STATE COLLEGE, Pa. -- There were moments in the 24 hours leading up to the 2000 NFL Draft when Penn State legend LaVar Arrington had to remind himself it wouldn't be like this for long.
"Midnight of draft day like you're now there and the draft is going to happen. It starts to move really, really, really, really slow," Arrington, the No. 2 overall pick in the 2000 NFL Draft, said. "You gotta be prepared to have those moments where you're looking at the digital clock like, 'Man.' "
It's all part of the process that Saquon Barkley will undergo within the next 48 hours in Dallas where he's slated to be on hand Wednesday afternoon for a youth football event and then Thursday the waiting game will continue, officially at 8 p.m. when the Cleveland Browns are on the clock. His former Penn State teammates will wait to hear their names called from afar while Penn State could surpass the program's best mark of six draft picks, something they did in 2010.
"I don't think about getting my name called No. 1, I think about getting my name called period," Barkley said last month at Penn State's pro day. "That's going to be a moment you think about the rest of your life. Whether you play 2 years or you play 12 years in the league, no one can take that from you. Being able to go up there and shake the commissioner's hand and hold your jersey. ... I am wondering how I'm going to react to that. Hopefully I'm not a crybaby up there. ... That's going to be a special moment and a moment I'm definitely looking forward to being able to cherish that moment with my family."
Those moments leading up to Barkley walking across the stage at AT&T Stadium will include him being in the green room with his family. That's where memories are made, but it's also where cameras crowd and emotions pour over as former college players have their childhood dream come true.
For everything that's prepared them in the lead up to this moment -- the camps, workouts, college recruiting, signing day, bowl games, championships, NFL Combine, pro day -- this night is completely out of their hands.
"There's no advice you can give because I can't simulate what he's going to feel," Arrington said. "I know what I felt, but I can't simulate what I felt. Just try to enjoy it the best you can."
Barkley is a consensus top-5 pick in a draft class where trades to either get him or whoever a team views as a franchise quarterback could make his night a little more stressful. It only ever takes one team to fall in love with a player and while Barkley may be viewed by some as the best player in the draft, what the Browns do at No. 1 and and what the Giants at No. 2 will determine if Barkley is in the green room for more than a few minutes or not. If both select quarterbacks then would he land with the Jets at No. 3 or the Browns at No. 4?
Barkley's answered rounds of questions since January about whether or not he sees himself in Cleveland helping to revive a franchise or if the Giants -- or his dad's beloved Jets -- are where he could go.
"I just hope that whatever team drafts me I can come in and provide some type of spark," Barkley said last month where 5,000 people gathered for a parade in his hometown. "Whether that's a leader or whether that's doing exceptional things on the field."
Penn State hasn't had a player drafted in the first round since 2010 when Jared Odrick was chosen 28th overall and the last Penn State running back to go No. 1 overall was Ki-Jana Carter in 1995.
Barkley initially didn't even plan on going to Dallas for the draft, but with encouragement from his mom, who told him he "needed to be a little selfish," he opted in for the full experience. At some point between now and Thursday night he also could become a dad. Barkley said at Pro Day should the baby be born the night of the draft he'd be flying back to Scranton to be with his girlfriend. That too, will all be part of a memorable few days he's about to embark on.
So now, he'll wait just like the other 21 players in the room with him, just like all those NFL stars who've done so before him.
"If Saquon goes to New York forget about it man, forget about it," said Arrington, who ended his career with the Giants. "He's a great looking kid, he's an awesome personality and he's the right type of personality to go to a market like New York because he won't allow the glitz and the glam of that big city to knock him off of his focus. He will thrive. To be in that type of market, signed to Roc Nation, good looking kid, he's got a great personality -- oh did I already say that? -- yeah, because he has that much [personality] where it's worth repeating. He's the safest pick in that top-5."
OTHER PENN STATE STORYLINES AT THE DRAFT
• Tight end Mike Gesicki might sneak into the first round and should he do so that would be the first time Penn State had multiple players selected in the first round since 2003 when Jimmy Kennedy, Michael Haynes, Bryant Johnson and Larry Johnson were all drafted.
Gesicki's athleticism shined at the combine and while his blocking was highly criticized during his Penn State career it's always come down to whether teams like the upside of the mismatch he creates more than the liability he can be when he's out there as a blocker.
• Safety Marcus Allen is likely the next player off the board after Gesicki, with Allen being projected anywhere from the second to the fourth rounds. His physicality is the part of his game that impressed in college, as did his work on special teams. He'll give some team the opportunity to use him as an outside linebacker if need be, something Allen -- who started for 3.5 years -- won't shy away from doing.
“I have to prove anything that they have," he said at pro day. "Any doubts that’s in any of these coaches minds, any of these GMs minds I just want to show them and make them feel good about it.”
• No Penn State player helped themselves more in the lead up to the draft than DaeSean Hamilton. I wouldn't be surprised if Hamilton ends up as the third former Nittany Lion off the board behind Barkley and Gesicki. The biggest question about him in the lead up to the draft was his straight line speed, which he answered with a 4.52-second 40 yard dash at Penn State's pro day.
"That's what I've been working for, this moment," Hamilton said at pro day last month. "The majority of the NFL guys didn't know how fast I was going to run and I don't think anybody expected me to get in the 4.5s to be honest with you. Posting a time like that and proving people wrong and just staying in my lane and making sure I'm taking care of all the things I need to take care of."
• What used to be Penn State's secondary is loaded with talent between Christian Campbell, Grant Haley and Troy Apke. Add Allen to the mix and Penn State realistically could see all four defensive backs go during the course of the draft. Campbell has the size and athleticism that impressed, Haley has the experience, special teams work and speed, while Apke has been a reliable presence on the back end and further proved his value with his blistering 4.34-second 40-yard dash at the combine. Apke's time was the fastest among safeties at the combine.
• Jason Cabinda is a projected late-round pick who could end up undrafted. What helps the Nittany Lions' former middle linebacker is his ability to play special teams as well, something that could go a long way with helping him secure a roster spot.
"You just kind of wait to hear where your name is called and then go to work," Cabinda said at pro day. "First round, second round, third round, seventh round, undrafted. As soon as you get drafted everyone is on the same playing level so you gotta go out and work."
• Potential undrafted free agents include: Curtis Cothran, Parker Cothren, Saeed Blacknall, Brendan Mahon, Brandon Smith.
• James Franklin and former Penn State running backs coach Charles Huff are slated to be in Dallas for the first round with Barkley as well.