University of Minnesota (UM) Golden Gophers Football Players Taken in 2010 NFL Draft - 2 Selected

The University of Minnesota (UM) Golden Gophers had two football players selected in the 2010 NFL Draft that was held in April at Radio City Music Hall in NYC. The two men from the football program at the school selected by National Football League franchises are:

• Eric Decker (wide receiver) - taken with the 87th overall pick in the 3rd round by the Denver Broncos


• Nathan Triplett (linebacker) - selected as the 167th players taken in the draft and going to the Minnesota Vikings with a fifth round pick

Eric Decker was a fan favorite at the wide receiver position for fans in the Minneapolis area during his college playing days. The 6'3" 217 pound player was originally born in 1987 in Cold Spring, Minnesota and in addition to excelling on the grid iron is also an outstanding baseball player.

Eric was chosen in the 39th round of the 2008 Major League Baseball Draft by the Milwaukee Brewers and as a result of not signing with the Brewers he was selected again in the 2009 Major League Baseball draft (this time by the Twins in the 27th round). Eric Decker has the unique honor of having been drafted by three different professional sports teams (Brewers, Twins, Broncos) in three consecutive years (2008,2009, and 2010).

After trading Brandon Marshall, their best wide receiver, to the Miami Dolphins the Denver Broncos are in need of a new receiving threat. Young Broncos head coach Josh McDaniels (age 34) hopes that Eric Decker and his first round quarterback selection, Tim Tebow, will prove to be a formidable offensive tandem for years to come in the mile high city.

Nathan Triplett is a 6'3" 250 linebacker originally from Maple Plain, Minnesota who plans on wearing number 58 for the Minnesota Vikings next year. Nathan is slated to join a franchise that has strung together a recent secession of winning seasons over the past few years.

Led by quarterback Brett Favre and star running back Adrian Peterson the Vikings came up one game short of advancing to the Super Bowl following the 2009 regular season and lost to eventual Super Bowl XLV champions the New Orleans Saints in the NFC Championship game. Vikings head coach Brad Childress hopes that the addition of young motivated talent like he sees in Nathan Triplett will be the boost that the program needs to get over the hump and take the next step by making it all the way to the Super Bowl.

Kim, who penned this piece, doesn't know if either of the two future NFL players drafted from the Golden Gophers will be taking comfortable University of Minnesota slippers with them to the training camps of their new teams. Kim hopes that as a memento of their college days that both Eric and Nathan pick up a pair of fuzzy Minnesota Golden Gophers slippers.

Fans of the Gophers interested in looking at U of M slippers for themselves are strongly urged to take a look at the two links in the previous paragraph.

Auburn University (AU) Tigers Football Players Taken in the 2010 NFL Draft - Two Selected

There were two Auburn University (AU) Tigers football players taken in the 2010 NFL Draft that was held in New York City in April. The two men from the Alabama based campus selected by National Football League (NFL) Teams are:

• Ben Tate (running back) who was picked by the Houston Texans in the second round with the 58th overall pick
• Walter McFadden (cornerback), selected with the 138th overall pick in the 5th round by the Oakland Raiders

Ben Tate hopes to follow in the footsteps of other successfully Auburn running backs that have entered the NFL in the last few seasons. Most recently that list includes impact players Ronnie Brown of the Miami Dolphins and Carnell "Cadilac" Williams of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. When football fans go further back in time they notice that the great Bo Jackson was actually a running back product of the Auburn football program.

Ben Tate, born is 1988, is listed as a 5'11" 218 pound back that has a desirable combination of power and speed. Originally from Woodbridge, Virginia Ben grew up in Maryland and attended Stephen Decatur High School where he set a high water mark for the state in terms of rushing yards for a single season with 2,886.

After earning all-state honors his junior season Tate transferred to Snow Hill High School (also in Maryland) for his senior year of high school. As the tailback for the Snow Hill Eagles he led the squad to a second place in the state finish for the football team. Tate chose to follow up his impressive prep football career with the Auburn Tigers after declining athletic scholarship offers from powerhouse football programs the University of Florida and Penn State just to name a couple.

Walter McFadden was selected by the Oakland Raiders to play cornerback and while Walter has no relation to Raiders running back Darren McFadden (a 2008 first round draft pick by Oakland) Walter does have an older brother in the NFL. The older brother of Walter also plays cornerback.

Walter is the younger sibling of Bryant McFadden who played his college football at Florida State University before being selected in the second round of the 2005 NFL Draft to play cornerback for the Pittsburgh Steelers. Bryant was on both Steelers teams that won Super Bowls after the 2005 and 2008 seasons.

The younger McFadden is a 6'0" 177 corner with quick feet and an upside that the Oakland Raiders are excited about. The Raiders expect to find some versatility in Walter as an asset both on defense and on special teams during his rookie season.

Kim, the author of this article, doesn't know if the two Auburn players picked in the 2010 NFL Draft have any interest in the sport of golf or any inclination amongst them to buy a pair of orange Auburn University golf shoes. Kim suspects that a pair of blue AU Tigers golf shoes would help either of them fit in better with their new found teammates who inevitably play a lot of golf as it's a very popular sport amongst NFL players. Readers curious about looking at either orange or blue Auburn Tigers golf shoes should visit one of the two links in the previous paragraph to look at choices.