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Fullback Manuel White was the first Bruin selected in the NFL Draft this weekend, going in the fo

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Football: 4 Bruins picked in NFL Draft

Jessica Bach
Published: Monday, April 25, 2005

With so much on the line this past weekend, running back Manuel White just tried to distract himself from what lay ahead of him.

White even went bowling the day before the NFL draft, but every time he looked at his phone, it only made him more nervous, so he finally stopped checking it. But after a sleepless night, White finally got the call he had been waiting for Sunday morning.

It was Coach Joe Gibbs of the Washington Redskins, asking if him if he’d be interested in playing for them.

“(Coach) told me I could be a contribution to their team,” said White, who was picked in the middle of the fourth round. “I’m relieved and I’m excited about the situation that I’m going to.”

He was followed by free safety Ben Emanuel II who was picked up in the fifth round by the Carolina Panthers, then receivers Tab Perry and Craig Bragg, both going in the sixth round to Cincinnati and Green Bay, respectively. Cornerback Matt Clark and punter Chris Kluwe were both able to sign as free agents, with Clark heading to the New Orleans Saints with a three-year contract and Kluwe going to the Seattle Seahawks with a two-year deal.

For Emanuel, his future with the Panthers may feel reminiscent to his early days at UCLA since he will be joining a host of former Bruins teammates, including DeShaun Foster, Ricky Manning Jr. and Mike Seidman.

“My future, my life, it all hung in the balance (this weekend),” Emanuel said. “So I didn’t know what was going on, but now that it’s over, I’m happy.”

The two days were also relatively stressful for both Bragg and Perry, who each slipped to the sixth round.

While Perry was told he could go anywhere from the second round to the seventh, he was surprised by the final selection and all-around low selection of Bruins.

“The main knock on me was that I wasn’t productive during the season, granted I wasn’t getting that many opportunities,” Perry said. “But then I look at Craig and he had a pretty good year. It had to be something somewhere.”

Bragg, selected 195th, did have relatively slower 40-yard dash times, but as UCLA’s all-time leading wide receiver, he was still bitten by the anxiety bug.

“It wouldn’t be that bad if you were by yourself, but your friends and family are calling to see what’s going on and every time the phone rang, your heart jumps,” Bragg said.

But even though the selection process is over, the auditioning process has just begun. All the 2005 rookies will travel to mini-camps next weekend and they still must sign contracts if they are to make it the preseason camps.

“This is a weird time period,” Emanuel said. “There is no more testing, no more looking at you. Now you get to do what you do and play football.”