AAFL DRAFT : Calcagni’s ‘core’ comes from draft
Posted on Sunday, January 27, 2008
No one can accuse Ron Calcagni of hiding his intentions.
The coach and general manager of Arkansas’ franchise tipped his hand early for the first All American Football League draft. The plan was to go with linemen, and plenty of them.
Arkansas’ first five picks — and six out of its first seven — in Saturday’s draft were offensive or defensive linemen. Leading the list was No. 1 overall pick Zarah Yisrael, a 6-3, 310-pound guard out of Troy.
That Yisrael is a relative unknown in a league depending on former college stars for its survival didn’t seem to matter at Little Rock’s Embassy Suites hotel, where Arkansas conducted its draft operations. Yisrael’s introduction — and the rest of the draft, for that matter — followed the NFL blueprint of player introductions, handshakes at the podium and even holding up team jerseys for photo opportunities.
A television crew was on hand as part of the league’s TV broadcast, and across the hall from the main ballroom Calcagni and his staff worked out of a conference room that had served as the team’s “war room” throughout the week.
“It is done to send a message that we are here to stay,” said Alicia Cooper, president of the Arkansas franchise. “This is real.” The TV-friendly production made up for what was a decidedly unglamorous draft for Arkansas. Calcagni’s push for name recognition had come a week earlier, when the team “protected” 25 draft-eligible players from its allotted territories of Arkansas, Louisiana and Oklahoma.
That process netted names like former LSU quarterback Marcus Randall as well as former Razorbacks Tony Bua and Tom Crowder. In all, nine of Arkansas’ protected players were offensive skill players, with eight players coming from Arkansas colleges.
Saturday, with no territorial restrictions on draft-eligible players, the focus was on plugging holes on the line of scrimmage.
“We’ve built the team with skill,” Calcagni said. “[Today ] was building this team from the core. Offensive and defensive line, we’ve got to have those people. That’s where you win football games. You’re going to have to shore up those things, blocking and tackling.” The point man in that effort looks to be Yisrael, who recorded a 35-inch vertical leap, an 8-9 broad jump and a 5. 0 40-yard dash at league combines.
The fifth of nine children, Yisrael grew up in Jacksonville, Fla., and was invited to his hometown Jacksonville Jaguars ’ minicamp after graduating from Troy. After failing to catch on with an NFL team, Yisrael returned to Troy to work on his master’s degree.
Yisrael now goes from the lower tier of Division I football in the Sun Belt Conference to a league drawing most of its talent from conferences like the SEC, Atlantic Coast Conference and Big 12.
“You go out there and prepare for the best guy,” Yisrael said. “Throughout my career, I never prepared for a Sun Belt team or an SEC team. I prepared for the best guy.” Yisrael was accompanied to the draft by his mother, Barakat. The daughter of Trinidadian immigrants, Barakat Yisrael said she was proud her son was the top selection in a league that requires players to have a four-year college degree.
Arkansas spent its next two picks on defensive linemen, drafting Georgia Tech product Nicholas Rogers in the second round and Albert Means, a defensive tackle from Memphis, in the third.
Means took a rocky path to the AAFL and is best known for having been the center of a recruiting scandal that resulted in a two-year bowl ban and a five-year probation period for the University of Alabama.
On Feb. 2, 2005, Alabama booster Logan Young was convicted of paying $ 150, 000 to Trezevant Coach Lynn Lang, who allegedly promised to direct Means to the Crimson Tide in exchange for payments.
Means was subsequently released from his national letter of intent and went undrafted by NFL teams after making second team All-Conference USA as a senior at Memphis.
Under the AAFL’s salary structure, each player drafted — regardless of the round — will make a base salary of $ 50, 000. Certain players involved directly in team public relations campaigns, such as Arkansas’ Clint Stoerner, may earn extra depending on their level of involvement.
A supplemental draft Feb. 16 will allow teams to fill out their rosters so each team goes into its March training camp with 60 players. After training camp, rosters will be cut to 42, plus four practice squad players.
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