Section B·Page 6
The University Daily Kansan
Monday, April 19, 1999
NFL draft snubs Kansas players
Glasgow signs as free agent with Dolphins; draft denial leaves Dercher's fate hazy
By Michael Rigg
mrigg @ukans.edu
Kansas sportwriter
On a sunny Sunday in Kansas, Kansas senior offensive linemen Dan Dercher and Justin Glasgow went to their respective parents' houses to wait for their names to be called as NFL drafts
And waited.
And waited some more, all the way through all seven rounds and nearly seven hours of dry draft coverage before their football fates were finally sealed as undrafted free agents.
Then they waited.
By last night, Dercher's fate was still unclear as he was reportedly trying to decide between the San Francisco 49ers and the Philadelphia Eagles, while Glasgow landed in southern Florida as a member of the Miami Dolphins.
It was the first time since 1990 that no Jayhawk was selected in the NFL Draft.
For Glasgow, the excitement of signing with the Dolphins overshadowed the disappointment of not being drafted.
to end up, and I was told that a free agent was a pretty sure deal."
"I'm excited," Glasgow said. "You kind of know going into the draft where you're going
Of course, that didn't mean there weren't any close calls yesterday: One team, the New Orleans Saints, even called Glasgow and said it would love to use one of its remaining picks on him. There was just one obstacle: the Saints had just traded every draft pick they had to move up and select Texas running back Ricky Williams.
"They said, 'We may not have any picks, but we do have a lot of money, so you can be a free agent.'" Glasgow said.
"The Steelers called me and said that they have two picks left, and they said they might pick me with one of them," Glasgow said. "So I told them to call my agent, but they never did."
The Pittsburgh Steelers also nearly gave Glasgow a chance.
The Steelers' apathy was the Dolphins' gain, as Glasgow signed with the Dolphins within minutes after the draft. Glasgow will fly to Miami on Thursday for the team's post-draft minicamp.
Finding playing time, however, may be difficult for Glasgow. The Dolphins recently traded
Glasgow: is happy to have landed a spot with the Dolphins.
for Pro Bowl offensive lineman Kevin Gogan and drafted two offensive linemen during the weekend. Gogan was the subject of a Sports Illustrated article last fall, which named him as the NFL's dirtiest
as the NFL's dirtiest player.
"I'm excited to get the chance to go and fight for a spot," Glasgow said. "I just hope that I don't learn anything from Gogan."
Hope of any Jayhawk being drafted had faded by late yesterday afternoon when the Chicago Bears, rumored to be heavily interested in Dercher and Glasgow, selected Pennsylvania running back James Finn with the final and 253rd pick of the draft.
The Bears, who sent off ene-
Derher: Was not drafted but is looking at free agent options.
The Bears, who split order, sive line coach Bob Wylie to Kansas in March to evaluate Kansas' talent in a workout, had been on the phone with Dercher up to last week, when they told him that he probably would be drafted yesterday.
Ted Plumb, St. Louis Rams' representative, also was impressed by the linemen during the workout last month.
"Certainly we feel that there's some talent here at Kansas that will probably be drafted," Plumb said that day.
Dercher could not be reached for comment.
Chiefs add offensive lineman to roster
The Associated Press
Kansas City hopes to get repeat results with first-pick Tait
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Taking an offensive lineman with their first pick last year worked out so well the Kansas City Chiefs decided to stay with what works.
Picking 14th in the opening round of Saturday's NFL draft, the Chiefs addressed one of their most urgent needs and selected John Tait, a 6-foot-6, 311-pound left tackle from Brigham Young. They hope he'll be able to offer immediate help, as Victor Riley of Auburn did last season.
The Chiefs hit the jackpot when they made Riley their first-round choice a year ago. He stepped in when injuries created an emergency and started 15 games at right tackle, playing exceptionally well for a rookie on the offensive line.
"Now with two No.1 draft choices at the tackle position, with good coaching and good luck, these guys can play a long time for the Kansas City Chiefs," said president and general manager Carl Peterson.
Tait, 24, spent two years on a Mormon mission in Tennessee. The fourth-year junior is skipping his senior year and will be asked to replace 12-year veteran Jeff Criswell, who was inconsistent during last year's 7-9 campaign and left unprotected in the expansion draft.
"I'm very excited," Tait said.
"Kansas City's a great team with great fans. I'm very excited to get going there."
The Chiefs figure to leave the 320-pound Riley at right tackle and install Tait on the left side, which could bode well for quarterback Elvis Grbac, who has missed significant playing time the past two seasons with injuries.
CHIEFS
"Victor Riley is a very talented guy who came in and established himself at the right tackle position. Our preference would be to leave him there because he did so well as a rookie." Peterson said.
The Chiefs saw many of the same qualities in Tait and Riley.
"Athletically, they're similar in they both have good feet," said player personnel director Terry Bradway. "They run a little bit better than Victor did. But athletically, they both have good skills for the position."
"I see it as where you end up, not where you start out," he said. "Five years down the line, if people say John Tait was the best offensive lineman in this draft 'I'll be really happy.'"
The Chiefs tried to wheel and deal to get an earlier pick in the first round.
"We did attempt to move up for a couple of players we coveted who did go pretty early," Peterson said. "There were a couple of players we did discuss moving up to. The value they were asking for was too high."
Tait said he felt no special distinction in being the first offensive lineman taken.
The Chiefs, who had only five picks in the seven rounds, also talked to other teams about moving down and getting some additional choices.
"But for what they were offering, it just wasn't the right thing," Peterson said. "With John there at the 14th spot, we felt very, very good about that. It's a position we needed to address."
NEW YORK — Selections from the 1999 NFL draft with team, player, projected position and college (x-supplemental selection; y-compensatory selection):
NFL Draft
1. Cleveland, Tim Couch, qb, Kentucky.
The Associated Press
First Round
2. Philadelphia, Donovan McNabb,
ab, Syracuse.
3. Cincinnati, Akili Smith, qb, Oregon.
4. Indianapolis, Edgerrin James, rb,
Miami
5. New Orleans (from Carolina through Washington), Ricky Williams, rb. Texas.
6. St. Louis, Torry Holt, WR, North Carolina State
8. Arizona (from San Diego), David
    Roberts, Ohio State
9. Detroit, Chris Claiborne, Ib, South ern California.
10. Baltimore, Chris McAlister, db,
Arizona.
Arizona
11. Minnesota (from Washington),
Daunte Culpepper, qb, Central Florida
12. Chicago (from New Orleans through Washington), Cade McNown, bq, UCLA.
13. Pittsburgh, Troy Edwards, wr,
Louisiana Tech
14. Kansas City, John Tait, ot, Brigham Young
15. Tampa Bay, Anthony McFarland,
ed $SU
16. Tennessee, Jevon Kearse, Ib Florida.
18. Oakland, Matt Stinchcomb, ot,
Georia.
17. New England (from Seattle),
Damien Woody, c, Boston College.
19. New York Giants, Luke Petigout,
at Notre Dame
20. Dallas (from New England through Seattle), Ebenezer Ekuban, de. North Carolina
22. Seattle (from Dallas), Lamar King,
de, Snappin Valley State.
21. Arizona, L.J. Shelton, ot, Eastern Michigan
23. Buffalo, Antoine Winfield, db,
Buffalo State
24. San Francisco (from Miami), Regaie McGrew, florida.
25. Green Bay, Antwan Edwards db, Clemson.
30. Atlanta, Patrick Kerney, de, Virginia.
29. Minnesota, Dimitri Underwood,
de, Michigan State.
26. Jacksonville, Fernando Bryant,
db Alabama
28. New England (from New York Jets), Andy Katzenmoyer, Ib, Ohio State.
31. Denver, Al Wilson, Ib, Tennessee,
Suzanne Revel
32. Cleveland, Kevin Johnson, wr,
Syracuse.
27. Detroit (from San Francisco through Miami), Aaron Gibson, ot. Wisconsin.
33. Cincinnati, Charles Fisher, db,
West Virginia.
34. Carolina (from Indianapolis), Chris Terry, at Georgia
35. Philadelphia, Barry Gardner, Ib,
Northwestern
38. Ubarbu, Mike Rucker, de,
Nebraska.
36. Indianopolis (from St. Louis), Mike Peterson, lb, Florida.
42. Atlanta (from Baltimore), Reginald Kelly, te, Mississippi St
39. Miami (from Detroit), James Johnson, rb, Mississippi State.
41. St. Louis [from New Orleans],
Dre' Bly, db, North Carolina.
37. Washington (from Chicago), Jon Jansen, ot Michigan.
40. Oakland (from Washington through Chicago), Tony Bryant, de Florida State.
nald Kelly, te. Mississippi State.
43. Miami (from Kansas City), Rob
Konrad and Syracuse
44. Minnesota (from Pittsburgh),
Jim Kleinsasser, te, North
Dakota
4.5. x-Cleveland, Rahim Abdullah, Ib,
Clemson.
46. New England (from Tennessee),
Kevin Faulk, bd. RSU.
47. Green Bay (from Seattle), Fred Vinson, dba, Vanderbilt.
48. Chicago (from Oakland), Russell
davis, dh, North Carolina.
49. New York Giants, Joe Montana
gomery, Rh. Ohio State
50. Tampa Bay, Shaun King, qb,
Tulane.
51. Arizona, Johnny Rutledge, lb, Florida.
52. Tennessee (from New England), John Thornton, dt, West Virginia.
53. Buffalo, Peerless Price, wr, Tennessee.
55. Dallas, Solomon Page, ot, West Virginia,
56. Jacksonville, Larry Smith, dt,
Florida State
58. Denver (from San Francisco),
57. New York Jets, Randy Thomas, g,
  Mississippi State.
59. Pittsburgh (from Minnesota) Scott
Shields, ft. (from Wichita).
60. San Diego (from Atlanta), Jermaine Fazande, rb, Oklahoma.
61. Denver, Lennie Friedman, g,
Duke.
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