE will not follow, though. His father AL is the police chief of Homestead, and his two brothers are police officers. Antrel is a sports administration major.

EXCELLING ACADEMICALLY: The draft class of ’05 includes players who have made the term "student-athlete" ring true.

Many of the players who will be selected for the NFL have either already received their degrees (and in some cases are pursuing their master’s) or will graduate this spring.

One is Utah quarterback ALEX SMITH, whose 64 advanced placement high school credits helped him graduate in two years at Utah with an economics degree. As a youngster, says his high school principal father DOUG, Alex would happily recount everything he learned in class each day to his parents. "He never had a negative word to say about a teacher," says Doug.

Ten draft-eligible players with high marks:

NO B.M.O.C. HERE: Quarterback RYAN FITZPATRICK was his conference’s Player of the Year last season, but few people on campus even noticed. Reason was his campus was…Harvard University. Even the Crimson’s undefeated season did not necessarily turn heads as Fitzpatrick would amble across Harvard Yard.

"You always hear stories about the quarterback at Arizona State, USC or Florida as being a big man on campus, and everybody looks up to him and wants to meet him," says Arizona-born Fitzpatrick. "Being the quarterback at Harvard has the exact opposite effect."

Perfect club to draft Fitzpatrick? The Minnesota Vikings, whose All-Star center is MATT BIRK, Harvard class of ’98.

NIX ON FISH: There’s nothing fishy about Georgia safety THOMAS DAVIS. His dietary rules are pretty clear. "I don’t eat," he says, "anything that comes out of the water."

MILITARY-BRED: Wow, did Louisville linebacker ROBERT MC CUNE take a circuitous…and arduous…route to possibly playing in the NFL!

McCune was not offered a Division I-A scholarship when he graduated from high school in Mobile, Alabama. So he joined the U.S. Army in 1997 to save money for college through the G.I. Bill. In the next three years, McCune was stationed at Fort Lee, Virginia; Fort Stewart, Georgia; Ford Hood, Texas; Fort Knox, Kentucky; and Fort Irwin, California.

"My plan was to go into the military, grow up and walk on at some Division I school," says the 26-year-old. Before that would happen, McCune was shipped overseas. His first stop was South Korea, where one night in the monsoon season he had to scramble to the top of his barracks because it was flooded with seven feet of water. In Kuwait, nearby gunfire was prevalent.

Throughout all these moves and dangers, McCune’s dream of playing college football survived. He used his fueling truck rig as a pull-up bar. Between missions, he would lift a sharp-edged rock as a workout. "I’d sit on top of the truck and do curls over my head," says McCune. "I was in Korea for 365 days, and I’d say I worked out 340 days."

When his active military commitment was completed, McCune walked on at Louisville. The G.I. Bill paid for his first semester. By the second semester, he had earned a scholarship. At 6-2, 245 pounds, he led Louisville in tackles the past two years.

"You assume he has character that is very high, and that’s very important to all of us," says Tennessee Titans head coach JEFF FISHER. "People who can be productive like that are very valuable."

McCune was invited to the Scouting Combine in Indianapolis in February. He finished with the fastest time among linebackers in the 40-yard dash – 4.50.

NO. 1’s NO. 1: Sure, it’s great that Michigan wide receiver BRAYLON EDWARDS won the 2004 FRED BILETNIKOFF Award as the nation’s top receiver. But in Wolverine minds, it’s how stellar he performed while wearing the No. 1 that really counts.

At Michigan, the granting of uniform No. 1 to a receiver is an honor – one that only five players have received. Edwards this year completed a career that produced more catches (242) and yards (3,432) than any other to wear the digit – outpacing the first No. 1, ANTHONY CARTER, perhaps the gold-standard for Wolverine receivers.

"I didn’t think anyone could live up to Anthony," says Braylon’s father STAN, a Michigan running back/teammate of Carter and an NFL player. "It’s a sacred number in Ann Arbor. But Braylon did it." The wearers of the 1:

C.J. THE D.J: He cannot be categorized. He’ll play hip-hop one minute, country the next, then follow up with some mellow jazz.

Maryland guard C.J. BROOKS has turned his love of all kinds of music into an alternative job for the Terps – disk jockey. On the university’s student radio station WMUC, the four-year starter who started the most games in Maryland history (51) is known as "D.J. Solitude."

Interested in music since the age of 13, "the nickname is something that I’ve had for a while, back to when I first started doing music stuff," says Brooks. "I just felt like I was alone in my style and in the way I did things – so ‘D.J. Solitude.’"

MOM’S NOT ONLY SMART, SHE’S TOUGH!: ROBIN BROWN, mother of Virginia guard ELTON BOWN, may be studious but she also is definitely strong.

The day a young Elton returned from his first football practice and told his mother he had been cut, mom knew something was wrong. After telling her son his coach had told her that no player would be cut, Elton sheepishly admitted he had quit because the hitting was so hard. Bad move on Elton’s part.

"I said to him, ‘You go back out there and hit them or I’m going to hit you harder,’" recalls Robin. "He went back out and he’s been there ever since."

In that time, Mom Brown has earned three college degrees, is working on a fourth, and is due to graduate in May with a B.A. in anthropology. Tough to fool mom, on and off the field!

ON TO THE NFL!: He won this season’s Lombardi Award as the nation’s top lineman, but Georgia defensive end DAVID POLLACK is not going to be melancholy that he is leaving college behind. And his philosophy is a good one to be followed by every player ready to move on.