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Former Broncos star Delmas plays it cool as NFL prospects heat up
by Graham Couch | Kalamazoo Gazette
Sunday April 19, 2009, 12:21 AM
Safety expected to go in first two rounds of draft
Jonathon Gruenke | Kalamazoo Gazette
Safety Louis Delmas (9), shown trying to bring down Central Michigan running back Bryan Schroeder, center, was a four-year starter at Western Michigan University.This is Part 1 of a five-part series that looks at WMU's NFL hopefuls as they prepare for next weekend's NFL Draft. Coming Monday: E.J. Biggers.
MIAMI -- Louis Delmas has to be careful when he glances at the flight monitors at Miami International Airport.
A momentary lapse in focus and it would be easy to be sitting at the wrong gate in the wrong terminal waiting for a flight that doesn't match that day's boarding pass.
Baltimore, New York, New Orleans, Atlanta, Cleveland, Denver, Pittsburgh, Boston, Dallas ...
"I was on the road for a minute," the former Western Michigan University football star said. "It's good to be on the road. Better than being at home wishing somebody would call me."
Louis Delmas
Delmas doesn't have that problem. He's visited with 10 NFL franchises since February's scouting combine.
"The most exciting thing is knowing you're going to the NFL but not knowing what team you're going to," Delmas said.
The wait can be more exciting than nerve-wracking when you're all but a lock to be chosen on the first day of next weekend's NFL Draft.
Just about every expert's mock draft puts Delmas in the first two rounds, somewhere between the New England Patriots at No. 23 and the Dallas Cowboys at 51.
ESPN's Mel Kiper rates Delmas as the second-best safety available, "a true ball hawk with 4.50 40(-yard dash) speed" and views him as "an early-to-mid second-round draft choice."
Scouts Inc. grades Delmas as the 30th-best prospect and the best safety on the board.
Few in Western Michigan history have been so coveted.
Jason Babin, who went 27th to the Houston Texans in 2004, is the only WMU player to be drafted in the first round. Greg Jennings (52nd overall, Green Bay Packers) and Tony Scheffler (61st, Denver Broncos) went in the second round in 2006.
Second-rounders John Offerdahl (1986) and Bob Rowe (1967) are the only other Broncos ever to go in the first two rounds.
"He's enjoying it, but he's not caught up in it," said Jeff Bertani, Delmas' high school coach at North Miami Beach. "He wants to prove he's worth what everyone's saying.
"I think it does validate that you don't have to go to Miami or Georgia to be recognized."
For Delmas, that recognition includes having mega-agent Drew Rosenhaus represent him -- and teammate E.J. Biggers, at Delmas' insistence.
Rosenhaus' backing, an All-MAC pedigree that began as a freshman cornerback, an invite to the combine, where only the best are judged ... at first, it wasn't enough for Delmas to realize his standing among NFL teams.
"It first hit me when I was at the Senior Bowl," Delmas said of the early February all-star game. "I went to the Senior Bowl as maybe a fourth-round pick. I just went in there and thought about being the best every day, just competing with the best every day. I started realizing my stock was going up."
When his name is called sometime this coming Saturday, Delmas doesn't plan to be watching his fifth straight hour of television draft coverage. He told Bertani he wants to go fishing.
"I think I'm a pretty good fisherman," Delmas said. "I know how to drop it between that lily pad."
After fellow North Miami Beach alum and current Philadelphia Eagles offensive lineman Max Jean-Gilles unexpectedly slipped to the second day of the 2006 draft, Delmas and Co. won't mess with a draft party.
"My coach said we can't be too far from the TV," Delmas said. "Maybe a hotel next to the beach.
"I'm ready to get to a minicamp and show what I can do. No more trips. I've just got to wait."
For the kid who once didn't know who would take care of him or where his next meal would come from, what's a few more days?
"I was very fortunate to have good enough people around me to fight through the battles I had to fight," Delmas said. "I'm grateful to have the opportunity. I'm very thankful for it."
by Graham Couch | Kalamazoo Gazette
Sunday April 19, 2009, 12:21 AM
Safety expected to go in first two rounds of draft
Jonathon Gruenke | Kalamazoo Gazette
Safety Louis Delmas (9), shown trying to bring down Central Michigan running back Bryan Schroeder, center, was a four-year starter at Western Michigan University.This is Part 1 of a five-part series that looks at WMU's NFL hopefuls as they prepare for next weekend's NFL Draft. Coming Monday: E.J. Biggers.
MIAMI -- Louis Delmas has to be careful when he glances at the flight monitors at Miami International Airport.
A momentary lapse in focus and it would be easy to be sitting at the wrong gate in the wrong terminal waiting for a flight that doesn't match that day's boarding pass.
Baltimore, New York, New Orleans, Atlanta, Cleveland, Denver, Pittsburgh, Boston, Dallas ...
"I was on the road for a minute," the former Western Michigan University football star said. "It's good to be on the road. Better than being at home wishing somebody would call me."
Louis Delmas
Delmas doesn't have that problem. He's visited with 10 NFL franchises since February's scouting combine.
"The most exciting thing is knowing you're going to the NFL but not knowing what team you're going to," Delmas said.
The wait can be more exciting than nerve-wracking when you're all but a lock to be chosen on the first day of next weekend's NFL Draft.
Just about every expert's mock draft puts Delmas in the first two rounds, somewhere between the New England Patriots at No. 23 and the Dallas Cowboys at 51.
ESPN's Mel Kiper rates Delmas as the second-best safety available, "a true ball hawk with 4.50 40(-yard dash) speed" and views him as "an early-to-mid second-round draft choice."
Scouts Inc. grades Delmas as the 30th-best prospect and the best safety on the board.
Few in Western Michigan history have been so coveted.
Jason Babin, who went 27th to the Houston Texans in 2004, is the only WMU player to be drafted in the first round. Greg Jennings (52nd overall, Green Bay Packers) and Tony Scheffler (61st, Denver Broncos) went in the second round in 2006.
Second-rounders John Offerdahl (1986) and Bob Rowe (1967) are the only other Broncos ever to go in the first two rounds.
"He's enjoying it, but he's not caught up in it," said Jeff Bertani, Delmas' high school coach at North Miami Beach. "He wants to prove he's worth what everyone's saying.
"I think it does validate that you don't have to go to Miami or Georgia to be recognized."
For Delmas, that recognition includes having mega-agent Drew Rosenhaus represent him -- and teammate E.J. Biggers, at Delmas' insistence.
Rosenhaus' backing, an All-MAC pedigree that began as a freshman cornerback, an invite to the combine, where only the best are judged ... at first, it wasn't enough for Delmas to realize his standing among NFL teams.
"It first hit me when I was at the Senior Bowl," Delmas said of the early February all-star game. "I went to the Senior Bowl as maybe a fourth-round pick. I just went in there and thought about being the best every day, just competing with the best every day. I started realizing my stock was going up."
When his name is called sometime this coming Saturday, Delmas doesn't plan to be watching his fifth straight hour of television draft coverage. He told Bertani he wants to go fishing.
"I think I'm a pretty good fisherman," Delmas said. "I know how to drop it between that lily pad."
After fellow North Miami Beach alum and current Philadelphia Eagles offensive lineman Max Jean-Gilles unexpectedly slipped to the second day of the 2006 draft, Delmas and Co. won't mess with a draft party.
"My coach said we can't be too far from the TV," Delmas said. "Maybe a hotel next to the beach.
"I'm ready to get to a minicamp and show what I can do. No more trips. I've just got to wait."
For the kid who once didn't know who would take care of him or where his next meal would come from, what's a few more days?
"I was very fortunate to have good enough people around me to fight through the battles I had to fight," Delmas said. "I'm grateful to have the opportunity. I'm very thankful for it."
