By Geoffrey Michel / L’Observateur / April 20, 1999

On Saturday, the NFL draft came on. As a football fan I anxiously awaited thepick of our home team, the New Orleans Saints. As you probably already know,Mike Ditka desperately wanted the running back from the University of Texas named Ricky Williams. At the beginning of the day I thought we had no chanceat him. I assumed that the other 11 teams in front of us would definitely pickhim.

As I rode with my dad to Edwin Watts, we listened to 870 AM. It was reportedthat the Indianapolis Colts might pick Champ Bailey, which meant we could trade picks with the Washington Redskins to get Ricky Williams. My Dad and Ithen talked about what would happened to the Saints if they could get him, and I mentioned how I liked his hair. We walked into Edwin Watts and I headedto the putting green. I picked a long Scotty Cameron putter and made all threeof the putts I attempted. I told my dad that if he really loved me he would buyme this $200 putter. He ignored my feeble attempt to manipulate him. (MaybeI’ll ask my mom.) As we got out of the store and into my dad’s truck, the draftbegan.

Every team gets 15 minutes to select a player. Well, the Cleveland Brownsalready knew who they are going to pick, but they aggravated America for 10 minutes before selecting Tim Couch. Philadelphia then selected DonovanMcNabb. The Philadelphia fans booed him because they wanted Williams. TheCincinnati Bengals selected Akili Smith from Oregon. This is when Mike Ditkastarted pulling out his hair. The Indianapolis Colts, with the next pick, wereinterested in another running back named Edgerrin James. I was home by nowand was not sitting down. I wanted Williams to come to New Orleans. We werehaving hamburgers for lunch and I proceeded to call them Ricky Williams’s Burgers. By now you are probably wondering what my problem was, but restassured, I was just excited. Then, Paul Taugliabua, the president of the NFL,came to the microphone and announced that the Indianapolis Colts selected the running back from the University of … Miami, Edgerrin James. I wasecstatic.

We then traded the Redskins our picks (and our draft) and we got Ricky Williams. I was excited, my dad was excited, New Orleans was excited,Williams was excited and Mike Ditka was excited. We were not so excited,however, that we forgot that Tom Benson raised ticket prices last week.

My mom just proofread this article and told me that there is no point to this story. I don’t guess that there is a point. It was only a day in the life of anaverage 14-year-old sports fan. On my day off of school, I just wanted to kickback, relax and enjoy a little sports entertainment.

Wait a minute, Mom, don’t walk away. There’s a really good putter that I needto talk to you about…If you have any questions or comments, please write to me at straightkids@juno.com or P.O. Box 1493, LaPlace, La. 70069.Back to Top

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