Keyshawn Johnson, wearing an ankle-length, off-white coat and surrounded by an entourage of 20, was the toast of New York, the first pick in the NFL draft Saturday.
It might have been Lawrence Phillips if not for his off-field troubles."I feel I'd have been the first pick if I had no problems, definitely," the Nebraska running back said after being taken at No. 6 by the St. Louis Rams. "I feel I'm the best player in the draft, I think that by far. I think a lot of teams passed because they were afraid of the off-the-field situation, and that's fine."
Phillips' no-contest plea to misdemeanor assault caused a couple of teams to back away from him, reshuffling the early selections in the draft. Instead of being predictable, this draft was deceptive.
The top teams did just what they said they wouldn't do, particularly Jacksonville, Arizona and Baltimore, the teams with picks two, three and four.
It started straightforwardly enough, with the New York Jets using just 10 seconds of their allotted 15 minutes to select Johnson, the flamboyant wide receiver from Southern California. It was welcome news to a crowd that was chanting, "Keyshawn! Keyshawn! Keyshawn!" even before commissioner Paul Tagliabue officially opened the proceedings.
But then things got strange.
Jacksonville selected Illinois linebacker Kevin Hardy, who then drew faint praise from Jaguars coach Tom Coughlin.
"He's got to improve his quickness and some of his technique," Coughlin said.
Arizona, which had wanted Hardy or offensive tackle Jonathan Ogden of UCLA, took Hardy's pass rushing teammate, Simeon Rice, a move that shocked even Rice.
"I had no communication with them prior to this," he said.
And Baltimore, in its first draft since leaving Cleveland, took Ogden, although every indication was that they'd grab Phillips, perhaps even trade up for him.
"We had Ogden and Phillips there together," said Ozzie Newsome, the Ravens' director of player personnel. "It's obvious who we thought was the better player."
Better player or better citizen? Ogden, who scored nearly 1,200 on his SAT test, won as much praise for his character as for his blocking skills.
But Phillips didn't have long to wait.
The New York Giants, who thought they'd get Rice, Hardy or Ogden, settled for Oklahoma defensive end Cedric Jones with the fifth pick rather than add another running back to an already stocked position. It was the first time in a decade the Giants had taken a defensive player in the first round.
Then Phillips finally went to the Rams, who had obtained the sixth overall pick 10 days ago when they shipped defensive lineman Sean Gilbert to Washington. Unlike some other teams, the Rams weren't scared off by Phillips' off-field problems.
"He's probably been through as much scrutiny as a presidential candidate in the last month leading up to the draft," coach Rich Brooks said.
New England, which might have taken Jones, went instead for Terry Glenn, the wide receiver from Ohio State, at No. 7. That conformed to the wishes of owner Robert Kraft rather than those of defensive-minded coach Bill Parcells and gave Drew Bledsoe the first deep threat he's ever had.
Carolina went for Tim Biakabutuka, the Michigan running back, and Oakland dealt up to grab another Ohio State player, tight end Rickey Dudley, with the ninth pick.
Then came four predictable choices - Auburn offensive tackle Willie Anderson to Cincinnati at No. 10, Oregon cornerback Alex Molden to New Orleans at No. 11, California defensive end Regan Upshaw to Tampa Bay at 12 and Mississippi State cornerback Walt Harris to Chicago, which traded with St. Louis to get the 13th selection.
Then Houston traded back up and took Heisman Trophy winner Eddie George, the third Ohio State player in the top 14. The Oilers sent defensive Glenn Montgomery and the 17th pick to Seattle for that right.
Denver ended the first half of the round by taking Kutztown linebacker John Mobley, a relatively unknown Div. II player who bloomed in all-star games and the scouting combine.
With a lot of equally rated talent, there were five trades in the first round, four revolving around the 17th pick and the fifth a deal for the last of the round, which Dallas sent to Washington.
It changed hands four times - from Oakland to Houston to Seattle to Detroit with the Lions finally using it for Texas A&M linebacker Reggie Brown right after Minnesota had chosen defensive-end linebacker Duane Clemons of California.
After Clemons and Brown went two wide receivers - Eddie Kennison of LSU to St. Louis and Marvin Harrison of Syracuse to Indianapolis.
Then Jimmy Johnson made his first pick for Miami - no trades this time - and took Daryl Gardener, a defensive linemen from Baylor. Gardener is a classic Johnson pick - an awesome physical talent who's rarely shown it on the field.
Johnson did make two later trades, one with Dallas to obtain second- and third-round picks, and a second to trade them away to Jacksonville. It was typical of the kind of moves he made in Dallas.
Seattle took offensive linemen Pete Kendall of Boston College with the 21st pick, Tampa Bay chose defensive tackle Marcus Jones of North Carolina, and Detroit chose offensive lineman Jeff Hartings of Penn State.
At No. 24, Buffalo selected Mississippi State wide receiver Eric Moulds, Philadelphia took offensive tackle Jermane Mayberry of Texas A&M-Kingsville and Baltimore chose linebacker Ray Lewis of Miami at No. 26.
Green Bay chose offensive tackle John Michels of Southern Cal, Kansas City took defensive back Jerome Woods of Memphis with the 28th pick and Pittsburgh went for Jamain Stephens, an offensive tackle from North Carolina A&T.
Washington closed the first round by taking Penn State offensive tackle Andre Johnson with the 30th pick it got from Dallas.
For the first time since 1988, no quarterback was taken in the round, not a surprise.
The first quarterback taken was Michigan State's Tony Banks, by the Rams with the 42nd overall pick in the second round.
With typical lack of modesty, Johnson compared himself to Irvin, Jerry Rice and Herman Moore.
"I hope to be like Jerry-Michael-Herman, all three of them put together," Johnson said. "That's going to be something special."
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ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
1996 NFL Draft: First-round selections
PICK TEAM PLAYER POS., COLLEGE
1. New York Jets: Keyshawn Johnson, wr, Southern Cal.
2. Jacksonville: Kevin Hardy, lb, Illinois.
3. Arizona: Simeon Rice, de, Illinois.
4. Baltimore: Jonathan Ogden, t, UCLA.
5. New York Giants: Cedric Jones, de, Oklahoma.
6. St. Louis: Lawrence Phillips, rb, Nebraska.
7. New England: Terry Glenn, wr, Ohio State.
8. Carolina: Tim Biakabutuka, rb, Michigan.
9. Oakland: Rickey Dudley, te, Ohio State.
10. Cincinnati: Willie Anderson, t, Auburn.
11. New Orleans: Alex Molden, db, Oregon.
12. Tampa Bay: Regan Upshaw, de, California.
13. Chicago: Walt Harris, db, Mississippi State.
14. Houston: Eddie George, rb, Ohio State.
15. Denver: John Mobley, lb, Kutztown.
16. Minnesota: Duane Clemons, de, California.
17. Detroit: Reggie Brown, lb, Texas A&M.
18. St. Louis: Eddie Kennison, wr, LSU.
19. Indianapolis: Marvin Harrison, wr, Syracuse.
20. Miami: Daryl Gardener, dt, Baylor.
21. Seattle: Pete Kendall, t, Boston College.
22. Tampa Bay: Marcus Jones, dt, North Carolina.
23. Detroit: Jeff Hartings, g, Penn State.
24. Buffalo: Eric Moulds, wr, Mississippi State.
25. Philadelphia: Jermane Mayberry, t, Texas A&M-Kingsville.
26. Baltimore: Ray Lewis, lb, Miami.
27. Green Bay: John Michels, t, Southern Cal.
28. Kansas City: Jerome Woods, db, Memphis.
29. Pittsburgh: Jamain Stephens, t, North Carolina A&T.
30. Washington: Andre Johnson, t, Penn State.