LINCOLN — Broderick Thomas still blames only himself for how it went down all those Aprils ago.

Thomas believes he would have been the No. 2 pick in the 1989 NFL draft if he had just played ball with Green Bay in preceding weeks. The Packers took offensive tackle Tony Mandarich instead.

Thomas slipped to No. 6 — and lived through every gut-wrenching minute that went with it.

“I made one mistake,” Thomas said. “Green Bay wanted to take me at No. 2 and asked if there would be a problem signing me. I said yes. I didn't want to go to Green Bay.

“Probably the worst thing I ever did.”

After three more picks passed, the outside linebacker took what felt like another punch in the gut when he was drafted by Tampa Bay. Compared to the Buccaneers, Green Bay suddenly looked good to the “Sandman.”

“It was really a bittersweet deal with me,” he said. “I was hurt that I had to go to Tampa. We celebrated, then I went to my room and cried.”

Few things in football can test a man's nerves more than the front end of the NFL draft, according to several former Nebraska stars taken among the first half-dozen picks. It's excitement and anxiety and suspense all rolled into a few hours, something Ndamukong Suh is set to experience Thursday night in New York.

It's sure to be memorable no matter which way it goes. And impossible to explain.

“It's definitely a life-changing day,” said Mike Croel, taken No. 4 by Denver in 1991. “To even comprehend it at that point and time ... I don't think you can.”

Suh appears to have the luxury of knowing he will go No. 1 to St. Louis, No. 2 to Detroit or No. 3 to Tampa Bay — with just an outside chance of slipping any further. The defensive tackle has chosen to be present at Radio City Music Hall, laying his emotions on the table for all to see in what has become a made-for-TV spectacle by ESPN and the NFL.

Thomas, Croel and Trev Alberts declined such invitations. Thomas went to Las Vegas with 1989 No. 4 pick Derrick Thomas and some Husker teammates, while Croel and Alberts chose modest family get-togethers at their parents' homes.

“I didn't want to be the guy sitting there on TV and crying,” Croel said. “In the back of my mind I knew the horror stories of guys thinking they were going to go high and then going in the second round.”

It actually worked in reverse for Alberts. The 1993 Butkus Award winner was convinced he would land in the No. 15 to 20 range in 1994 but vaulted all the way to No. 5 after Indianapolis traded up.

It helped eliminate a lot of the stress and waiting.

“What my story sort of symbolizes is that you just can't possibly know what's going to happen,” Alberts said. “ESPN, the NFL Network, they've all conditioned the viewer that we know what's going to happen. But if you actually really went back and held accountable the projections vs. the actuals, they're substantially different.

“Very few people get to go into the draft knowing that there's absolutely no possible way they'll be drafted no lower than a top five pick. I see a lot of guys' hearts broken. A lot more often a guy's heart is broken than he's surprised.”

Broderick Thomas wants Suh to be No. 1. He said Suh deserves it.

But he also agrees with Alberts that what you think might happen — or were told might happen by agents or analysts or “experts” — isn't always how it plays out.

“Honestly, you're still held in suspense because everybody don't tell you the truth anyway,” Thomas said.

“It's amazing. Your emotions can be like a roller coaster. You're hoping and praying that you go to a team that will try to build around you. And hoping you go to a team that maybe is not winning right away, but maybe one or two years and you'll be in the thick of things.”

The first five picks in 1989 were Troy Aikman, Mandarich, Barry Sanders, Derrick Thomas and Deion Sanders. All but Mandarich went on to have special NFL careers.

Years later, Broderick Thomas realizes he probably should have savored the moment more than being bothered by where he was headed. He played five years in Tampa Bay before stints with Detroit, Minnesota and Dallas.

“It's a great feeling to know that your zip code, area code and bank account are going to take a drastic change,” he said, “and to know that these people feel this certain way about you. You better be ready to do some things that some people only dream about.

“When they call your name you're like, ‘You know what, now I'm in the history books.' It's still a wonderful day.”

First, however, you have to chew some fingernails, listen to Mel Kiper Jr. talk about who's the “best available” and wait. In Alberts' case, he also wondered if the Colts' phone call was actually Nebraska teammate Kevin Ramaekers playing a prank on him.

Croel said he managed to come out of it all right, although it might have been different if he went No. 12 or No. 15 instead of No. 4. Former NU teammate Bruce Pickens went right before him at No. 3 in 1991.

“My roller coaster was parked,” Croel said. “I was not setting myself up to be disappointed. I really had no emotions. I just basically sat down there and listened. That's kind of the person I am.”

Croel, his family and his fiancée let out a collective sigh of relief when his name was called. Things then happened so fast that Croel never knew who went No. 5 and beyond until the next day.

Alberts knew exactly where Thomas and Croel were drafted when it came his time a few years later. They played the same position at Nebraska and set a standard, he said, and there's a competitive element that comes into it.

It'll probably come out in Suh on Thursday night in prime time.

“If you don't think Ndamukong Suh wants to be the No. 1 pick, you don't know what cloth he's cut from,” Alberts said. “I know a lot of guys who used where they (were picked) as motivation, and went on to have some wonderful games against that team that didn't draft them.”

Contact the writer:

444-1042, rich.kaipust@owh.com

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