UTEP's Palmer drafted in 6th round to Redskins

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I sat next to this guy during class last fall and he is the brother of the quaterback of the Bengals. I wish him well.



UTEP's Palmer drafted in 6th round to Redskins
By Bret Bloomquist / El Paso Times
Article Launched: 04/30/2007 12:00:00 AM MDT

Former UTEP quarterback Jordan Palmer was drafted by the Washington Redskins in the sixth round Sunday. (Times file photo)

UTEP's Jordan Palmer has spent his entire life grooming himself to be an NFL quarterback. Nothing he did, however, prepared him for his final hours as an amateur.

"It's not like anything I've been through before," Palmer said of waiting for his phone to ring during the NFL draft this weekend.


When the call finally came from the Washington Redskins during the sixth of seven rounds Sunday, the voice on the other end was everything Palmer dreamed it would be.


"When I got the phone call and I didn't recognize the area code ... it was pretty exciting," Palmer said. "When coach (Joe) Gibbs calls, you know it's legit.


"I don't know a lot about Washington. It's a big market, a big city, you can't even get a ticket to their games. They have a young starter (Jason Campbell), an older veteran backup (Mark Brunell), and I have a chance to come in and compete everyday and get better."
Palmer was the 31st selection of Round 6, the 205th overall pick, and was selected a day after the player who helped him become UTEP's all-time passing
leader, receiver Johnnie Lee Higgins, Jr., was selected by Oakland.This is the first time since 2000 that UTEP has had multiple selections in the draft (Leif Larsen, Paul Smith and Brian Young were drafted that year), and Palmer is the first Miner quarterback drafted since 1987, when Sammy Garza was selected in the eighth round by Seattle. There no longer is an eighth round in the NFL draft.


"Awesome," Miner coach Mike Price said of Palmer and Higgins. "They went about where I thought they'd be drafted, from the people who were talking to me. I was very pleased."


While Washington started the rookie Campbell through the last half of the 2006 season, Palmer is happy to be headed to the Redskins and a future Hall of Fame coach in Gibbs.


"I'm going to a great place with great coaches," said Palmer, who holds all of UTEP's career passing and total offense records. "It was a bit of a surprise. I talked to the quarterbacks coach (Bill Lazor) yesterday, and he had nice things to say.


"I had gotten a couple of calls from teams saying they would sign me as a free agent, but I was hoping that wouldn't happen. I'm excited about this. All I'm worried about is heading out there Thursday."

El Paso Times - UTEP's Palmer drafted in 6th round to Redskins