Ruud excited about chance to play for Patriots
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By BRIAN CHRISTOPHERSON / Lincoln Journal Star
The Ruuds are a football family who know their heavy share of football people. But even Bo Ruud was not quite prepared for this, a buzzing phone and a voice on the other end that belonged to ... Bill Belichick?
Yes, the one, the only: the praised football genius, the vilified curmudgeon, the avid supporter of hooded sweatshirts.
The famed New England Patriots coach did most of the talking while the linebacker tried to make sure he wasn't lost in a dream. "I tried to not say too much," Ruud said.
How'd you like to be a Patriot?
Some tough question. How'd you like to win the lottery? Quite a bit.
And with that, the Lincoln Southeast grad and former Husker followed in the footsteps of his father (Tom) and brother (Barrett), another Ruud drafted into the National Football League.
Whatever is above Cloud Nine, that's where Ruud is right now.
A half hour after becoming a sixth-round pick (the 197th pick overall), Ruud's elation couldn't possibly be hidden.
"This place is about to be a madhouse," he said of the family residence in Lincoln.
"It's probably the best coach on probably the best team that ever played the game. It's kind of strange to get a chance to go play with those guys. It's unbelievable. I don't know what to say other than that."
Ruud was one of three Huskers to be taken in the NFL Draft, cornerback Zack Bowman and offensive lineman Carl Nicks being the others. All were selected on Sunday, their patience put to the test.
Bowman was the first Husker picked, but even he had to wait until four hours into Sunday's draft coverage before the Chicago Bears selected him in the fifth round (142nd overall).
You'd have to go back to the 1970 draft to find the last time it took so long for a Husker to be picked.
"It's kind of nerve-wracking, especially when you the see teams interested in you getting ready to pick," Bowman said. "You're just waiting by the phone, like, 'Man, is he going to call me? What's going to happen?'"
Bowman actually thought he might end up in New England. The Patriots were telling him they'd really like to get him in their camp. But when Chicago called his number, the Husker who fought through two major knee injuries during his college career had no complaints.
The cornerback said he has no regrets and is anxious to show everyone what he can do now that he is 100-percent healthy.
"I don't see anything holding me back or holding me down," Bowman said.
Later in the fifth round, Nicks finally got his name called, suddenly a New Orleans Saint. Some had projected Nicks to possibly go as high as the second round, but instead he had to wait until the 164th pick in the draft.
"I got down on myself for a while because I thought I was going to get drafted higher," Nicks said. "But it's a big relief, because otherwise you sit by and watch the time tick away."
A left tackle at Nebraska, Nicks said he was pleased to join a team with "a lot of offensive weapons" - quarterback Drew Brees and playmaker Reggie Bush among them.
Prominent former Huskers who went undrafted were receiver Maurice Purify, linebacker Steve Octavien and quarterback Sam Keller.
Though not picked, Octavien said Sunday night that it was "a done deal" that he would sign as a free agent with Kansas City.
Meanwhile, Keller said he hadn't yet been in contact with any teams about a possible deal. "I'm just waiting to hear anything, my friend," he said. "There's nothing right now, to be honest."
Purify's free-agent status wasn't yet sure as of Sunday night.
The draft is always a mixture of jubilation and disappointment, nerves always along for the ride. As Bowman said, there's a bit of a helpless feeling that takes over a player when he's watching it and realizes "anything can happen."
At the Ruud house, Barrett, a second-round pick of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2005, sat next to his younger brother while they watched the picks dwindle away.
When the Ruud name flashed on the television screen, Bo's cell phone immediately started beeping with text messages. The beeping wouldn't stop for some time.
The draft getting to its late stages, Ruud had started to believe he might not get selected.
"I was planning out my free agency, where would be the best place to go with free agency and then the call came out. I went, 'Oh, geez.'"
Reach Brian Christopherson at 473-7439 or bchristopherson@journalstar
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