All in all, five former Tigers were drafted in the seven rounds of the NFL draft last Saturday and Sunday. Five more of our guys were signed as undrafted free agents.
Drafted were the following:
Player........................Pos....Team......................Pick...Round
Gaines Adams...........DE.....Tampa Bay............4.........First
Anthony Waters........LB.....San Diego.............96.......Third
Dustin Fry..................C.......St. Louis................139.....Fifth
C. J. Gaddis................DB....Philadelphia..........159.....Fifth
Chansi Stuckey..........WR...New York Jets......235.....Seventh
Undrafted Free Agents signed are as follows:
Player...............................Pos....Team
Sergio Gilliam.................DB.....Minnesota
Nathan Bennett...............OL.....Carolina
Reggie Merriweather.....RB.....San Diego
Duane Coleman...............DB.....Buffalo
Marion Dukes..................OL.....Miami
So far, 10 out of 19 of the Clemson players that worked out for pro scouts were signed to teams in the NFL. Several others, mostly Roman Fry, Will Proctor (believe it or not, he had a very good spring), Jad Dean, and Thomas Hunter will more than likely receive invites to training camps and tryouts for various teams across the league.
Rumors abound at Fan Nation that Gaines Adams might hold out to get more money on his contract, but can you really blame him with what happened to A. J. Hawk last year? I'd get as much money as possible up front. The NFL is a cruel multi-million dollar beast that chews up players' bodies like tic tacs. Plus, who wouldn't want to swim around in millions of dollars like Scrooge McDuck?
There are plenty of pointless facts on the CUAD website (which was copy/pasted verbatim by Tigernet), but the most important are the following:
- Gaines Adams was the fourth overall pick of the draft... eat that. This makes the second year in a row that a Clemson player has been drafted in the first round. Tye Hill went to St. Louis last year and was the 15th pick of the 2006 draft.
- There are lot's of players from the 2006 Clemson team joining former teammates in the bigs. Gaines Adams joins Charles "Flyin' Orange n' Purple People Eater" Bennett in Tampa, Chansi Stuckey joins up with 2007 Pro Bowler Justin Miller in New York to don the Green and White, Anthony Waters and hopefully Reggie Merriweather head out west to join Charlie Whitehurst in San Diego, C. J. Gaddis heads to the home of the WORST SPORTS FANS EVER... you know , Philadelphia, to learn the ropes from Six time Pro Bowler Brian Dawkins, and lastly Dustin Fry heads to the beer capital of America to play with Tye Hill.
- Most importantly, Gaines stuck around for a very successful senior year instead of fleeing after his junior year. I think it really paid off... I mean, REALLY paid off. Tommy pointed that out to me:
"I am very happy for Gaines and his family. He showed patience in January of 2006 when he decided to come back for his senior year and that patience paid off today." - Tommy Bowden
Two opposite ends of the spectrum: One, a man that possesses talents worth millions of dollars. The other, a man that possesses an uncanny ability to choke under pressure and ride the coat tails of teammates into the pros.
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