ST. LOUIS (AP) -The St. Louis Rams opened the third day of the NFL draft by taking a wide receiver undaunted by long odds in the NFL, given he’s already rebounded from life’s hard knocks.
Mardy Gilyard could fit in just fine with a franchise that’s 6-42 the last three seasons.
Gilyard once worked four part-time jobs after losing his scholarship at Cincinnati in 2006 and occasionally lived out of his car. He caught 11 touchdown passes in each of his final two seasons and added four scores on kickoff returns, dazzling numbers that persuaded the Rams to take him with the first pick of the fourth round.
“What Mardy has shown is he can go through a tough time and persevere,” coach Steve Spagnuolo said. “He obviously wanted it bad enough. Now you’ve got a very competitive, hungry guy who has fallen once or twice and knows how to get back up.”
he Rams called even before the draft began.
“They’re not even going to fool around or beat around the bush,” Gilyard said. “And I was just like stoked. Now I finally can get ready to go to work.”
Perhaps more than most, Gilyard realizes how fortunate he is.
“It’s like slim to none that kids actually get to go pro,” Gilyard said. “My mom, she’s bananas right now. She’s going to call me about eight times in a row.”
The 5-11, 179-pound Gilyard had 87 catches for 1,191 yards and 11 touchdowns last year after piling up 81 receptions for 1,276 yards and 12 scores as a junior, and helped the Bearcats win consecutive Big East titles. Size and so-so speed dropped him to the fourth round, but general manager Billy Devaney said Gilyard had “competitive speed,” and he could plug two needs in St. Louis.
Gilyard joins an undistinguished cast of pass catchers led by Donnie Avery. Spagnuolo said special teams coach Tom McMahon “was doing backflips.”
The Rams went for offense with three of the top four picks, starting with quarterback Sam Bradford to open the draft and adding protection with Indiana offensive tackle Rodger Saffold in the second. They took South Florida cornerback Jerome Murphy in the third.
Wide receiver was perhaps the Rams’ greatest need entering the draft, but Devaney said he took Gilyard because he was easily at the top of their list of remaining prospects.
“The grade took us there, honestly,” Devaney said. “If it happened to be an offensive tackle, if it happened to be an offensive guard and he had the grade that Gilyard had on him, I probably would have gotten my butt kicked but we would have taken a guard.”
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