By Myra Bean

It was a weekend filled with fears and then tears as the NFL welcomed 256 new draftees.

The wait was finally over for Peria Jerry of Batesville as he was taken in the first round as the number 24 pick by the Atlanta Falcons Saturday afternoon.

His Ole Miss teammate Michael Oher of Memphis got the nod at number 23 for the Baltimore Ravens.

Another Ole Miss teammate Jamarca Sanford’s time finally came as he was the number 231 pick for the Minnesota Vikings in round seven, who took Dewayne Rudd of Batesville in 1997 in the first round.

Though he was not talked about a lot, Rebel wide receiver Mike Wallace got the nod by the Pittsburgh Steelers in the third round as the number 84 pick.

One of the disappointments of the day was not hearing or seeing Derek Pegues’ name chosen for the draft. He was not expected to be a high pick by the draft number crunchers, but he was expected to get picked.

“Yes it was very disappointing, but God has the last word,” said Pegues’ mother Candace Fondren. “He has some free agent options, just waiting to see what he is going to do.”

Jerry was flown by private jet to Atlanta Saturday night and held his first professional press conference Sunday morning.

Sanford said he will fly to Minnesota Thursday.

Falcon general manager Thomas Dimitroff introduced Jerry at the press conference and said he was one of the most disruptive and productive defenders in this year’s draft.

“We were thrilled to take him at No. 24,” Dimitroff said. “We wanted a versatile defensive lineman, a guy that could penetrate through as a one gap play, split the doubleteam as well, but also have the stoutness to hold the point and play in sort of a nose tackle position.

Dimitroff described Jerry as a “fantastic person off the field.”

“We are looking forward to his leadership along the defensive line, his work ethic and the way he puts himself on the line every play and doesn’t turn his motor off is very important to us,” Diminitroff said.

Jerry said in the conference he had a good feeling that Atlanta would pick him.

“They brought me here last week for a visit and put me in a big house. Whew! That was nice,” Jerry said.

Though he has been a lifelong Dallas Cowboy fan, Jerry said he is now a Falcon fan.

“I am proud to be an Atlanta Falcon in a great city,” he said. “I am looking forward to working hard and learning as much as I can as quickly as possible. I am just so excited just to be here.”

Jerry had a big grin most of the time he was speaking.

Sanford’s mother, Shirley Taylor, said she had been waiting by the TV.

“I was so excited. I am proud of him,” she said.

The distance to Minnesota is a concern of Mrs. Taylor’s but she said she will deal with that.

“He has worked very hard and has been a good kid,” Taylor continued. “It was his dream and now he has made it.”

Though Sanford does not have a lot of height to him at 5’10”, his mom said it had never bothered him before and that he would just have to show the NFL he could play with them.

“I am upset Derek didn’t get picked because all of them grew up together, played football together and are very close,” Taylor said. “I wanted all of them to get picked. I am very proud of Peria.”

Current NFL cornerback Deshea Townsend of the Pittsburgh Steelers said he is proud of the guys. He hopes the younger kids will see that Batesville has four people who have been drafted in the NFL and they can go out and do what they set their minds with hard work.

“The first step is over,” Townsend said. “Now they have to stay focused and work hard to stay on the team. Just because you were drafted does not mean they will keep you. It is good to get drafted. It is also great to get the opportunity to be picked up. Hopefully, Derek will get picked up.”

His advice to the new draftees and free agents is, “Do everything you can to make the team. If you worry too much about where you were drafted or not drafted, they will pass you by.”