Pass him up at your own risk. He will not be the first running back picked, nor the second, and quite likely not the third. Fine with him. Downgrade him if you wish, but when you are proven wrong, don’t come crying to Ron Dayne.
“They can’t categorize me, so they have to talk bad about me, because they haven’t seen anybody like me, so they don’t know what to say,” Dayne told The Post from Madison, Wis. “Whoever picks me is going to get to see.”
Whoever picks him -possibly the Giants – will get to see, Dayne believes, that he is the steal of this year’s NFL draft. That he is every bit as powerful and prolific as his record-breaking college career indicates. That as the Heisman Trophy winner, he was not only the best back last season, but stands out as the best running back prospect, period.
That while Thomas Jones, Jamal Lewis and Shaun Alexander are thought to be more highly rated, he, The Great Dayne, is the man to run the ball.
Dayne will be counting down the first-round picks, marking off every team that bypasses him, and he will hit the ground, all 250 pounds of him, determined to make his mark.
“As long as I get to show ’em,” Dayne said, “and do better than the other running backs taken ahead of me.”
With the 11th overall pick tomorrow, the Giants figure to select a running back, and either Dayne or Alexander figure to be their choice. Alexander, a sleek, 218-pounder from Alabama who does everything well, including blocking and receiving, is the safer pick. Dayne is more intriguing in that he could be a faster John Riggins or a Jerome Bettis/Natrone Means type who gets the tough yards but is more a grinder than a star.
“I couldn’t compare myself to nobody,” Dayne said. “A lot of people say, ‘You’re like Jerome.’ I’m like, ‘Nah, I know I’m faster than him and have better moves than him.’ I grew up in Virginia and my favorite team was the Redskins, favorite player was Riggins.
“I think I’m faster and make more moves.”
For someone who broke Ricky Williams’ all-time NCAA rushing record, owns a bundle of Big Ten records and at times carried Wisconsin on his broad back, there are an astonishing number of questions about Dayne.
The concerns: That his body (5 feet 10 and anywhere from 250 to 260 pounds) has absorbed a tremendous pounding during four years and more than 1,100 rushing attempts. That he is injury prone. That he can’t block or catch and has too much bulk and not enough speed to get outside. That he has a problem keeping his weight down.
Did we miss anything?
“I used to get mad at it, but now I just listen to it and suck it up and try to prove ’em wrong,” Dayne said.
Here are rebuttals, served up by Brian White, Dayne’s running backs coach at Wisconsin.
“I think he’s answered all the questions,” White said. “His weight has been very stable for four years. He ran between 4.52 to 4.56 at his workout, which is outstanding speed. He is on record consistently making long runs. He’s the best running back I’ve ever been around, and I coached Ricky Watters at Notre Dame.
“He’s going to make a lot of people wish they had drafted him when they had the opportunity.”
It is believed the Giants were not particularly high on Dayne after their initial evaluations, but that thinking changed after Jim Fassel was dispatched to Honolulu – in part as a vacation after an emotionally draining season – to scout the Hula Bowl, a game not usually frequented by head coaches. Once there, Fassel got a first-hand look at Dayne, and after watching and meeting him, came back convinced Dayne was worth the Giants’ first pick.
“He was the only head coach down there, so he was showing he cared for the younger guys,” Dayne said. Asked about playing for the Giants, he added, “It would be nice, being back on the East Coast.”
Ron Hopson, Dayne’s agent, added, “I know from conversations with him he’d like to play for the Giants.”
Coming to the Giants might be nice for Dayne, but it would be a dream for his family. He spent his formative years in Berlin, N.J., about 12 miles east of Philadelphia. At the age of 13, Dayne’s parents, Brenda and Ronald, separated and Brenda experienced personal problems.
Dayne went to live with his uncle, Rob Reid – Brenda’s brother – and aunt Deborah, who became his legal guardians.
Rob Reid is a minister who for 25 years has worked with juvenile delinquents. “It was kind of falling apart in front of her,” Reid said of his sister. “My oldest son asked if Ron could come and live with us, and he’s been there ever since. He calls me ‘Uncle Rob.’I call him ‘Son’, of course. I really treated him like he was my son.”
Dayne was so big in sixth and seventh grade – about 250 pounds – that he wasn’t close to the school weight limit and had to play soccer instead of football.
His Overbrook High coach, Harvey Miller, recalls an incredible 97-yard run against rival Highland. “He’s such a hero here,” Miller said. “Kids idolize him. Here’s a kid from our school system that became the best in the country. They ask me a lot of questions about him.”
The questions haven’t stopped, despite all the accolades, all the yards, all the success.
Here’s another: What will Ron Dayne add to a team? What could he bring to the Giants?
“A great running back,” he said firmly. “I’ve got the same ability as the small running backs, but I think I can do more. Once I get to the league they’ll be able to see what I’m talking about.”