7 Hurricanes Chosen In 2001 NFL Draft
April 21, 2001
Coral Gables, Fla. (www.hurricanesports.com) – The first round of the 2001 National Football League Player Draft on Saturday afternoon in New York City featured selection of four Miami Hurricanes by NFL teams, a record total for the UM football program in an NFL Draft.
Miami ended the NFL Draft with seven players taken overall. Sunday’s draftees from Miami were cornerback Leonard Myers by the New England Patriots (6th round, 37th pick, 200th overall) and receiver Andre King by the Cleveland Browns (7th round, 45th pick, 245th overall).
The four selections of Miami players gave UM the most first-round selections of any school in the nation and raised the Hurricanes’ national-best total of first-round selections since 1987 to 25. Florida State, which had two players picked in the first round on Saturday, is second with 20 first-round choices since 1987.
Linebacker Dan Morgan was the first Hurricane selected, going with the 11th pick of the first round to the Carolina Panthers. He was followed a few moments later by defensive tackle Damione Lewis, who was chosen with the very next pick (the 12th selection) by the St. Louis Rams. The New York Jets with the 16th pick drafted wide receiver/return specialist Santana Moss after the Jets traded up from the 19th spot with the Pittsburgh Steelers. Receiver Reggie Wayne, the all-time leader in UM for career receptions, closed UM’s outstanding showing in the first round by being selected by the Indianapolis Colts with the 30th selection overall.
Running back James Jackson, the third-leading rusher in UM history, was the fifth and only other Hurricanes player selected Saturday. Jackson, who rushed for 1,006 yards in his senior season, was chosen in the third round by the Cleveland Browns with the 65th pick overall.
The four first-round selections is a new UM best for a single year in an NFL Draft. The previous high of three players to go in the opening round was set twice – in 1997 and 1987. The 1997 NFL Draft saw UM receiver Yatil Green go to the Miami Dolphins with the 15th pick, defensive end Kenard Lang to the Washington Redskins with the 17th pick and defensive end Kenny Holmes to the Tennessee Titans with the 18th selection. In 1987, quarterback Vinny Testaverde was the first player selected in the Draft, going to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers followed by running back Alonzo Highsmith (third pick by the Houston Oilers) and defensive tackle Jerome Brown (ninth pick by the Philadelphia Eagles).
Morgan’s selection in the 11th spot makes him the highest picked linebacker in Miami history. Lewis’s No. 12 standing matches the last UM defensive tackle taken in the first round, Warren Sapp who was the 12th pick in the 1995 Draft.
This NFL Draft marks the first time that two UM receivers have gone in the first round as Wayne and Moss, who set numerous school records between them at Miami, further etched their names in Hurricanes football history as the most accomplished receiving duo in the program’s rich history.
