Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, April 26, 1994 TAG: 9404260161
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: By DOUG DOUGHTY and SCOTT BLANCHARD STAFF WRITERS
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
The second day of the National Football League draft turned into the longest day for a pair of All-America offensive linemen from the state of Virginia.
It was close to 4 p.m. before Virginia Tech center Jim Pyne learned he had been drafted by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the seventh round. Virginia offensive tackle Mark Dixon didn't have that satisfaction; when the draft ended around 5 p.m., he had not been selected.
There was better news for some of their teammates. After Tech cornerback Tyronne Drakeford was selected by San Francisco in the second round late Sunday night, tight end John Burke went to the New England Patriots in the fourth round Monday.
Virginia free safety Keith Lyle was one of the first players chosen Monday - by the Los Angeles Rams with the sixth pick of the third round. Cavaliers offensive guard Jim Reid was selected by Houston on the final selection of the sixth round.
Dixon was not available for comment, but agent Randy Vataha said Dixon had agreed to terms with the Philadelphia Eagles as a free agent. Terms were not disclosed.
"There were several teams pursuing him," Vataha said, "but I've learned with these situations that you've got to know your marketplace and make your deal. You've got to take your best opportunity because these teams aren't going to wait on you.
"I honestly thought the third round made sense [for Dixon], but I've learned there are no explanations in this business. They keep all of the first-rounders, all of the seconds and most of the thirds. After the third round, I don't think a free agent is at a disadvantage."
Pyne, who said before the draft he would have been happy going between rounds two and four, wasn't happy about his seventh-round selection.
"I was getting called by teams that were surprised I was still around. A lot of them were saying that, but nobody was picking me," said Pyne, who was generally rated among the top five centers available. "It happened. It's kind of a shock to me. You've just got to go on."
Regarded as the best center in college football in 1993, Pyne expected a more open-armed welcome into the NFL, where he has a chance to become the first third-generation pro football player. Instead, teams such as Miami and New Orleans, which he considered possibilities to draft him, went in different directions.
"It's a whole different story now," he said. "I'm in a tough situation. I've got to go make the team. I'm no lock to make it. The lines are drawn.
"I'm not naive. I'm a seventh-round pick. I've got to go open their eyes. They weren't drooling over me."
The draft provided few surprises for Drakeford and Lyle, whose selections corresponded with their positions in most predraft forecasts.
"I was thinking, `Why aren't teams taking any corners?' " said Drakeford, who almost went to bed before he was drafted at about 11:50 p.m.
"At, like, the 50th pick, I was like, `I don't think they're going to draft me in the second round.' I'm pleased. They had me rated as the fifth cornerback, and I went as the fifth cornerback."
The 49ers were in the market for a cornerback after losing Don Griffin to free agency.
"He's a little shorter than we like at corner," said San Francisco coach George Seifert of Drakeford, listed at 5 feet 10, "but we think he can overcome that.
"He's a leader [and] a tough no-nonsense player who was the best cornerback available to us. We think he'll be in the hunt for a starting job. He'll certainly be given that opportunity."
Lyle, one of two defensive backs chosen by the Rams in the first three rounds, said he was asleep when his mother awakened him at 10:15 a.m. to say a team representative was on the phone. The first two rounds had taken place Sunday afternoon and evening.
"When I was watching yesterday, I had my fingers crossed," said Lyle, whose father was a 1968 draft pick of the Chicago Bears, for whom he played from 1968-74. "I was hoping to go [in the first two rounds], but I wasn't betting on it."
Lyle's preference before the draft was a warm-weather location that might prolong his career.
"This is as warm as it gets," said Lyle, who is due in Los Angeles on Thursday for a mini-camp.
None of the draftees had a more modest introduction to college football than Burke, a walk-on whose original intention was to play baseball at Virginia Tech before receiving a football tryout in 1990.
Burke had 18 receptions in his college career, but caught the scouts' eyes with his blocking, an asset that Patriots coach Bill Parcells likes in his tight ends. Burke will join ex-Hokie teammates Eugene Chung and Ray Crittenden in New England.
"I was real happy," said Burke from his Holmdel, N.J., home. "That's where I wanted to go from the beginning [because of] their scheme, they've got a great coaching staff, they're a team on the rise and it's close [to home]."
Virginia tight end Aaron Mundy, who had 85 receptions in his career, was among those who were passed over Monday.
"I thought it was kind of weird with [Heisman Trophy winner] Charlie Ward not being drafted and then with what happened to Mark," UVa's Reid said. "He had been led to believe he might go in the third round.
"It really makes me mad. I don't know that much about Charlie Ward personally, but I know what kind of player Mark is. It kind of took away some of my enjoyment of the day."
Reid said he would have been "shocked" if somebody had told him he would have been drafted before Dixon.
\ 59TH NFL DRAFT\ PLAYERS FROM EACH CONFERENCE\ 32: Southeastern Conference.\ 27: Independents.\ 25: Pacific 10 Conference.\ 21: Big Ten Conference.\ 19: Atlantic Coast Conference, Big Eight Conference.\ 16: Southwest Conference.\ 14: Big East.\ 13: Western Athletic Conference.\ 5: Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference, Southwestern Athletic Conference.\ 4: Big Sky, Southland Conference.\ 3: Big West Conference, Southern Intercollegiate Conference.\ 2: Ohio Valley Conference.\ 1: Gateway Conference, Lone Star Conference, Mid-American Conference, Midwest Intercollegiate Football Conference, Northern California Athletic Conference, Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference, South Atlantic Conference, Southern Conference, Wisconsin State University Conference, Yankee Conference.
by CNB