NEW YORK — The big crowd at Radio City Music Hall for the second night of the NFL draft had to wait for the big names to go. They got a star-studded show while they hung around Friday.
Before Notre Dame’s Jimmy Clausen, Stanford’s Toby Gerhart, Texas’ Colt McCoy and Alabama’s Terrence “Mount” Cody were selected, the audience was treated to Jim Brown, Dan Marino, Ray Lewis, Floyd Little, Rod Woodson and John Randle.
Unfortunately, they were announcing the selections, not being picked. Eventually, those choices became high-profile, beginning with Fighting Irish quarterback Clausen at 48th overall — more than 40 picks lower than some projected.
Clausen, a three-year regular under Charlie Weis, was 16-18 as a starter after being one of the nation’s most-sought recruits. The Panthers’ choice drew scattered boos, but with Jake Delhomme gone and Matt Moore the incumbent, Carolina seems a good landing spot.
Clausen, the first Notre Dame player chosen this year, kicked off a spurt of more recognizable selections — and three All-Americans.
The first Southern Cal player, safety Taylor Mays, went to San Francisco, followed by Alabama cornerback-kick returner Javier Arenas to Kansas City, and Gerhart, the Heisman runner-up, to the Vikings.
McCoy finally was drafted, 85th overall, by Cleveland. That was one slot after his favorite target with the Longhorns, Jordan Shipley, went to Cincinnati.
On hand to make the announcement about his four-year starter and the winningest QB in NCAA history: Texas coach Mack Brown.
“It has been a long day,” McCoy said after speaking to Browns president Mike Holmgren. “I told him, ‘You won’t regret it, and we’ll win a lot of games.’ ”
