Draft day will be bittersweet

Preparing for the greatest day in his football career hasn't been easy for Oregon All-American Haloti Ngata.

The former Gatorade Player of the Year will most likely be a top 10 selection in Saturday's 2006 NFL Draft. If the former Highland Ram is taken where most experts predict, he'll be the highest Utah prep star drafted since ex-Ute Kevin Dyson of Clearfield was selected 16th overall by the Tennessee Titans in 1998.

Two other former Utah high school players — BYU's Fahu Tahi and Manaia Brown, both Granger High alums — could also have their names called in the draft.

But Ngata is the cream of the crop.

"I've been really blessed," Ngata says. "It's great to see all my hard work pay off."

In 2002, he started the last six games of his freshman year. That same year his father died in a truck accident. In 2003, he tore his ACL in the first game of the season and the injury could have ended his career.

Luckily, Ngata rehabilitated from the injury, and over the last two seasons his play has been superb. He earned co-defensive player of the year in the Pac-10 Conference and was a finalist for the Outland Trophy.

But, just this past January, his mother died in a Phoenix hospital from complications of diabetes. The first-team All-American decided it was time to declare for the NFL Draft to help support his family.

"Haloti comes from a very close and loving family, but suddenly all eyes were on him as the successor in the family. That's a lot of pressure," said his Oregon coach, Mike Bellotti.

The Oregon coach certainly felt for his star player as he watched Ngata speak at his mother's funeral. Bellotti's hope was that Ngata would recover from the shocking loss of both parents.

"He has that kind of inner strength and faith," the Oregon coach said. "He knows that they're in a better place."

It could have been a very lonely time for Ngata if his teammates and coaches didn't rally around him in a tough time.

"They helped me a lot," Ngata said. "Not only with football, but mentally getting through certain things."

Looking forward into the draft, Ngata and Florida State's Brodrick Bunkley are the highest-rated nose tackles available.

Bellotti's thoughts are simple: "He's the best player to ever come out of the University of Oregon."