The Sandspur

Issue date: 4/29/05 Section: Sports

Media Credit: DAN HONDA / KRT CAMPUS NUMBER ONE PICK: New San Francisco Quarterback Alex Smith is introduced.

It seemed to take forever, but last weekend the NFL conducted their annual draft. The first three rounds on Saturday went on for hours as teams had 15 minutes to make selections in the first round and 10 minutes in subsequent rounds.

Alex Smith, a quarterback from Utah, was the first pick of the draft. Smith was selected by the San Francisco 49ers who were looking for a franchise quarterback to turn around their dismal team. The 49ers had hoped to trade down to gather more picks, but were unable to entice another team to make a suitable offer.

Notable in the first round was the selection of four players from one school, Auburn. The selection of Auburn running backs Ronnie Brown, second overall to Miami, and Cadillac Williams, fifth overall to Tampa, was the first time two running backs from the same team had ever been selected in the top five of the same draft. Teammates Carlos Rodgers, a cornerback, and Jason Campbell, a quarterback, were taken with the ninth and twenty-fifth overall picks respectively; both by the Washington Redskins.

Andy Stokes, a tight end from NAIA school William Penn, was the 255 selection of the draft, by the New England Patriots, and therefore is the 2005 Draft's Mr. Irrelavent. Each year a party is held to honor the Draft's last pick.

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