Go to the mobile version of this Web site.

Login | Contact Us | Site Map | Paid archives | Alerts | Electronic edition | Advertise | Subscribe to the paper | Today's Extras

Breaking News:

Subscribe

Diary: Patriots' pick brings joy, relief

By Tyrone Wheatley, Special to the News

Published April 28, 2008 at 7:51 p.m.

Text size  

More Denver Broncos

More stories »

Former University of Colorado cornerback Terrence Wheatley spent more than three months on the clock. His countdown to the draft was set in motion as soon as his senior season ended in Boulder. And with the scouting combine, Pro Day and NFL draft now behind him, Wheatley is a New England Patriot. This is the final installment of a diary he has kept along the way for the Rocky Mountain News of the places he has gone and the people he has seen.

It's a lot of excitement, a lot of relief. I'm ready to go, but I'm still kind of relieved at the same time, like it's finally over and like it's just beginning, in a lot of ways.

A couple of my friends from high school (Plano, Texas, East) came in the night before the draft so we could all be together, and we couldn't sleep so we ended up playing Nintendo Wii until about 4 in the morning.

You're just kind of anxious, kind of nervous. The next morning, I didn't really want to see the start of the draft - I missed basically all of the first round - because I knew I wasn't going to get picked there anyway, so we headed out to the golf course.

So I tried to go out and relax and try to get my mind off the draft, so golf is pretty good that way. I lost a few more balls than I would have liked, but it was fun to be out there with my friends.

After that, we headed back to the house and tried to watch the rest of the draft. I really didn't start getting nervous until about the middle of the second round. Some of the teams that talked about taking me early on had gone in different directions with their picks, so I started to get a little bit nervous, thinking maybe I wouldn't get picked on the first day.

You just go through the ups and downs. For a while in the second round, I was joking around, laughing with my buddies, but when it got toward the middle, toward the end of the second round, that's when I got serious - I didn't really talk to anyone for a little while.

But when Dallas was on the clock in the second round (No. 61), I went upstairs to get a sweat shirt and my phone rang. It just said unknown call. Now usually I wouldn't answer an unknown call, but on that day, you answer pretty much every call you get.

It was the Patriots, and they were waiting to see if Dallas was going to take me or not, so I was on hold for about 15 minutes. I was just sitting there on hold, waiting, waiting and waiting through the Dallas pick.

And then New England's turn came up and they didn't really wait, my name flashed across the (television) screen as going to New England, I still had the phone in my hand. They just came back on the line and said, "Congratulations, you're a Patriot."

I hugged everybody. It was so crazy, as soon as my neighbors down the street saw that I got picked, it probably took them 10 seconds to get to my front door, and I opened up the front door and there was pretty much everybody on my street . . . yelling and screaming and crying. Really a special time, really cool.

But the whole process, from the start last January to finish was probably the biggest, most crazy, emotional roller coaster you can go through.

I don't necessarily want to do the whole draft process over again, but that 30 seconds when they call your name, I could do that all over again. I could do that over and over again.

Comments

  • April 29, 2008

    3:17 p.m.

    Suggest removal

    MADness writes:

    Best of luck at the next level for a guy who made strong contributions to a CU program.

    At times over the last season or two it seemed as if Wheatley and Dizon were the lone bright spots on the field for the Buffs and hopefully they are remembered for stepping up and carrying the program when it needed it the most.

  • April 30, 2008

    11:28 a.m.

    Suggest removal

    patsfan writes:

    Welcome to the patriots Terrance, we can't wait to see you out on the field. Hope you enjoy Boston.

    Good Luck,
    Pats fan

  • April 30, 2008

    noon

    Suggest removal

    Squatch writes:

    Congratulations Terrence. Im just glad that both Wheatley & Dizon are going to get a shot to play on Sunday if Heart were enough these guys will be set.

  • April 30, 2008

    3:12 p.m.

    Suggest removal

    Fan writes:

    Wheatley,

    Congrats and welcome to the Patriots family. Your blog is very impressive. You'll find the Patriots do everything they can to help you succeed - from employing more than 15 full-time chefs to making sure you're not asked to do something you're not capable of doing.

    If you work your hardest, with your talent, you'll attain the highest level possible. You'll be working with some of the best coaches in the history of the game and they'll work with you as much as you need. The team needs you and the fans already are ecstatic you'll be wearing the flying Elvis on Sundays. Best of luck to an obviously intelligent person and talented football player. Would love to see you get a ring your first year in the league.

Post your comment

Registration is required. Click here to create your free user account, or login below.

Comments are the sole responsibility of the person posting them. You agree not to post comments that are off topic, defamatory, obscene, abusive, threatening or an invasion of privacy. Violators may be banned. Click here for our full user agreement.




(Forgotten your password?)




News Tip

Know about something we should be reporting? Tell us about it.

Sponsored links



Reprints