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Sunday, April 27, 2003

By Chuck Finder, Post-Gazette Sports Writer

On a normal NFL draft day at Ralph Cindrich's house ... well, who's to say what's normal in the wacky world of pro-football representation?

	Ralph Cindrich watches the draft on television at his Mt. Lebanon home. (Andy Starnes, Post-Gazette)

After all, his Internet connection isn't usually down, his first-day client list isn't usually resting on the shoulders of a West Coast guy spending the day on a golf course (at the suggestion of Cindrich & Company), and his assistants aren't usually the nervous ones standing and watching behind him on motionless treadmills.

Suffice to say, a more customary draft Saturday for Cindrich, Greg Diulus, Adam Heller, Cindrich & Company and worried wife Mary Cindrich involves telephone calls by the dozens, media interviews and little celebrations.

So much happens before this made-for-ESPN weekend in April. They recruit, sometimes flying as far afield as snowy Wyoming or sunny Hawaii. They attend games all fall long. They meet and greet families, sometimes housing them in their Mt. Lebanon home. They cleanly try to close deals in a messy business.

This year, their top client was Washington State junior defensive lineman Rien Long, who apparently ran afoul of some scouts with less than stellar workouts. Cindrich and his assistants worked the telephone, talking to NFL front-office folks, publishing a slick pamphlet showing how Long's on-field productivity rated favorably with several first-round defensive linemen from last year.

Finally, all they could do during rounds one through three yesterday was sit back. Wait. Wonder.

Everything was out of their hands.

"The draft," Cindrich said, "is such a crapshoot."

The maddening gamble all started shortly after noon. Cindrich parked himself per usual in the back room of his home, his television in front of him tuned into ESPN's coverage, his laptop to his right on dial-up service, draft books and newspaper materials spread across the ottoman in front of him, his cell phone next to the land-line telephone, which was tuned to WEAE-AM for radio updates as well. Diulus arrived and promptly began spreading his materials across the fireplace mantel. Heller followed soon after.

Cindrich has been doing this for more than a generation, not counting his draft selection in 1972 ("I went in the fifth round, and I literally had done a fifth by then"). His first draft client was a 1981 first-rounder named Mark May of Pitt. Funny, but May -- now an ESPN college analyst -- called three times yesterday, mostly to tease and try to bolster spirits.

Most draft days, Cindrich's phones, both cell and land line, ring off the hook. Teams call to inquire if other teams have called to inquire about certain clients. Players call to compare notes or ease their anxiety. Then, once a client gets selected, the media begin to call en masse. Yesterday, in fact, one reporter dialed up Cindrich midway through the day to see if the draft changed anything with client Brian Griese, who, it just so happens, is still property of the Denver Broncos ... although they're expected to release him after June 1.

Draft-eligible clients, of which they have 24, make up about 40 percent of Cindrich & Company's business. A year ago this time, they were working on second-rounders Ladell Betts of Washington and LeCharles Bentley of New Orleans plus third-rounder Seth McKinney of Miami. Diversified to a great extent, the company represents bull riders, overseas pro-basketball players, TV sports personalities and WNBA star Swin Cash. It also handles a slew of NFL veterans, such as Steelers linebacker James Farrior, Arizona quarterback Jeff Blake and Eagles center Hank Fraley of Robert Morris. They just made center Jeff Saturday a wealthy man in Indianapolis with a six-year, $24 million deal.

None of that made yesterday any easier. In fact, it was one of Cindrich's admittedly hardest in a generation of draft days. While in the bathroom, he thought he heard the announcer call out Rien -- pronounced Ryan -- when it was actually Bryant (Johnson of Penn State).

At one point, they checked out ratings on one defensive end, whom most draft evaluators had behind their man Long. "Does this fireplace work?" Diulus asked. "Because all of this stuff is worth burning."

Amid calls from a couple of veteran clients wondering about their roles after their teams drafted players at their positions, Long checked in at 6:27 p.m. from a Washington state golf course -- where they told him to go and relax. "You hanging in there OK?" Cindrich asked. Long's name appeared, at 6:42 p.m., on Mel Kiper's "Best Available List" on screen at No. 20. He called again at 7:57 p.m., early in the third round.

By 8:53 p.m., three rounds and the draft day was complete. Two dozen clients were left to call. Four rounds today and then the frenzied postdraft free-agent period would soon begin.

"The end of the day, it's extremely busy. Unbelievable," Cindrich said. "Guys you can't get a hold of before then, a Marty Schottenheimer [of San Diego], will call you 10 times in 15 minutes. Yeah, we should have an active day."