TU's Boyd awaits a call that won't come

By John Rohde

Published: April 26, 2008

The name Walter Boyd will not be uttered this weekend inside Radio City Music Hall in New York City.

This year's NFL Draft is loaded at offensive tackle.

Projections have four being taken in the first half of the first round, eight selected in the first two rounds and at least 15 drafted overall.

Boyd, a 6-foot-2½, 325-pound candidate from Tulsa, will not be one of them.

NFL DraftTracker on ESPN.com ranks the top 55 offensive tackles, and Boyd is not among them.

There's a Baker, Brown, Barton, Bell, Blair and a Byrd, but no Boyd.

"Some teams are projecting me as a left guard,” Boyd said.

DraftTracker also ranks the top 51 offensive guards, and Boyd's name is not there, either.

This is why Boyd is imploring his loving mother, Wynona Evans, to hold off throwing a draft party Sunday in Shawnee.

"Mom's all excited,” Boyd said. "I tell her, ‘Now, don't get all your hopes up.' That's just how she is. That's why I love her.”

The affable Boyd is willing to play any position for any team.

"I'm very open-minded,” Boyd said. "Whatever they want me to do for a paycheck, I'll do it. I'll serve water. It doesn't matter to me.”

Boyd has played all over the football field.

At Shawnee High School, he was a three-year starter as a defensive lineman. He also started some games at tight end and played some fullback.

He was a defensive lineman his first three seasons at Tulsa, then switched to offensive left tackle as a senior because the Golden Hurricane was thin at the position.

TU coach Todd Graham also believed Boyd had more NFL potential as an OT rather than a DT.

Offensive left tackle has become somewhat of a glory position in football, given the ever-growing importance of protecting the blind side of a right-handed quarterback.

The Miami Dolphins did nothing to dissuade this by announcing they will select Michigan's Jake Long with today's No. 1 pick after agreeing to a five-year deal worth $57.75 million, with $30 million guaranteed.

"It's crazy, because you always think the highest-paid player is going to be a quarterback,” Boyd said. "But people really are starting to wise up. Those guys (offensive tackles) are protecting the guy you're paying the most money for, so why not pay them close to it?”

Boyd is more than a tad impressed with Long.

"This cat, man. He's upper-body strong. His punch is aggressive. He could jump in and play today,” Boyd said. "He could play yesterday in the Pro Bowl, or something. That's the kind of caliber guy he is.”

Boyd's reaction to Long's contract is what you'd figure it to be.

"Aww, man. Thirty mil guaranteed? If I was blessed enough to get that, that'd be amazing,” Boyd said. "That's first-round money, though.”

Away from football, Boyd is a high first-rounder himself.

He spoke to a Fellowship of Christian Athletes gathering in Broken Arrow on Friday and addressed another FCA group that night in Glenpool.

When the first and second rounds of the NFL Draft are held today, Boyd plans on playing in an on-campus volleyball tournament at Tulsa that's part of an end-of-the-year festivity.

When Rounds 3-7 are held Sunday, Boyd likely will be fishing with linebacker and roommate Alain Karatepeyan.

With the latest collection of football multi-millionaires about to be drafted, Boyd has both feet planted firmly on the ground, and yet also has high aspirations.

"I'm not saying I'm the type of guy who can jump in and play tomorrow,” Boyd said. "I'm still raw. I've only played one year on offense. If I get in and learn the technique, I feel I can be an asset to somebody.”

Boyd appears to have the character aspect well-covered.

"You can coach technique,” Boyd said. "But guys like me — who offer leadership and character — you can't coach those things.

"You've got a guy who goes to a big school, he's 6-5, 330 pounds, runs a 4.8 (40-yard dash) and bench presses (225 pounds) 37 times, but he's also been in jail and smokes dope. Compared to that guy, I think I would be a better asset to a team just because of my reliability and my character.”

Alas, that's not always the case, which is why free agency awaits Boyd.

"If the NFL happens for me, it happens,” Boyd said. "I'll do everything within my power to make it happen. But if it doesn't happen, then God didn't want me to play in the NFL, so I'm not going to force that issue.”

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