Maryland defensive tackle Dre Moore was the only Terrapin selected in this weekend?s National Football League Draft, but several other local players signed free agent contracts and will head to training camps across the country.
Seven players with ties to the area will try to extend their playing careers by making an NFL roster. Maryland tight end Joey Haynos, tight end Jason Goode, running back Lance Ball, running back Keon Lattimore and linebacker Erin Henderson join Morgan State running back Chad Simpson and defensive end Bryan Wilson as area players who will try to continue their playing careers this fall.
“[Colts coach] Tony Dungy called me at home before the draft and said that unfortunately he couldn?t draft me,” Simpson, who is the reigning Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference?s Offensive Player of the Year, said. “Seeing all these other running backs picked from Montana and everywhere else and guys you never even heard of [was hard]. I have to prove myself again as I have been doing for years and years, It?s nothing new.”
Towson linebacker Brian Bradford, who made 149 tackles this fall, has a tryout with the Detroit Lions this weekend, where a good performance could earn him an invitation to training camp.
“I am going up there this weekend and show them what I can do,” Bradford said. “I just had a good feel and they seem like they are interested and I am interested in playing wherever. I have a good sense it?s going to work out.”
