NFL

Stretching the truth

TAMPA -- If you are a general manager or coach preparing for the NFL draft, this is the week to bend the truth like an Iraqi information minister.

Everybody is trying to sniff out which player you will select and the only prudent thing to do is to send them down the wrong trail.

The annual selection of college players has evolved into a high-stakes game of liar's poker, where there are more bluffs than along the Pacific Coast Highway.

There are rumors, gossip and speculation about the top prospects in the draft, but the truth is so disguised it wears a fake nose and glasses.

"I think in the first round, disinformation is reaching a ridiculous level," Bucs general manager Rich McKay said. "It's become necessary because the information on our league and the amount of sources that are available within the teams is increasing and (reporters') access to them is increasing. Accordingly, I see why teams are doing it more. Now, we haven't been up there in awhile to do it, but I see more of it now.

"But it's definitely a game. And I say it's one because the information highway is unreal as to how quickly that stuff filters out. So I think what the teams try to do is give you so much information, you're not sure what's real and what isn't."

There are several misinformation techniques teams utilize in the weeks leading up to the draft. But be warned: You won't find this many bad lies in a British Open bunker.

THE WORKOUT WONDER: One season, the Bucs were Michelangelo in the art of deception. In the weeks leading up to the '95 draft, Tampa Bay officials leaked glowing reports about Boston College defensive end Mike Mamula, who had an astonishing workout at the NFL combine.

The Eagles bought it, trading up to Tampa Bay's No. 7 overall pick to select Mamula. Five picks later, with one of the three choices they received from Philadelphia, the Bucs took Warren Sapp.

Sapp is a future first-ballot Hall of Fame player. Mamula retired prior to the 2002 season after an average career.

"Nobody is a lock until they call his name up there in the draft," draft expert Gil Brandt said. "The draft is one of the greater liar's poker games of all times. That's what makes it fun and gives it intrigue."

GUESS WHO'S COMING TO DINNER?: Teams are limited in the number of players they can invite to a private workout at their training facility.

Sometimes that list is guarded like a T-bone by a Doberman. Other times, teams practically take out ads announcing a player's arrival.

The purpose is to make others believe you have a genuine interest in Player A when he has zero chance of being selected by your team.

"I see teams bringing players in for visits and I want to say, 'C'mon. There's no chance they're taking that player,' " McKay said. "You are strictly doing that to get that in the newspaper."

But Saints coach Jim Haslett said there aren't as many April fools in the NFL as there used to be.

"I don't think the game-playing is as big as it used to be," Haslett said, "because everybody kind of knows what everybody needs. When you go to the Indianapolis combine, you look at the list of the guys teams are interviewing and you can tell who they are interested in and what they are looking for.

"Cincinnati interviewed six quarterbacks. Somebody else interviewed 14 offensive linemen. We interviewed a bunch of defensive backs. It's not hard to figure out. People do lie, but not as much as they did in the past."

FEED THE BEAST: Who knows how rumors get started? But sometimes, they can work to a team's advantage if they just go with the flow.

There's nothing better than when your team becomes married to a particular player in the media so you can become a runaway bride on draft day.

"There's some misinformation out there and sometimes you go right along with what the general public is talking about," said former Cowboys and Dolphins coach Jimmy Johnson. "If they're saying you have got to have an offensive lineman, you just feed the monster a little bit and say, 'Okay, that's what we're looking at,' when all along you're thinking you've got to have a wide receiver or something like that.

"One of the years, we talked about drafting a quarterback in the first round. We had no thought of taking a quarterback in the first round. We tried to build them up a little bit and hide what we were really after."

WHADDYA HEAR?: The best fibbers in any organization are usually scouts. All season long, these guys sit together at college games and pretend to be disinterested and indifferent.

Then in the weeks leading to the draft, they melt the phone lines with their buddies in an espionage campaign.

Of course, it's an act of treason to give up any of the team's draft day secrets. And it's costly.

Occasionally, a team will make the mistake of giving it up. The Cleveland Browns were so open about their affection for tight end Kyle Brady that everyone knew he would be the 10th overall pick. The Browns went so far as to have a jersey with Brady's name on it.

Then the Jets swooped in and took Brady with the ninth pick. The Browns were so stunned, they traded their first-round selection to San Francisco.

Ravens general manager Ozzie Newsome said dishonesty is the best policy.

"(Ravens owner) Art Modell paid for that information," Newsome said. "Ralph Wilson didn't pay for it. Neither did Malcolm Glazer or any other owner. It belongs to Art Modell. Our guys have scouted together for years, so there's a trust level there. They're not going to give up something.

"There's a give and take when you talk to other teams, but it's hard to believe anything they tell you unless you have a relationship with somebody. But even then, you can't always believe what you hear."

-- Information from other news sources was used in this report.

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