Auburn's leading receiver for the past two seasons, Darvin Adams was shut out of the NFL draft
May 1, 2011 — What would former Auburn wide receiver Darvin Adams do differently if he knew in January what he knows today?
Adams, who completed his junior season at Auburn with a national championship on January 10, announced a week after the title game that he would forgo his senior season to enter the NFL draft.
Late Saturday afternoon the draft came to a close. Seven rounds and a handful of supplemental picks passed without Adams name being called.
Undrafted, Adams now faces an uncertain future made even more bleak by the NFL lockout.
Adams had two solid seasons for Auburn, leading the Tigers in receiving in 2009 with 997 yards and again in 2010 with 963. Four times in 2010 he cracked the 100-yard mark including a 217-yard performance in the SEC Championship game against South Carolina.
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The NFL call for Ziemba finally came late Saturday
Lee Ziemba had given up hope of being drafted Saturday.
He had finished a round of golf with his girlfriend and, assuming the draft was over, he started heading to meet his parents and grandparents.
Then his phone rang, with “a weird phone number” showing on the caller ID.
It was Carolina Panthers coach Ron Rivera. He wanted to know if Ziemba would mind joining former college teammate Cam Newton in Charlotte.
“It was a long wait,” Ziemba said. “I’m excited for the opportunity and I’ll do my best to be the best player I can possibly be.”
Ziemba’s call came about a day and four rounds later than he expected.
The 6-foot-6, 317-pound tackle said all throughout the pre-draft process it looked like he’d be off the board in the late second round, third round at the latest.
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Auburn defensive tackle Zach Clayton and offensive tackle Lee Ziemba were selected in the 7th round
It took six hours Saturday for Zach Clayton to find out whether an NFL team would take a chance and draft him.
He hung out with family and friends, including former Auburn center Bart Eddins and senior Tigers track and field athlete Eric Werskey, at his house in Opelika.
He completed a 1,000-piece puzzle of hot air balloons with his fiancé.
And he still had to wait a half hour until he got the call.
“The last 30 minutes were the hardest,” Clayton said. “We were focused on the puzzle, I had some friends there. That definitely helped take my mind off things a little bit.”
Not only will Clayton get a shot at the NFL, but he’ll have a familiar face to greet him when he gets there.
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Cam Newton poses with NFL Commish Roger Goodell after being selected #1 by the Carolina Panthers
Cam Newton could have screamed Thursday night, but he knew that was “not the sane thing to do.”
So the Heisman Trophy winner had tell everyone just how excited he was to be headed to the Carolina Panthers after being the first pick in the NFL Draft in a calm, measured tone.
“I feel great, I’m not going to lie to you. I’m ready to get this show on the road right now,” Newton said in his post-draft press conference. “It’s a warmth in my heart knowing that I’m going to an excellent city and an excellent organization with excellent people around me that’s running the organization
“I’m ready to do some work.”
Newton became the fourth former Tiger to ever go No. 1 in the NFL Draft, after Tucker Frederickson (1965), Bo Jackson (1986) and Aundray Bruce (1988).
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