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Romeo T Guzman/BCU Athletics

Football Dan Ryan/Senior Writer-Historian

Dan Ryan: How B-CU Has Fared In The NFL Draft

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. –So does Kemari Averett have hopes of being drafted this weekend? We'll leave that to Mel Kiper Jr. and the rest of the sports blogosphere's "experts" whose sole reason for existence revolves around the upcoming weekend.

In the meantime, celebrate with us Bethune-Cookman's storied history in the NFL draft.

IN ALL: 32 Wildcats have received a phone call from NFL teams on draft weekend. That also includes Lee Williams and Dewey Forte, who were selected in a 1984 supplemental draft of USFL and CFL players.

BY TEAM: Seventeen of the present 32 teams have selected at least one Wildcat during the draft. The Kansas City Chiefs lead the way with four, followed by the Dallas Cowboys, New York Jets, Miami Dolphins and Green Bay Packers with three. The Tampa Bay Bucs, Philadelphia Eagles, Las Vegas Raiders and Pittsburgh Steelers have had two apiece. The Cincinnati Bengals, Buffalo Bills, Arizona Cardinals, Los Angeles Chargers, Jacksonville Jaguars, New England Patriots and New Orleans Saints all have selected one.

BY POSITION: Seven defensive backs, six wide receivers, six running backs, three defensive tackles, three defensive ends, two linebackers, two ends, one tight end and one offensive lineman. No quarterbacks or kickers. Yet.

THE FIRST AND THE LATEST: If you know ANYTHING about Bethune-Cookman, then this is just a reminder. The legendary Cy McClairen was the first Wildcat to be selected when he went in the 26th round of the 1953 draft to Pittsburgh, where he would go on to a Pro Bowl appearance. The last Wildcat to go was Nick Collins to Green Bay in the 2005 second round.

HIGHS: B-CU has never had a player drafted in the first round, though Williams was the sixth overall pick in that 1984 USFL supplemental draft. Four have gone in the second round, including Collins and Rashean Mathis with Jacksonville..

The earliest pick was Booker Reese, who went with the 32nd pick to Tampa Bay in 1982. Terry Williams was taken  37th by the Jets in 1988 and had his career shortened by a knee injury his second season.

LATE ROUNDS: McClairen might have gone in the 26th round, but there were only 12 NFL teams back in the day and "Cy" went out as the 306th selection that year. Let the record state "Cy" wouldn't have been drafted under today's seven round format.  We can take pride that we've had one "Mr. Irrelevant" (the last player to be drafted) in 1972 when Dallas took Alphonso Cain.

WILDCAT PACKS: Multiple Wildcats have been selection in the same draft four times: In 1972 when Cain and Nathaniel Ross (Packers) were picked; 1976 was the all-time high with four (the late Willie "Foots" Lee to Kansas City, Bernard Coleman to New England, the late Randy "Sweetback" Walker to the Cardinals and Andre Robinson to Buffalo). 1977 saw three Wildcats  go (Terry Anderson to Miami, Charlie White to the Jets and Tony Samuels to Kansas City) while 1982 was the last multi-Wildcat year with Reese and Charles Riggins (Green Bay). The last time it happened was in 1985 when Leon Gonzales went to the Cowboys and John .Bostic went to the Chiefs.
 
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Players Mentioned

Kemari Averett

#1 Kemari Averett

TE
6' 6"
Graduate Student

Players Mentioned

Kemari Averett

#1 Kemari Averett

6' 6"
Graduate Student
TE
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