Anxious Moments Give Way to Joy

Chiefs Take Virginia's Albert With 15th Pick in NFL Draft

EDGEWOOD, Md., April 26 -- Branden Albert had waited for an hour and 45 minutes Saturday on the tan couch in his brother's basement, far longer than he had anticipated, each moment becoming more agonizing than the last. The three cellphones on his lap and the house phone at his feet kept ringing, but not with the call he wanted: the one from an NFL general manager or coach telling him he had just been chosen in the draft. "Let me call you back," he kept saying into the phones.

But the call had finally come, from the Kansas City Chiefs' General Manager Carl Peterson and Coach Herm Edwards, who traded up to select Albert with the 15th choice. Relief quickly washed over Albert, and after an interview for the ESPN camera crew in the basement, turned into joy.

When it was all over -- the waiting, the moment he officially became a part of the NFL, the interview -- he stood up and hugged Ashley Sims, his brother and the man most responsible for this moment. The magnitude struck both as they hugged each other tight, Albert leaning on Sims, and tears fell from their eyes.

"I knew you were special," Sims said, his voice cracking. "I knew you were special."

Seven years ago, before Albert played his first football game at Glen Burnie High or for three years as a guard and part-time tackle at Virginia, neither man would have believed this moment was possible. Albert still lived with his mother, Susan Albert, in Rochester, N.Y., played basketball and had resisted ever putting on a pair of shoulder pads. He tried football for the first time only after Susan sent him to live with Ashley in Glen Burnie. Now Albert had become a first-round NFL draft pick and a rich man.

"This is the happiest moment I've ever had," Albert said, his cheeks still damp from the tears. "This is the most important moment of my life."

The joy of the day, which included a party with about 30 friends and family members at Sims's home, came after a patch of consternation. Albert's draft stock had rocketed since he announced he would forgo his senior year at Virginia. In January, he thought he would be a second-round choice. By Saturday, some experts had predicted the Chiefs would take him with the fifth pick.

Two days earlier in New York, Virginia defensive end Chris Long, the No. 2 pick, told any reporter who would listen that Albert and Michigan offensive tackle Jake Long, the No. 1 pick, were the two best offensive linemen in the draft. Albert, after all, can play guard or tackle, and he is athletic enough at 6 feet 7 and 315 pounds he had once been offered several Division I basketball scholarships.

When Albert settled into the corner spot on the sofa downstairs, wearing a blue-and-yellow polo shirt, jean shorts and white sneakers, he expected his wait wouldn't take long.

His mother sat to his right, his brother to his left, and the basement was reserved for his closest family members -- his sister-in-law, his sister and his aunt. A crew from ESPN, camera and bright lights in tow, set up in the corner. Everyone else -- including Virginia quarterback and close friend Jameel Sewell -- watched upstairs, in the living room.

"It's an amazing experience," Sewell said as the draft started. "I'm so happy for him."

The day began well when the St. Louis Rams took Chris Long, who was a Cavaliers co-captain this season along with Albert, with the second pick.