John Welbourn, a first-team All-Pac-10 left tackle as a senior at the University of California at Berkeley who earned a master's degree in rhetoric, learned a couple things about the Philadelphia Eagles leading up to the 1999 NFL Draft.
They didn't lie and they kept their plans close to the chest.
"Going through the pre-draft process, I had a couple teams tell me that they wanted to take me with either their second- or third-round pick. And then the Eagles came and worked me out, and I didn't really get much of a feeling that they were that interested," Welbourn says.
"So when I did get drafted, back then the first day was three rounds, I had teams calling me and saying, 'We're going to take you with our next pick.' And then they didn't. So I went to bed undrafted on that first day and then the phone rang at like 6 AM and either my mom or my sister-in-law came in and said, 'Hey, they just drafted you.' I had to turn on the TV to see who drafted me, and it was the Eagles.
"It was definitely kind of a surprise. And with first-year Head Coach Andy Reid, and kind of a storied organization, the more and more I checked into it, the more excited I got."
Mentored by veterans Bubba Miller, Lonnie Palelei, and Steve Everitt, the fourth-round pick not only earned a place on the roster, he started at right tackle in the season opener against Arizona.
But then, with just over one quarter of NFL experience, Welbourn's foot was caught in the Veterans Stadium turf when he was bullrushed by an Arizona defensive lineman.
"I heard this huge kind of pop and looked down and my knee cap was sitting like four inches too far to the right and too high," Welbourn said. "I ended up rupturing my patellar tendon."
After having surgery on his left knee that evening, Welbourn was placed on Injured Reserve. He faced a tough rehabilitation, but also a tough question. Did the start and finish of his NFL career occur in the same game?
"I kind of figured that was the end of my football career and all I was doing was rehabbing for the future. There was a scholarship to go to Berkeley Law School, so that was kind of the path I was going," Welbourn says. "And also, it's kind of a weird deal when you get put on Injured Reserve, especially as a rookie. I didn't have any family, no girlfriend, I was out there by myself living in an apartment. I was on crutches for like three months. So there really wasn't much to do, or really anything.
"And then in the offseason, they signed Jon Runyan to like a $40 million deal at right tackle. So I kind of figured my career was probably over before it started and I wasn't necessarily anywhere on their radar. I went into it looking like I'm going to rehab and try to get my knee as strong as I can so I can go live a normal life.
"And that was it. It was just about rehabbing my knee, getting back to normal, and thinking about what's going to be the next chapter of my life. I'm just kind of in purgatory in this one. That was how I viewed it."