Five Southland Conference Football Players Sign NFL Free Agent Deals
FRISCO, Texas - Five more Southland Conference football players, McNeese State's Darrick Brown and Marcus Brown, Sam Houston State's Brandon Hale and Scorpio Babers and Stephen F. Austin's Brock Pasteur signed free agent deals with NFL teams today.
Darrick Brown signed with the Oakland Raiders, while his brother Marcus signed with the Arizona Cardinals.
Hale signed with the Dallas Cowboys, while Babers signed with the Miami Dolphins.
Pasteur inked his free agent deal with the Tennessee Titans.
McNeese State
Darrick Brown -- Oakland Raiders
Marcus Brown -- Arizona Cardinals
LAKE CHARLES, La. - McNeese State's Brown brothers - Darrick and Marcus - have signed free agent football contracts with the NFL.
Darrick signed with the Oakland Raiders and Marcus with the Arizona Cardinals. Both are defensive backs.
Both were deluged with phone calls following Sunday's draft by teams wishing to pick them up as free agents.
"We went were we felt we would have the best chance of making the team," Marcus said. "For me it was Arizona and for Darrick it was Oakland."
The two, who have also been track and field standouts at McNeese, are both four year lettermen and Darrick also played wide receiver during his career.
This past season Marcus led the Cowboys in pass interceptions with four which he returned for 52 yards. He was also credited with a team high nine passes broken up and 52 tackles and earned an honorable mention on the all-Southland Conference team with his top tackle games being eight in victory over Stephen F. Austin and seven against Portland State.
Darrick Brown had five tackles against Southeastern Louisiana and four each against Stephen F. Austin, Louisiana-Lafayette and South Dakota and he finished the year with 34 total tackles along with a fumble recovery.
He also spent two seasons as a wide receiver for the Cowboys, catching 16 passes for 317 yards and three tds, his longest 51 yards.
Both had an edge with the pro scouts with their size, speed and jumping ability. Darrick is 6-4 and 200 pounds and Marcus is 6-3 and 200 pounds. Both have speed in the 4.3s in the 40 yard dash.
As track and field participants for the Cowboys, the Browns have won conference medals and this season they rank one-two in the SLC in the long jump, Darrick having gone 25-0 3/4 and Marcus 24-5.
Marcus will report on Friday to Arizona for a mini-camp while Darrick will leave next week for one in Oakland where he will join up with former McNeese assistant coach Adam Henry who is now a Raider assistant coach.
They are two of three Cowboys off the undefeated 2007 team that will be getting a shot at a professional career. Defensive end Bryan Smith was drafted in the third round by Philadelphia on the second day of the NFL draft.
Sam Houston State
Brandon Hale -- Dallas Cowboys
Scorpio Babers -- Miami Dolphins
HUNTSVILLE, Texas - Two former Sam Houston State football players have signed contracts to play in the National Football League. Offensive lineman Brandon Hale with the Dallas Cowboys and safety Scorpio Babers with the Miami Dolphins will both attempt to continue their football playing careers on the professional level.
Hale (6-3, 311 pounds) started 22 straight games for the Bearkats on the offensive line and anchored a crew that helped sophomore running back Chris Poullard to 1,038 yard and 13 touchdowns in 2007. Hale was a four-year letter winner and two-time All-Southland Conference selection including first-team recognition last season.
In 2006 Hale, from Grand Prairie, started all 11 games helping current Jacksonville Jaguar running back D.D. Terry to a school-record 1,328 yards. He started the first four games of 2005 before suffering a season-ending knee injury.
Babers (5-11, 190) played three years for the Bearkats from 2003-04 and again in 2006. During the 2006 season he was sixth on the team in tackles with 46. He has one interception and eight pass breakups that season. For his career, the Italy, Texas native totaled 67 tackles. He will join former Sam Houston State safety Keith Davis, who signed a free agent contract with the Dolphins in the offseason. Davis is also from Italy.
This past season, four Bearkats were on NFL rosters with quarterback Josh McCown in Oakland, Davis in Dallas, tight end Keith Heinrich in Tampa Bay and Terry in Jacksonville. This past offseason, McCown joined Davis as a Dolphin.
Stephen F. Austin
Brock Pasteur -- Tennessee Titans
NACOGDOCHES, Texas - Former Lumberjack offensive lineman Brock Pasteur has signed a free agent contract with the Tennessee Titans. He will report to Titans' rookie mini-camp Thursday in Nashville.
A two-year letterwinner on the 'Jacks' offensive front, Pasteur worked his way into the starting lineup during the second game of his junior year, and never looked back. Pasteur was a two-time All-Southland Conference athlete who earned 2007 Preseason First-Team All-SLC, and Third-Team Preseason All-America honors by the Sports Network.
A transfer from the University of Nebraska, Pasteur started 21 consecutive games to close out his career. He was also a member of an offensive line that protected a first-team All-SLC quarterback, and produced a first-team all-league running back.