Blog: April 2008 Archives

In case you didn't listen to parts 1 and 2 of our first mock draft - which would be terribly foolish on your part - here's what we drafted.

I got it started on the wrong foot by taking the wrong Long, and it looks like that won't be our only pick that will be off.

1. Miami: Chris Long, UVA

2. St. Louis: Jake Long, OL, Michigan

3. Atlanta: Matt Ryan, QB, Boston College

4. Oakland: Vernon Gholston, DL, Ohio State

5. Kansas City: Sedrick Ellis, DL, Southern Cal

6. New York Jets: Darren McFadden, RB, Arkansas

7. New England: Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie, CB, Tennessee State

8. Baltimore: Glenn Dorsey, DT, LSU

9. Cincinnati: Keith Rivers, LB, Southern Cal

10. New Orleans: Derrick Harvey, DE, Florida

11. Buffalo: Devin Thomas, WR, Michigan State

12. Denver: Ryan Clady, OT, Boise State

13. Carolina: Rashard Mendenhall, RB, Illinois

14. Chicago: Branden Albert, OG, Virginia

15. Detroit: Jerod Mayo, LB, Tennessee

16. Arizona: Aqib Talib, CB, Kansas

17. Minnesota: Calais Campbell, DE, Miami

18. Houston: Felix Jones, RB, Arkansas

19. Philadelphia: Leodis McKelvin, CB, Troy

20. Tampa Bay: Mike Jenkins, CB, South Florida

21. Washington: Phillip Merling, DE, Clemson

22. Dallas: DeSean Jackson, KR/WR, Cal

23. Pittsburgh: Jeff Otah, OL, Pitt

24. Tennessee: Limas Sweed, WR, Texas

25. Seattle: Jonathan Stewart, RB, Oregon

26. Jacksonville: Kentwan Balmer, DT, North Carolina

27. San Diego: Gosder Cherilus, OT, Boston College

28. Dallas: Kenny Phillips, S, Miami

29. San Francisco: Chris Williams, OT, Vanderbilt

30. Green Bay: Brandon Flowers, CB, Virginia Tech

31. Forfeited by New England

32. New York Giants: Dan Connor, OLB, Penn State

He's Brian George, and you can read his bio here.

But, we thought we'd dig a little deeper. We asked six questions, he answered in true Brian George fashion. We're looking forward to Mr. George's debut either this week or next. Enjoy! (Especially Brian's detailed response to the "typical work day" question.)

 

Joel Hammond: Detail for us what you've been doing since you graduated and now.

Brian George: Upon graduation I worked at a country club outside of Pittsburgh until November of 2005. I took my first radio job out of college in December of 2005 in Woodward, Okla., which is in the Northwest part of the state, near the panhandle. I was hired to be the News/Sports Director for 2 stations, KWOX-FM (100,000w Country) and KMZE-FM (50,000w Hot AC). I've done high school football, baseball, and basketball play-by-play including All-Star games and state championship games. In January of 2007, I was named Station Manager for KMZE and began covering the local high school team exclusively.

 

JH: And how about now? You're in radio in Oklahoma. Give us a typical day in the life of Brian George.

BG: I usually get to work around 6 am and prepare my sportscasts for 7 am. I do a 2-3 minute Sportscast at 7 and 8 am and a 3-minute news/sportscast at 9 am, 11 am, 1 pm, 4 pm and 6 pm, and a 5-minute news/sportscast at 12 pm and 5 pm. During the morning, I'm basically gathering news, sports, writing stories and e-mailing my good friends (a hint of sarcasm) at PigskinPodcast.com. I'm also working on music logs, production, programming, etc. for Z92, our Hot AC station. During the sports season(s) I'm busy with 10-15 football games, 60 basketball and about a dozen baseball games. I take a lunch break from about noon until 3, back at home around 5 on non-game days, in bed by 10 and back up about 5:30.

 

JH: Will the Steelers finish behind the Browns in 2008?

BG: The Browns have made some nice offseason moves with Donte Stallworth and Shawn Rodgers, to bolster the receiving corps and defensive line, respectively. Certainly I think they are the chief contender to take the AFC North away from Pittsburgh. The Steelers, on the contrary, have had a relatively uneventful offseason which is nothing new. Unless you count several team members beating up their wives and girlfriends, i.e. Cedrick Wilson and James Harrison. It's still early, not even April; I'll wait and see until after the draft (in which the Steelers always excel) and summer workouts. Despite what people might say, I thinks its a big mental thing with Cleveland and Pittsburgh. The Steelers lead the series 25-7 since 1990 and 15-2 this decade. Until Cleveland proves it can beat the Steelers, and possibly sweep a season series, I give the edge to Pittsburgh.

 

JH: Is Ben Roethlisberger worth $102 million?

BG: He's worth every penny. When you talk about the games great QBs, Ben is likely at the head of the non-Tom Brady/Peyton Manning division right now. He may not have the gaudy numbers but doesn't need them. He's the face of the franchise and an extremely well-liked guy in the area; guys like that don't come around very often. He's a keeper. The Steelers don't ever overpay; if they gave him the loot, they're convinced and so am I. One Super Bowl and counting. ...

 

JH: What do the Steelers need to do in the draft? Offensive line?

BG: Offensive Line I would think has to be the No. 1 goal. The only problem is you don't want to take a player just because you need to fill a hole, when that player may not be worth a first-round pick. Judging by their history I doubt they make that mistake. Big Ben was sacked once every 10 dropbacks. For a guy that is not a 'scrambler' by trade, that's a bad stat. Defensive line also must be addressed as it was porous at best towards the end of the year, namely two games against Jacksonville. However, Aaron Smith was a huge loss and hopefully he will return to full strength.

 

JH: Give us your favorite memory of Myron Cope.

BG: I can remember vividly listening to Myron on the radio as young as 5 or 6 years old. Always great to listen to a Steelers-Bengals - or as Myron called them, "Bungles" - game, or Steelers-Browns (also known as "Cleev Brownies").  I got my first terrible towel at 8 or 9 and haven't stopped waving that thing since.