Coach Neal F. Guye was ecstatic. "Just look at who we got! Five starters out of nine picks! Granted, some of these guys might not be starters for other teams, but our draft was special. Everyone we added to the team will play a role, with the exception of Eric Williams. He needs some work on his hands and feet before he's ready for the pro game."

Round 1

"We were shocked when Sam Buck went to Seoul at number one. We knew he was that good, but we had no idea Seoul knew. We probably said too much before the draft. In any case, all our planning went out the window after the first pick. We knew that Haddonfield would take Kenny Proctor at number five. They had been hoping for Darin Hall, but he went to Albuquerque at number four. The war room was in chaos."

"It's these kinds of moments where good planning and the AMI can save a team. Jeb [team president Whatley] said we needed to stick to our plan. We either needed a halfback or a fullback, someone who could get some ground yards for us. We'd already made some deals to shore up our line, we just needed a guy to follow behind with the ball. The choice was difficult. Newt [fullback Newton Newnan] was a superb player. He could lead for any runner in the game., but he lacked sprint speed. That left James Friedrich, whose bad hands scared us off; Don Jackson, a capable runner; and our favorite, John Calloway. We knew Calloway needed a lot of weight training, but we formed a new plan at that moment. Get John all the blocking we could."

"It was easy from that point. Newt was our man. We knew that New Deal was in love with the guy, and we complimented their judgement with our pick. I think most teams were in turmoil by our pick, which was number seven. Anyway, we held off on picking John until round four, which was a little scary, but it worked out just like we hoped. If we had made it to round four without a decent runner being available, it would have been a nightmare season. As it turns out, Phil Underwood, whom we would have taken after John, lasted until the first pick of round six. That was a lucky break for Seoul, they showed real patience there."

Round 2

"Round two was tough. We were hoping to get Nicholas Collard in that round, or maybe Brian Fayne, but it was simply too much to let Jed [tight end Sinks] go. We followed the plan, and took a superb blocker. He can catch, too, as defenses will soon learn. And Cthulu help the poor fool who tries to tackle him."

"At this point, our 'Jumbo' package was already nearly assembled. We just had to wait as long as we could to draft John. It looked like the new plan was coming together. We knew we still needed a defensive back who could go man-to-man. We were still on pins and needles."

Round 3

"Keith Sims lasted until our pick at number 28. That's about where AMIR said he would go, and we took him. We'd already beaten the AMIR prediction with Jed Sinks, and we didn't want to risk it again. We knew losing George Little had left a big hole on our defense, and it looked like Keith could pick up right where George left off. He's not quite as strong as George, but he follows and holds the ball as good as anyone in the league. We were left with only two needs: A fast linebacker, and John Calloway."

Round 4

"We had back-to-back picks in round four. We knew that would be a luxury, and we watched carefully to see who would be available. Every player selected above our picks was someone we weren't even considering. That made it nice. Then, just before our pick, GM Jon from Long Beach offered us a trade for one of the picks. We told him whom we were selecting, and he made us some good offers. Our teams had similar needs, and similar strengths, and we couldn't close the deal. We agreed to talk more after the draft. It turned out we couldn't make a trade, but that came later."

"We picked John Calloway first. We felt he had fallen far enough, and we didn't want to risk losing him. Don Jackson went to Texas at the end of the round. Brilliant_dude showed some great patience there, too. Then we picked Nevin Carlson. He was one of the three great defensive linemen in the draft, and we were shocked to get him with our number 43 pick. AMI thought he would go in the top of the third round. We think Nevin is the steal of the draft. So did Long Beach, they really wanted him in the middle of their line. He's been a dream fit for us, and with our free-agent signing of Johnathan Higgs, and the trade for Sean Smith, we feel our defense is invulnerable between the tackles."

Round 5

"This is where things got fun. We had assembled our 'Jumbo' package, gotten John Calloway on the roster, and now we could simply look for the best players. We had kept an eye on Garin Mersereau since the rookies announced their eligibility. He was so much like Frank Barnes that we felt we couldn't lose with him on the roster. Plus, we kept our 'Jumbo" plan firmly in place. With Mersereau, Sinks and Newt leading for Don, we don't see how anyone can stop us. The whole draft really finished for us with this pick, and we felt great about it. Every single rookie would be a starter. That's a great feeling. Plus, how many French players do you know?"

Round 6

"Wyatt Cushman was simply the best player available at our pick. We were hoping to get Curtis O'Conner, but he went in the previous round. In some situations, Wyatt will be better. Look for him to see a lot of action in the red zone."

Round 7

"In the deal with Duluth for Deon White, we asked for, and received, an extra pick in this round. We laughed about it at the time, but having two picks was nice. We ended up using our own pick to take Guy Widell. AMI advised against this pick, but we think Guy will be a great player to have if something should happen to one of our starters. With a little work in the weight room, he could be a starter next year. It's all up to him. We also got Eric Mitchell with Duluth's pick. We hope that John Calloway can show him some moves and help him with his hands. If not, he'll be a great scout squad player."

"So that's our draft. We added a ton of talent, most of it unexpected, and forged an offensive style for the season. We still plan on hitting Jay [receiver Shines] and Vogue [receiver Robert Vogel] with plenty of passes behind excellent protection. Jed, Newt, and John are all receiving threats. But when we go on the ground, you'll hear the thunder."

Coach Guye fell silent for a moment. "We never did get that fast linebacker. No draft is perfect..."