Local Stars Get Draft-Day Call Into Nfl

NFL scouts are big on timing prospects in a variety of ways - 40-yard sprints, lateral quickness, agility drills. Instead, they’d be wise to put a stopwatch on players on draft day and catch their reaction times whenever the phone rings.

The calls came for three area players on Saturday, some earlier, some later than expected. And now Washington State’s James Darling is a Philadelphia Eagle, Cougar Scott Sanderson is a Houston Oiler and Idaho’s Ryan Phillips is a New York Giant.

“Every time the phone rang - it’d be my girlfriend or something - I’d answer real quick,” said Darling, who, somewhat surprisingly, wasn’t selected until the second round, the 57th overall pick. He was the first Inland Northwest player chosen.

Phillips was picked in the third round (68th overall). Sanderson, expected to be the earliest area player selected, had the longest wait before going late in the third (81st overall).

Washington running back Corey Dillon was taken by Cincinnati in the second round (43rd overall). He was the fifth running back selected. Huskies guard Bob Sapp was picked by Chicago in the third round (69th overall).

“When the Giants’ pick was up, the phone rang and I answered it in about a quarter of a second,” Phillips said. “It was a secretary saying, ‘Please hold for Coach (Jim) Fassel.’ Every hair follicle on my body stood straight up.

“Coach came on and said, ‘We just picked you.’ I went nuts, started shaking. I tried to be as professional as I could. You can’t just throw the phone down and run around the room.”

With a portable phone in hand, Sanderson was walking down a hallway at his parents’ Bay Area home when Houston called.

“As the rounds went on, I sat there wondering which team would pick me,” Sanderson said. “Houston did and I’m happy for it.”

All three will report to their respective clubs for mini camps next week.

Darling, a middle linebacker from Kettle Falls, will be familiar with a couple of WSU-turned-Philadelphia assistants, Ted Williams and Gerald Carr.

“Their first intention is to play me in the middle,” Darling said. “I think they just picked up Darin Smith from the Cowboys. I’m just going to go in there and compete. Being a rookie, I’ll probably play on special teams.”

Contract negotiations could be a snap.

“I’m not sure what they’re going to offer but it doesn’t matter,” Darling said. “I’m just looking forward to playing… I didn’t want to play town-team basketball yet.”

The Giants sent a representative to Moscow on Friday to administer tests to Phillips, a 250-pound linebacker/defensive end. Phillips, still bothered by a lingering hamstring injury, didn’t run a blazing 40-yard time, but excelled on the other drills.

“I think it helped them feel a little more relaxed about me,” he said.

New York plans to use Phillips at outside linebacker in a 4-3 scheme. Not bad for the Auburn, Wash., native who never thought football would be a career option.

The Oilers were pleased to see Sanderson there in the third round.

“Floyd Reese (Houston general manager) just called me,” said Frank Bauer, Sanderson’s agent. “He couldn’t believe Scott was still there. He said, ‘We have to take him.”’

“I don’t have any ties (to Houston), but I’m looking forward to making some,” said Sanderson, an offensive tackle. , DataTimes