Cordele Dispatch, Cordele, GA

Local Sports

Related Photos

  • Former Wilcox High and University of Nebraska football stalwart Alfonzo Dennard hugs his mother, Rose, after learning late Saturday that he had been picked by the New England Patriots in the seventh round of this year’s NFL draft. Photo courtesy Mark Ledford

    5-3 Dennard drafted.tif
May 2, 2012

Wilcox's Dennard becomes Patriot again

Harvey Simpson Cordele Dispatch

Rochelle — The celebration didn’t start as early as hoped, but in the end an estimated 100 Wilcox Countians who turned out Saturday did get to honor only their native son to be drafted by an NFL team.

Until running afoul of the law on April 21 when he was arrested for striking a Lincoln, Neb., policeman during an early-morning scuffle outside a bar, Alfonzo Dennard had initially been projected by some as a first- or second-round pick.

“We felt from the beginning the possibility of him going that high was out as the result of the incident in which he has a scheduled May 15 court date,” said Wilcox High head football coach Mark Ledford for whom Dennard was a starter for three seasons during his 2004-07 prep career.

“There was still some hope Friday night he would be picked in the third round but after that didn’t happen, we all felt sure he would be a fourth- or fifth-round pick but again that wasn’t the case.

“As the day wore on Saturday, it was encouraging, however, that he and his agents were in contact with at least 4-5 NFL teams including Tampa Bay, Miami, Tennessee and New England.”

It was the Patriots who with the 17th pick of the seventh round eventually made the 22-year-old University of Nebraska stalwart their choice as the 224th draft selection. They had received that slot in a trade with the Green Bay Packers.

Dennard then flew Sunday to the team’s headquarters where he met with coach Bill Belichick and other Patriot officials before flying back to Georgia and driving back here Sunday night.

“I haven’t talked with Alfonzo since he got back about what New England had to say to him, but they are aware of the fact he has a pending court date of May 15 when it likely will be determined if the charge against him qualifies as a felony or misdemeanor,” Ledford said.

The Wilcox coach, members of Dennard’s family and others who stayed around until Dennard finally got the long-awaited call about his fate in the draft were all delighted to know that it came from the Patriots.

“He’s going to one of the best organizations in history,” said Ledford. “Once he gets his legal troubles behind, he’s got a tremendous opportunity to be playing for a team that needs help in an area that he can give it (the secondary where he started for 2 1/2 years while earning All-Big Ten honors and winning the conference’s inaugural Tatum-Woodson Defensive Back of the Year Award).

“There’s no doubt in my mind that New England is getting a player well qualified to have been a first- or second-round selection and not your usual seventh-round pick who doesn’t have much chance of making the team to begin with.”

Ironically, when Dennard’s name was called the former Cornhuskers’ defensive back wasn’t in the school gym being used by Patriot fans as draft headquarters. Obviously disappointed from hearing lesser names than his being called, he and his brother, Lorenzo, had gone home earlier in the afternoon.

“There were still quite a few of us on hand, though, and when the announcement was made he was going to New England it got a little chaotic with a lot of hugging, crying and smiles,” Ledford recalled.

“It was like he really had gone in the first round and when he came back he was wearing a big smile that in the emotion of the moment turned to tears.”

The only previous Wilcox High player to be picked in the NFL draft was wide receiver Ronnie West who after starting for the Patriots played collegiately at Pittsburgh (Kans.) State where he won Division II’s Harlon Hill Award that’s comparable to the Division I Heisman Trophy.

While West’s career was a relatively brief one with the MInnesota Vikings during the early 1990s, Dennard’s goal is to be on the Patriots’ roster for many years to come.

And if all the pundits who initially pegged him as a No. 1 or No. 2 draft pick were right, the likelihood of him doing so is good.

Text Only
Local Sports
Business Marquee
AP Video
Probe Begins After Conn. Commuter Trains Crash NTSB Begins Investigation Into Conn. Train Crash Lotto Fever Sweeps the Country Conn. Commuter Trains Collide; 60 Go to Hospital Coffee Run Leads to Hatchet Hitchhiker Arrest Fmr. IRS Head Insists No Politics in Targeting CDC: Fecal Bacteria Common in Swimming Pools $1 Million in Jewels Stolen at Cannes Film Fest NM Mom Chases Down Child Abductor Raw: Crash Sends Car Into Fla. Pool Raw: Obama Sits Down With Elementary Kids Raw: Bear Falls From Tampa Tree Ousted IRS Chief: Errors Not Caused by Politics Terror Suspect Due in Court in Idaho Friday Raw: Driver Ejected From Truck, Over Bridge Could Tobacco Be the Next Biofuel? Wash. State Releases Draft Rules for Legal Pot Dying Man's Blinks Lead to Murder Conviction Officials: Texas Tornado Likely Had 200 Mph Wind Brothers Arrested in NOLA Parade Shooting
House Ads
More
Weather Radar
Video Gallery
Hyperlocal Search
Premier Guide
Find a business

Walking Fingers
Maps, Menus, Store hours, Coupons, and more...
Premier Guide
Community Calendar
Loading…
Events by eviesays.com
Seasonal Content
Poll

Should illegal immigrants be allowed to received benefits such as Social Security and Medicare?

A. Yes
B. No
     View Results