BUFFALO, NY - If there were any doubts about the caliber of competition the University at Buffalo football program is facing, a review of this past weekend's NFL draft confirms one thing: the Bulls are firmly entrenched in big-time college football.

Not only were three Bulls signed by NFL teams - wide receiver Drew Haddad (seventh round) and fullback Josh Roth (free agent) by the Buffalo Bills and offensive tackle Joe Hattendorf (free agent) by the Cincinnati Bengals - but twelve players the Bulls' lined up against were drafted by NFL teams. More impressive was the fact that seven of those players were taken on the first day of the NFL draft and that two of them - Marshall's Chad Pennington and Hofstra's Giovanni Carmazzi - were the first two quarterbacks selected in the draft. Buffalo was the only team in the nation to face both of those quarterbacks last season.

The seven players chosen on the first day (with team and round) were: Thomas Jones of Virginia (1st, Arizona), Chad Pennington of Marshall (1st, New York Jets), Rogers Beckett of Marshall (2nd, San Diego), Travis Prentice of Miami (OH) (3rd, Cleveland), Giovanni Carmazzi of Hofstra (3rd, San Francisco), Doug Chapman of Marshall (3rd, Minnesota) and John St. Clair of Virginia (3rd, St. Louis).

In addition, five other players were taken on the final day of the draft including two more players from Virginia (LB Shannon Taylor and DB Antwan Harris), one from Marshall (WR James Williams), one player from Miami of Ohio (WR Trevor Gaylor) and one from Kent (TE Jason Gavadza).

"This certainly verifies the type of competition we are facing game in and game out in the Mid-American Conference and at the Division I-A level," said head coach Craig Cirbus. "Facing teams that comprised twelve NFL draft picks is a staggering challenge for any team much less a team in its inaugural experience in Division I-A competition. To have seven players taken on the first day of the draft - two as first round picks and four of them from the MAC - shows the quality of this league and the difficult scheduling dilemma we were faced with last year. The challenge that our players individually accepted; seeing them come out each week with such a positive attitude was gratifying and should help as we continue the transition process of building a Division I-A football program at this University."

Comparatively, the Bulls in 1998 faced two NFL draft picks in LB David Bowens (5th round) from Western Illinois and LB Khari Samuels (5th round) from UMass while playing a Division I-AA schedule. In 1997, UB faced DL Harry Deligianis (4th round) drafted from Youngstown State and also DB Lance Shulters (4th round) from Hofstra.

The three players chosen this year from Buffalo makes a total of seven UB graduates given opportunities with NFL teams in the past four years. "This past NFL draft validates the excitement level that fans in Western New York can enjoy as some of the best in college football can be seen each week right on our campus."