by Vanessa Strobbe
Daily Lobo
Ryan Cook's biggest football moment could come this weekend.
After being a standout center for the UNM football team, Cook is preparing for Saturday's NFL Draft. Mel Kiper Jr. has Cook ranked as the fourth-highest center in the 2006 NFL Draft.
Cook said he is happy he has the opportunity to play in the NFL.
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"I became a good football player when no one thought I could be," he said. "I'm proud to be an accomplished athlete."
The 6-foot-7-inch, 328-pound Cibola High School graduate joined the Lobos in 2001 hoping his hard work would pay off, he said. Cook said the more experience he got, the better accustomed to the game he became.
"Since my freshman year, I think I just needed to get older and more mature to become a better football player," he said.
Cook is the first center in UNM history to be named first team All-Mountain West Conference three times. He played in the Senior Bowl and East-West Shrine college all-star game his senior year. He also got an invite to the NFL Combine at the end of February where he had the chance to show off his talent in front of NFL personnel.
Cook said those experiences gave him confidence in how far he could go as a football player.
"Nothing really hit me until I was invited to the Senior Bowl and the combine," he said. "That's when I realized that my chances to get drafted were pretty good."
Since then, Cook said he needed to be prepared and in excellent shape in order to play in the NFL.
"I've done a lot of weightlifting and cardio stuff I wouldn't have normally done in the offseason," Cook said. "I had to be ready so when the NFL called on me, and I would have to go to mini-camp or training camp, I'd be ready."
The business major said he is also ready to go down a different path on the chance that he is not drafted.
"You can never live life counting on being drafted," Cook said. "I have always planned on finishing my degree and seeing where life takes me."
Cook's family and friends are gathering for a barbecue at his parent's house in Albuquerque for the draft, he said. Cook said he has his fingers crossed that he'll be celebrating after this weekend. But he's still got butterflies, he said.
"I'm really excited for the unique opportunity to do something different and go somewhere different, but I'm also a little nervous," Cook said.
He has no idea what teams are looking to draft him, which only builds the anxiety heading into the weekend, he said.
"This would be a lot easier if they didn't keep it under wraps," Cook said. "Now, I just have to wait for that phone call minutes before they run it across the TV."
