The best players at nearly every position will be in ESPN’s “green room” in New York on Saturday morning wearing new, tailored suits and awaiting their appearances on the NFL draft podium.
But the best kicker in the land will be dressing driving-range casual while hitting golf balls near his home in Georgetown, Texas. By late Saturday afternoon, Colorado’s All-America kicker Mason Crosby hopes his cellphone rings between pings on the golf course.
“That’s just the way it works with kickers,” Crosby said.
On a weekend set aside to pay homage to “the best athlete available,” kickers don’t seem to fit in. Just ask Adam Vinatieri, who went undrafted out of South Dakota State in 1995 and now owns four Super Bowl rings.
Crosby, who made 17-of-19 field-goal attempts inside 50 yards in 2006, has the credentials to become only the fourth kicker this decade to go in the top three rounds. If so, he would join San Diego’s Nate Kaeding (third round, 2004), Mike Nugent of the New York Jets (second round, 2005) and Sebastian Janikowski of the Raiders (first round in 2000).
“I’d actually would be surprised if he fell out of the first day because of that leg strength he has,” said Todd McShay, director of college football scouting for Scouts Inc. “There’s such a drop-off after him that if it’s your need, you need to get him ahead of everyone else.”
ESPN draft analyst Mel Kiper Jr. listed Crosby as a second- or third-round pick.
“A lot of people say third round,” Crosby said recently. “I don’t think I’m a risk at all. I don’t think anybody should worry about taking me and getting their money’s worth.”
He gave CU fans their money’s worth, even in lean times. Or as former Buffs quarterback Joel Klatt once said, “I was the only guy in the country who could throw an incompletion on third-and-5 and the fans would start cheering because that meant Mason would be coming on the field.”
The most impressive field goal on Crosby’s résumé was a 58-yard kick in a 23-3 loss at Miami in 2005. That kick was the longest without a tee at sea level in NCAA Division I-A history. That and numerous others away from Boulder helped Crosby overcome the image of being a high-altitude product.
“That should put a lot of it to rest,” Crosby said.
McShay concurred, saying, “That helped to prove he can kick from beyond 50 anywhere.”
Crosby earned his degree in December and has been working out on his own since. He likely would have been picked last year if he had come out a year early, but elected to return for his senior season.
“I don’t know if I helped or hurt myself, but I’m not going to worry about it,” Crosby said. “I try to be a role model to show people the right things to do, and that was the right thing for me to do. It was important to stick with my team. It was something I put a lot of pride in.”
If Crosby isn’t the first Front Range player taken this weekend, the honor likely would go to Wyoming safety John Wendling. The first-team all-Mountain West defender finished among the top 10 defensive backs in several tests at the NFL combine. In a video distributed to NFL teams, he cleared a 66-inch hurdle on three steps in the Wyoming weight room.
Natalie Meisler can be reached at 303-954-1295 or nmeisler@denverpost.com.
