Picked by Dolphins, Penn State's Odrick ready for big time

NEW YORK - Like a lot of grade-school children, Jared Odrick dreamed of someday becoming a professional athlete. But it wasn't the perks of a big-bucks lifestyle that mesmerized the not-so-little kid from Lebanon, Pa.; it was the idea of playing the games he loved at the highest possible level.

"I always wanted to be a pro basketball or football player," the 6-5, 304-pound defensive lineman from Penn State said Wednesday at the NFL-sponsored Play60 event in Central Park. "Of course, I wanted to be Michael Jordan. What guy my age didn't back then?

"And I wanted to be Barry Sanders. That didn't happen, either. Not too many guys my size play running back in the NFL."

Odrick won't ever make jaw-dropping open-field runs like Sanders, the former Detroit Lions great, but he did get to meet his now-retired idol last night at Radio City Music Hall for the first round of the 75th annual NFL draft. But someday soon Odrick might get the chance to sack the 2008 Heisman Trophy winner, former Oklahoma quarterback, Sam Bradford, the first pick in the draft by the Rams. Perhaps he will get to lay a major lick on ex-Clemson running back C.J. Spiller, the closest thing to Sanders in this yearly talent grab, who went ninth overall to the Bills.

Odrick, projected to go anywhere from the mid-to-late first round by most draft analysts, lasted until the 28th selection, when he finally got the call from the Dolphins he had been waiting on for more than 3 hours in real time, but, really, for most of his life.

"I saw area code 954," he said of the number that appeared on his ringing cell phone in the green room, which had been emptied of nearly all the 16 players the NFL had invited for the occasion. "I wasn't sure where that was."

He found out pretty quickly that Miami was calling when the first of several Dolphins executives took turns congratulating him and welcoming him to their team.

"I'm grateful and excited to have the opportunity to be a part of a great defense," Odrick said. "For a while there, I wasn't sure if I would even [be picked before the end of the first round]. I was back there sweating for a little bit."

Not that Odrick, who isn't sure if the Dolphins intend to play him at nose tackle or defense end in their 3-4 front, plans to sit back and wait again.

"The first thing I want to do is to get down to Miami and get to work," he said. "I really don't want to put too much pressure on myself. I'm not sure where they want to play me. We really didn't talk specifics."

Whatever position he winds up, Odrick should have an impact, judged two of his more enthusiastic fans - one a fellow first-rounder and the other a former NFL head coach.

"He's a phenomenal player, a disruptive force that needs to be accounted for at all times," Iowa offensive tackle Bryan Bulaga, who was picked 23rd overall by the Packers, said of Odrick. "You can't just leave him one-on-one too often because you're going to get burned. You have to get center help for your guard."

Steve Mariucci, the former head coach of the 49ers and Lions, also likes what he sees of Odrick.

"Odrick has some position flexibility," Mariucci said. "He's got the kind of motor teams look for, never takes a play off.

"To me, he's a can't-miss guy. I know there are a lot of teams that would love to have him. You can move him across a defensive front and he'd be productive wherever he lines up."

Odrick's whirlwind Big Apple adventure, even the seemingly endless wait for his name to be called, is something he'll savor forever.

"I'm just trying to take it all in, man," he said of his whirlwind introduction to the NFL way of doing things in the big city. "It's been a long wait [since Penn State's Capital One Bowl victory over LSU on Jan. 1], but I wouldn't have wanted the time to fly by in any case. I mean, you only get to do this once."

And his expectations of what lies ahead in Miami?

"I think I'm pretty versatile," he said. "I can go hard for 80 plays a game. I can defend against the run and rush the passer. I'm a good teammate. That's important, too."

Odrick is no longer a kid, and the idea of making a copious amount of money for playing a game he loves is something he admits thinking about now.

"It's nice to be in a position to do some things financially for myself and my family," he said. "That kind of security is important." *