and Kevin Sampson (right)
were seventh round NFL picks
A Pair of SU Tackles Taken in Seventh Round of 2004 NFL Draft
4/25/2004 5:29:35 PM | Football
The last SU defensive tackle to be selected in the NFL Draft was Eric Downing, who was a third round pick by the Kansas City Chiefs in the 2001 draft. Sampson is the first Orange offensive lineman to hear his name called in the annual selection process since Mark Baniewicz was a seventh round selection by the Jacksonville Jaguars in 2000.
SU wide receiver Johnnie Morant was the first SU player to be selected in the 2004 draft when the Oakland Raiders chose him with the 134th overall pick (second selection in the fifth round). Syracuse has had at least one player drafted for the past 29 years. The selection of Morant marks the 29th consecutive year that an SU player has been selected in the NFL Draft. The last time an NFL Draft went through more than five rounds without drafting a player from Syracuse was 1979. At the conclusion of the 2003 NFL season, 27 former Syracuse University football student-athletes were on NFL rosters.
A second-team All-BIG EAST and 2003 ECAC All-Star, Ferrara played in the 79th annual East-West Shrine Game and in the Blue-Gray All-Star Classic. He finished the season tied for third among BIG EAST linemen with 5.2 tackles per game. In his final game as an Orangeman, Ferrara tied the SU single-game record with five tackles for a loss of 22 yards against Notre Dame (Dwight Freeney vs. Virginia Tech, 2000; Antwaune Ponds vs. West Virginia, 1996). His total of 16.5 tackles for a loss of 43 yards is the third-highest single-season mark at SU and ranked third in the BIG EAST in 2003
During his SU career, Ferrara notched 139 tackles, which ranks ninth on SU’s career record list for tackles by a down lineman, and had 30 tackles for a loss of 90 yards, which is fifth on Syracuse’s career list.
Sampson was a member of SU’s offensive line that blocked for 1,000-yard rushers in four consecutive seasons, including two years as a starter. He started every game as a junior and senior and played in every game during his sophomore year. A four-time member of SU’s Athletic Director’s Honor Roll, Sampson won SU’s 2002 Bill Maxwell Award winner for the most improved offensive player in spring practice.
