by Riley Bauling
Daily Lobo
Claude Terrell knows exactly how he wants Saturday to play out.
The ex-Lobo will be at his home in La Marque, Texas, enjoying a nice home-cooked meal with Mom and Dad, cell phone nestled carefully by his side. All of a sudden, family dinner will be interrupted with a ring.
An NFL coach will be on the line and will say he's about to pick Terrell, and then the guard's name and picture will creep onto the TV screen.
And then will come the hugs from Mom and Dad to go along with a high-paying job next year.
Terrell is one day away from the NFL draft, and he said he's trying his hardest not to get nervous.
After all, he said the feedback has been so positive, he expects to go on the first day of the draft.
"I'm just trying to keep my mind off that stuff," he said. "It can be nerve-racking. I'm trying to keep my mind distracted, but it keeps popping in my mind that I'm about to be an NFL football player."
UNM head coach Rocky Long said he has heard Terrell going anywhere from the second to the third round, both of which are on the first day of the draft.
ESPN.com's outlook of Terrell's draft status isn't as rosy.
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It has Terrell going in the fifth round to the Baltimore Ravens with the 158th pick in a mock draft.
Terrell's not sweating the experts, though.
"I don't even pay attention to that," he said. "My teammates know I'm an athlete. That's the experts, and they're paid that money, but I don't agree."
Terrell has reason to disagree with the pundits at ESPN.com. He was a two-time Mountain West Conference first-team selection, and Long said Terrell has the necessary traits to succeed in the NFL.
"It's just going to be a case of him adjusting to the different level of competition," he said. "He's definitely big and strong enough, and he has a lot of athletic ability. It's a matter of how quick he can adjust to a higher level of competition, because every level you go up, it gets harder."
He graduated in December 2004 from UNM with a major in communications and a minor in business. Since he graduated, Terrell has been training at Velocity Sports Performance in Houston.
With school done, he said his days have been a mix of relaxation and putting his nose to the grindstone.
"I do my normal workout rhythm and then just hang out the rest of the day playing video games and stuff on the PS2," he said. "I'm just hanging out with the fellas, because there are other guys in the same situation here (in Houston)."
Terrell was one of 62 offensive linemen invited to the NFL combine from Feb. 26 to March 1 in Florida. Terrell will play guard in the NFL after playing tackle for the Lobos his senior year. Long said Terrell's switch back to guard for the NFL - he played it his first three seasons as a Lobo - is necessary because he is the perfect size for the position.
"He has really good feet for his size, too," he said. "He's a very powerful blocker, and he can actually pass-block. When he was on an island at guard, he was fine at pass-blocking."
If NFL coaches agree with Long come Saturday, Mom won't be mad at Terrell for having his cell phone at the table.
