Tim Euhus, a 6-foot-5, 250-pound tight end for Oregon State, capped his college career by winning a spot on the all-Pacific-10 Conference first team. Euhus (YOU-us) wrote an occasional diary for The Oregonian on Mondays leading up to the NFL draft, which was Saturday and Sunday.
I didn't follow the draft much on Saturday because I was busy helping the parents of my wife, Michelle, move. But by the time we got back to our place, I was so nervous I cleaned the whole house. Michelle said, "Relax. You're making me nervous."
On Sunday my parents, my little brother and his girlfriend came over and we started watching the fourth round of the draft. There were six tight ends taken Saturday, so I knew those teams probably wouldn't draft one. We missed the New York Jets' pick -- I think there was a commercial -- and then the Buffalo Bills' logo popped up on the screen with the 109th pick.
I knew Buffalo needed a tight end. My cell phone rang, and it was the 716 area code. I didn't know where that was, but I had an idea. Everything got quiet, and I thought, "Oh, boy, this is it."
A guy said, "Hey, Tim. How you feeling?" I think it was the general manager, but I was so excited I wasn't really listening to names. I wanted to say, "You tell me," but I said, "Well, pretty good right now." He said, "I'm filling your name out on the card. I just wanted to ask you before I send it in if you had any injuries in the past few weeks that would prevent you from coming to our mini-camp."
I said, "No, Sir." He said, "Well, then you're a Buffalo Bill."
The first thing I thought was, "It's a long ways away." New York is about as far as you can get from Oregon. But I don't care. I'm happy. My wife and I are looking forward to the adventure.
I didn't follow the draft much on Saturday because I was busy helping the parents of my wife, Michelle, move. But by the time we got back to our place, I was so nervous I cleaned the whole house. Michelle said, "Relax. You're making me nervous."
On Sunday my parents, my little brother and his girlfriend came over and we started watching the fourth round of the draft. There were six tight ends taken Saturday, so I knew those teams probably wouldn't draft one. We missed the New York Jets' pick -- I think there was a commercial -- and then the Buffalo Bills' logo popped up on the screen with the 109th pick.
I knew Buffalo needed a tight end. My cell phone rang, and it was the 716 area code. I didn't know where that was, but I had an idea. Everything got quiet, and I thought, "Oh, boy, this is it."
A guy said, "Hey, Tim. How you feeling?" I think it was the general manager, but I was so excited I wasn't really listening to names. I wanted to say, "You tell me," but I said, "Well, pretty good right now." He said, "I'm filling your name out on the card. I just wanted to ask you before I send it in if you had any injuries in the past few weeks that would prevent you from coming to our mini-camp."
I said, "No, Sir." He said, "Well, then you're a Buffalo Bill."
The first thing I thought was, "It's a long ways away." New York is about as far as you can get from Oregon. But I don't care. I'm happy. My wife and I are looking forward to the adventure.
Comment