Taking the call on draft day. (My Turn).

It seems everywhere I go, someone invariably asks me to compare football and politics.

My response is pretty simple. As a quarterback, I was trained to read the blitz. With the help of my teammates and some fancy footwork, I often was able to avoid the opposition attacks. In politics, you often get blindsided, and you have no clue when or from where the hit is coming. At least in football, you know that the guys with the same color jerseys are working with you. But I've been blessed with two exciting and fulfilling careers.

Like millions of kids growing up playing sandlot football in small-town America, I dreamed of starring in the NFL someday. I idolized Roger Staubach, Bob Hayes and Calvin Hill. The blue star affixed to the side of those silver helmets was a great motivator for a kid like me.

I never achieved that dream, but I got the next best thing. Something very few athletes can claim.

I got "the call."

When I graduated from the University of Oklahoma in 1981, I hoped to play a few more years before getting a real job.

I was privileged to start at quarterback for the Sooners for two years, and I had a respectable career there, if I do say so myself. As a starter, I never beat Texas (ouch) ... but I never lost to Nebraska. That meant two Big Eight championships and two Orange Bowl wins against Bobby Bowden's Seminoles.