faba Posted May 10, 2005 Share Posted May 10, 2005 Scouting for the 2006 draft By Gil Brandt NFL.com Senior Analyst (May 9, 2005) -- For the 49th year, the Playboy All-America Team has been put together. It's essentially a preseason all-star lineup of the best collegiate athletes from across the country selected by myself and Playboy sports editor Gary Cole. It also happens to serve as a tremendous preview for the 2006 NFL Draft. We continue to out-do ourselves every year when it comes to the talent we select getting drafted into the NFL. Over the past two years we've seen 30 of our players get picked in the first round. Last year's team had 13 first-round selections, including the third, fourth, fifth and eighth overall picks. And every single one of our defensive players were picked within the first two rounds. It goes without saying that any draft fan should make a note of the Playboy team every year and track their performance. But not every player on the team is headed to the 2006 draft. That's because there are always underclassmen on the team. For example, last year's squad saw Matt Leinart, Greg Eslinger, A.J. Hawk, Andrew Whitworth and Tom Malone on the roster. They're back this year thanks to their excellent play in 2005, and they're joined by plenty of underclassmen. I am fortunate enough to spend time with the Playboy team every year in Arizona when the players fly into town with the sports information directors (SIDs) from their schools and participate in a special weekend dedicated to them. They also take part in an exclusive photo shoot for the magazine. But that's not all they do. Here is an abbreviated schedule of what happened at this year's Playboy All-America Team weekend: Friday, 10 a.m.: This is when the weekend officially started because our first player -- defensive back Roman Harper from Alabama -- arrived at the airport. We spent the rest of the morning and early afternoon picking up players, some traveling with their Sports Information Directors (SIDs) and one in particular traveling with his head coach (Leinart with USC's Pete Carroll). Friday, 6 p.m.: Now that everyone had arrived, all the honored players gathered at the hospitality room at our hotel and started signing footballs. This might have been the hardest "work" these guys had to do all weekend, but it was worth it because every player got a football signed by the entire Playboy team. They also received some specially made Reebok equipment that did not exceed the value the NCAA allows its players to receive. This is always something I look forward to because it gives me a chance to get to know these players a little better. Harper, for example, has parents who both graduated from Alabama State and he was a quarterback in high school. Stuff that you can't find out just by looking at a player. Friday, 7:30 p.m.: This was our welcoming party, where players get to see pictures of the previous Playboy teams and enjoy a good meal. This was a great chance for the players to get to know one another and spend some time together. PHOTOS: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TDTonyPaige Posted May 10, 2005 Share Posted May 10, 2005 Damn. I saw "Playboy" in the title and I got all excited. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joewilly Posted May 10, 2005 Share Posted May 10, 2005 yeah, hats off to you faba for reading an article in playboy... truly a lost art Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mudcat21 Posted May 10, 2005 Share Posted May 10, 2005 Last year's team had 13 first-round selections, including the third, fourth, fifth and eighth overall picks Is that suppose to be a good percentage? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barton Posted May 10, 2005 Share Posted May 10, 2005 Friday, 6 p.m.: Now that everyone had arrived, all the honored players gathered at the hospitality room at our hotel. This might have been the hardest "work" these guys had to do all weekend! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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