If you're an MSU athlete, the day of your professional draft probably features one virtual lock. You'll watch others get picked before you, not many get picked after you, and you'll develop an obsessive compulsion in keeping the phone line open as you sweat out the weekend.

Frankly, unless your name is Charles Rogers, Jason Richardson or Zach Randolph, your draft day hasn't come up roses. With the exception of those three, the green and white have had spotty draft days in the 21st century, and this weekend's NFL draft followed suit.

But we're not hating. It's the truth. When defensive tackle Matthias Askew was picked 114th overall by the Cincinnati Bengals and quarterback Jeff Smoker was taken 201st by the St. Louis Rams - take that, John "No. 202" Navarre! - the reaction was, well, calm. These are players who weren't first-round caliber, and neither is the missing link to any professional franchise's success.

Sure, Cincy and the Lou have two solid rookies to mold, break down, build up, then break down again, but the picks were made with all the risk of a checkers game on a Saturday afternoon. Askew is a physical specimen who shows promise, and Cincy has been rebuilding since 1987. Smoker is a rocket-shoulder QB going to a pass-happy, offense-first team. Faster than you could say "Mandarich," the draft was over and it was all par for the course.

It's delightful to see two Spartans who genuinely left everything they had on the field be rewarded for their efforts. Askew and Smoker have the chance to live their dream and, for that, they deserve our commendation. Likewise, when the undrafteds - offensive guard Joe Tate and linebacker Mike Labinjo - were signed as free agents, they're in the same boat. All four of those men are in a position to work their way up from the bottom in the league that plays on Sundays. Our congratulations.

So, what does this mean to the Spartans athlete? Unless you're a marquee name and a guaranteed first-round lock - like Zach, J-Rich and Chuck were - you should take a page from head football coach John L. Smith: "Don't think you're neat." The Spartans simply aren't exhibiting tremendous success on draft days - Marcus Taylor - and to make it into anything bigger is expanding false aspirations for the future.

Because Jeff Smoker was chosen one spot before John Navarre in one of the most Big Ten-rich drafts in memory, that means exactly nothing. And because Askew was selected almost 100 picks before Smoker, that means even less. The only guarantee is that Askew's signing bonus might be a little larger than Smoker's.

So, is this an indictment of the Athletics Department? No. Is it putting the athletic prowess of East Lansing under the microscope? Maybe a little.

But more than anything, this weekend served as a reminder. Watershed draft-day moments don't plop down in East Lansing too often, and to expect anything more is nearly sadistic.

Congratulations to the draftees, and continued success to those working for a contract. All we say is that this past weekend didn't surprise anyone - Smoker and Askew least of all.