All this time we've been listening to the experts say that BYU safety Derwin Gray was a marginal NFL draft prospect, when we could have just asked Gray's grandfather.
"Over a year ago, my grandfather said he'd had a dream and seen me playing in the NFL, for a team in blue," Gray said.That dream came true Sunday, when Gray defied all the predictions by becoming the only player from a Utah school taken on the draft's first day. The Indianapolis Colts took him in the fourth round.
Everyone had expected record-setting Weber State quarterback Jamie Martin to be the first in-state player drafted, but Martin didn't go Sunday, as just three QBs were selected.
"It's still kind of hard to believe," Gray said Sunday night. "I was expecting to get a call tomorrow. Most of the experts and gurus said I'd be a free agent."
USA Today, for instance, ranked Gray 19th among safeties just last Friday. And the All-WAC defensive back wasn't even invited to the NFL's annual combine at which it evaluates potential draftees.
Gray said he was at home with family and friends when the Colts' call came. He'd been getting calls all day from well-wishers, and when the team's representative called, he at first thought it was a joke.
"He told me they were thinking about drafting me, and then there was all this noise in the background, and he said, `Just a minute'," Gray related. "Then he came back and said, `It's official. Congratulations. We just drafted you.'
"And right then my sister-in-law saw my name flash across the TV on ESPN, and the house just blew up. Everybody was crying and hugging and stuff. It was just like a dream."
While Gray was surprised that he went so early, he wasn't amazed that he went to the Colts.
"I knew I was high on the Colts' list," he said. "I had a tremendous workout for them. I ran a 4.5 (40 yards) on Astroturf and had above-average numbers in the 20-yard shuttle and broad jump. Their scout told me the player-personnel director liked me a lot."
Gray heads to mini-camp in Indianapolis later this week, and he said the team official assured him he'd have a chance to compete right away.
"They have a young secondary, and they lost a veteran safety to free agency," he said. "It's a good opportunity."