MACHIAVELLI
April 1st, 2006, 07:59 AM
Everson Walls attended the ICON.
http://www.gramblingstateuniversity.com/ewalls[2].jpg
PROVING THEM WRONG
Some pro scouts also questioned Everson Walls' ability to track top receivers after he was clocked at 4.72 in the 40-yard dash.
"They were predicating it on the stopwatch," Andre Robinson said. "They should have known more about what he had done."
The NFL Draft came and went in 1981, and Walls' phone never rang.
He eventually signed as a free agent with his hometown Dallas Cowboys, who practiced two miles from where Walls grew up.
"That was something that got all of us, that he didn't get drafted," said Robinson, a 1980 Bayou Classic MVP who now coaches GSU's linebackers. "It wasn't just that he was great his senior year; he was steady every year he was here."
What Walls did after that draft snub was historic.
He became the only player to have led the NFL in interceptions three times, a feat Walls accomplished in 1981-82 and again in '85 — all Pro Bowl campaigns with the Cowboys.
"There have been two themes to my career," Walls likes to say, "people dogging me —and me proving them wrong."
Charley Armey, who later worked in the New England and St. Louis front offices, was the scout who recommended Walls to Dallas.
"He taught me," Armey said later, "there's a hell of a lot of difference between timed speed and playing speed."
http://www.thenewsstar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060401/SPORTS/604010344/1006
http://www.gramblingstateuniversity.com/ewalls[2].jpg
PROVING THEM WRONG
Some pro scouts also questioned Everson Walls' ability to track top receivers after he was clocked at 4.72 in the 40-yard dash.
"They were predicating it on the stopwatch," Andre Robinson said. "They should have known more about what he had done."
The NFL Draft came and went in 1981, and Walls' phone never rang.
He eventually signed as a free agent with his hometown Dallas Cowboys, who practiced two miles from where Walls grew up.
"That was something that got all of us, that he didn't get drafted," said Robinson, a 1980 Bayou Classic MVP who now coaches GSU's linebackers. "It wasn't just that he was great his senior year; he was steady every year he was here."
What Walls did after that draft snub was historic.
He became the only player to have led the NFL in interceptions three times, a feat Walls accomplished in 1981-82 and again in '85 — all Pro Bowl campaigns with the Cowboys.
"There have been two themes to my career," Walls likes to say, "people dogging me —and me proving them wrong."
Charley Armey, who later worked in the New England and St. Louis front offices, was the scout who recommended Walls to Dallas.
"He taught me," Armey said later, "there's a hell of a lot of difference between timed speed and playing speed."
http://www.thenewsstar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060401/SPORTS/604010344/1006