Five years ago Keith Null and Stryker Sulak were little more than afterthoughts as college prospects coming out of Lampasas and Rockdale, respectively. Now, these guys are packing their bags and preparing for NFL rookie mini-camps after being chosen just three picks apart - quarterback Null by the St. Louis Rams, defensive end Sulak by the Oakland Raiders - in the sixth round of the draft last week.
Not a bad Sunday afternoon for a couple of unheralded Central Texas boys who, if they stick with the teams that chose them, will add their names to the list of locals who have picked up NFL paychecks.
The two join a pair of Killeen ISD products taken in the third round - Killeen’s Juaquin Iglesias, a wide receiver picked by the Chicago Bears out of Oklahoma, and Shoemaker’s Roy Miller, a defensive tackle taken by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers out of Texas. That makes this possibly the largest haul of local players ever in one draft.
None of these players was more unlikely than Null, a quarterback out of NCAA Division II West Texas A&M. Yes, he rewrote the record books in the Lone Star Conference the last two seasons. Yes, he has the statuesque build - 6-4, 230 pounds - classic in a pocket passer. Yes, he possesses a rifle for a right arm.
Still, he barely was sniffed at following 1,000-yard passing seasons for Mark Kehoe’s Badgers in 2002 and 2003. Null wasn’t ranked among the top 100 prospects out of high school by recruiting analysts who eat and sleep this sort of thing. He was redshirted one year at West Texas A&M and mopped up some for two years before putting himself on the map by throwing for more than 9,000 yards and 89 touchdowns his last two seasons in the Buffaloes’ Texas Tech-style attack.
Until the Rams informed him they were about to draft him with the 196th overall pick, Null, his wife, Natalie, his parents and sister sat in his Canyon apartment watching ESPN’s coverage all but resigned to thinking he would have to latch on somewhere as a free agent.
“I didn’t know St. Louis was any more interested than any other team,” Null said via telephone. “They were just another team checking my phone number. It was literally two minutes before my name came on the screen that I learned I had been drafted by the Rams.
“It helped with my size and arm strength,” he added. “I threw hundreds of balls every practice. I took my reps and God blessed me with some ability.”
Null was the 10th of 11 quarterbacks selected. Ironically, Texas Tech’s Graham Harrell, a fourth-place finisher in the Heisman Trophy voting, was not drafted, though he later was invited to work out for the Cleveland Browns.
“We definitely know each other from playing 7-on-7 against Texas Tech,” Null said. “We’re not great friends, but Graham and I have met and talked. It’s ironic that happened, but Graham still has a shot.”
Null still will have to battle for one of the three quarterback spots on the Rams roster. Veteran Marc Bulger is the incumbent starter. The Rams have added former Baltimore Ravens quarterback Kyle Boller along with Brock Berlin, who has played in one NFL game.
If Null catches on he will join Johnny “Lam” Jones - the second overall pick of the New York Jets in 1980 - and World War II-era player Frank Kring as former Badgers in the NFL.
“I haven’t been able to sleep for three or four days,” Null said early last week. “I got so excited I couldn’t sleep. (The Rams) saw something they liked. I hope I can live up to that and get the third-string spot.”
Sulak didn’t have quite the same anxiety about the draft as Null. He was projected to be a mid- to-late-round pick out of Missouri, but he wasn’t exactly glued to the tube waiting for his name to be called. He was taking care of his 4-year-old sister in Rockdale while the rest of his family was at another sister’s softball game when the Raiders took him with the 199th selection.
“I didn’t watch it at all,” Sulak said by telephone during a workout with friends in College Station. “I started getting texted and told ‘congratulations.’ Someone called my mom and told her.
“It’s exciting, but it’s more of a relief that it’s over and I don’t have to worry about it anymore.”
The All-Big 12 Conference defensive end likely will be moved to outside linebacker.
“I’m kind of a hybrid guy,” said the 6-4, 250-pounder, who goes by his middle name given to him because employees of the Alcoa plant were on strike when he was born. “I’m lucky. There’s nobody like that on their roster and I have a better chance of making it.”
There was moderate interest in Sulak coming out of Rockdale under coach Casey Creghan. Although he had bouts of homesickness, he’s glad he went to Missouri.
“What got me there was meeting Coach (Gary) Pinkel the first time,” Sulak said. “He wanted to change the program around and I wanted to be part of that. Plus, I didn’t have too many offers out of high school.”
Sulak was a durable regular throughout his four years, playing in 53 games and recording 22½ sacks.
Rockdale has some history in the NFL, most notably linebacker Stan Blinka, who played five years for the New York Jets out of Sam Houston State in the early 1980s. Sam Williams played defensive back for the San Diego Chargers and the Houston Oilers in the mid-’70s and Billy Ray Locklin played a year for Oakland in the AFL in 1960 and 10 more seasons in Canada.
Whether excited or relieved, Null and Sulak are more than happy to carry the banner of their quiet Central Texas heritage into the NFL.
