Slauson to reunite with Callahan
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By BRIAN CHRISTOPHERSON / Lincoln Journal Star
At one point, with the afternoon slipping away and the anxiousness building, Matt Slauson phoned a friend.
If anyone could know what he was going through, it was the guy on the other end. A good bud. Yes, Lydon Murtha would know.
“It was tough. We both hadn’t gotten picked yet. Lydon was on (Mel) Kiper’s top 10 list. I was nowhere to be seen,” Slauson said. “And then all of a sudden things just clicked.”
You watch the NFL Draft on TV all those years and see guys sweating it out. But you have no idea exactly how great a roller coaster it is until you are one of those guys.
So the friends had a chat, each wishing the other a turn in fortune.
Fortune finally rang the bell. It called on their former teammate first. Linebacker Cody Glenn was the first Husker taken in this year’s draft, going in the fifth round (No. 158 pick overall) to Washington.
If that was good news, it was about to build to great news for Slauson.
His phone buzzed. He sensed this was it, running outside to take the call. It was New York Jets’ general manager Mike Tannenbaum.
“Until I got picked, it was the worst day of my life,” said Slauson, the 6-5, 320-pound offensive guard. “All of a sudden, it is the best day of my life.”
And the Jets offer an ideal situation, he said.
“I got drafted to a team that actually has a need (at guard),” Slauson said. “I’m going to get a shot at playing and I’m going to make the most of this opportunity.”
Crazy day. The kind of crazy day that at one point found Slauson having a brief conversation with his former Husker head coach, Bill Callahan.
Now an offensive line and associate head coach for the Jets, Callahan spoke briefly with Slauson, saying he was glad to work with him again.
“It is going to be great. I have said over and over again, Coach Callahan is the best offensive line coach in the country,” said Slauson, the 193rd pick overall. “And if it wasn’t him taking a shot in the dark on me four years ago, then I wouldn’t be where I am today.
“I’d be lucky to make it on any college team, but it was because of him that I was able to come to Nebraska. I thank him then and I thank him again, because this is awesome.”
Adding to Slauson’s happiness: Lydon Murtha finally got his call. The Detroit Lions took the offensive tackle in the seventh round (228th overall), later than many expected. ESPN analyst Mel Kiper Jr. had projected Murtha as going in possibly the third or fourth rounds.
But it was that kind of day for ex-Huskers, who had to put that virtue of patience to work. The selection of Glenn was the latest point the first Husker had been selected in an NFL draft since 1970.
And several key ex-Huskers did not hear their names called at all: Defensive end Zach Potter, I-back Marlon Lucky and quarterback Joe Ganz were not drafted. Potter later agreed to a free-agent deal with the Jets and Lucky with the Cincinnati Bengals.
Wide receiver Todd Peterson, meanwhile, said Sunday night he had signed a free-agent deal with Jacksonville. Fellow wideout Nate Swift has signed with the Denver Broncos.
That Glenn was drafted was perhaps not a surprise. That he was the first Husker taken might be.
It is no small accomplishment for the native of Rusk, Texas, who was drafted as an outside linebacker after spending his first three years at Nebraska as an I-back.
Eyebrows raised when Glenn made a switch to linebacker before the spring of his senior year. But the move brought impressive results for someone so raw to the position.
The 6-foot, 235-pound Glenn had 51 tackles until being suspended for the final three games last season for reasons not made public.
Soon after Glenn was picked, former Nebraska-Omaha quarterback Zach Miller was taken by the Jacksonville Jaguars in the sixth round. Miller was in the Nebraska program in 2004 before transferring. He intends to play tight end in the NFL.
It was a draft to remember for certain individuals, but not one Husker fans will bookmark as a success.
“I am surprised,” Slauson said of how the Huskers fared. “But everyone knows that a lot of strange things happen on draft day. And even those guys that fell from the draft, I am very confident that they will make the most out of their opportunities.”
Reach Brian Christopherson at bchristopherson@journalstar.com or 473-7439.
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