Instead of watching Suzy Kolber and Mel Kiper Jr. run down the picks on day two of the NFL Draft, defensive tackle Barry Cofield was watching Jason Biggs and Jack Black in “Saving Silverman” on Comedy Central when he found out he was going to be on the New York Giants.
“It was almost surreal,” Cofield said. “It was starting to get to that point where I was about to get disappointed. When I got to the call and the Giants told me they were going to take me, I was ecstatic.”
The Giants made Cofield the first former NU player picked in the 2006 Draft when they chose him with the 124th pick, in the fourth round.
Cofield said the Giants showed interest in him at February’s NFL Draft Combine.
“I got a chance to sit down with (head coach) Tom Coughlin and the defensive line coach,” he said. “I knew that I was on their radar.”
Cofield joins a team that went 11-5 last year and has the chance to play between defensive ends Michael Strahan and Osi Umenyiora, who combined for 26 sacks last year.
“As long as the quarterback feels me coming and knows he can’t escape up the middle, those guys can do what they do, and what they’ve done for years,” he said.
Two former NU players had to wait until the last round to hear their names.
The New Orleans Saints took offensive tackle Zach Strief with the 210th pick. Middle linebacker Tim McGarigle went 11 picks later to the St. Louis Rams.
“It was a long day, going back and forth and looking at all the names,” McGarigle said. “I was a little nervous, but I knew it was going to come through.”
Sean Payton, the Saints’ new coach, worked for two years as the quarterbacks coach and co-offensive coordinator under NU coach Randy Walker at Miami (Ohio).
Strief, who was projected by some draft experts to go two or three rounds earlier, said Payton helped relieve Strief’s disappointment about not being picked earlier.
“He said, ‘you need to be excited, you need to smile, you need to celebrate with your family and friends,'” he said. “‘You just got drafted into the NFL and that’s something few people in the world ever have a chance to do.’ It was good to hear that, it kind of put everything in perspective.”
The Saints finished 3-13 last year and ranked 20th in the league in total offense.
This offseason, they added free agent quarterback Drew Brees and took Heisman Trophy winner Reggie Bush with the second pick of the draft.
“There’s a lot of weapons on that offense,” Strief said. “If there’s anything that I’m used to, it’s scoring points and eating up yards and building a program, which is what they’re looking to do.”
Strief said he is looking forward to proving to himself and all the teams who passed on him that he can make it in the NFL.
“Every level of football I’ve been through, I’ve entered with low levels of expectations from everybody else,” he said. “There’s no reason not to leave a little chip on your shoulder and walk around with an attitude about it.”
NU quarterback Brett Basanez went undrafted but signed a free-agent contract with the Carolina Panthers on Sunday night.
Reach David Morrison at [email protected].
