When former MSU running back DeAndra Cobb was 9 years old, his mother signed him up for a local little league football team with encouragement from her brother, even though she knew little about football.

"We signed him up, and they actually called him 'Turbo' and we have been running with him ever since," Cobb's mother, Terri Cobb-Harden, said.

She had no idea that years later, she would watch her son be drafted into the NFL on national television and share in the excitement.

Four Spartans were drafted in the sixth and seventh rounds of the NFL Draft on Sunday afternoon. In addition to Cobb, former MSU place-kicker Dave Rayner, former MSU defensive tackle Kevin Vickerson and former MSU guard William Whitticker all were selected by professional teams.

Cobb was surrounded by his family at his Spartan Village apartment when he was named the 201st pick by the Atlanta Falcons.

"I am just excited for the opportunity to go to the next level," Cobb said Sunday at the Duffy Daugherty Football Building hours after his pick. "I am very happy to have the opportunity to play with a few players at the Atlanta Falcons."

Cobb will join other former MSU players such as running back T.J. Duckett on the Falcons.

"It will be all good, leave a Spartan and go to the next level and play with a Spartan," Cobb said.

Following Cobb's pick, Rayner was drafted by the Indianapolis Colts, No. 202nd overall.

Rayner gathered at his house in Oxford, Mich., with about 30 family members and friends, awaiting the fate of the draft.

"We were pretty nervous there toward the end," Rayner said in a telephone interview. "It was getting kind of late in the draft, and my name hadn't come up. We were confident, but at the same time, I was getting kind of edgy."

To mount to the tension, about 20 minutes before Rayner's pick, the cable at his house went out due to the amount of snow, so he resorted to watching the draft on the Internet. When they saw the pick, Rayner said they busted out a bottle of champagne to celebrate.

"I'm pumped because from day one, I kind of really wanted to go to Indianapolis just because I think it is a great situation," he said. "It is a great city, they kick in a dome and I think their kicking situation is good for me right now.

"And they win a lot."

Rayner, who is MSU's all-time leader in scoring, field goals and extra points, is excited to be able to take his football career to the next level and kick indoors.

"For a kicker, that is a kicker's dream to kick inside (at the RCA Dome), especially for a young kicker - you don't have the conditions to deal with, at least with home games," Rayner said. "I am really excited to be able to kick with no wind, no rain, no snow."

Vickerson was the 216th pick overall by the Miami Dolphins, led by the former MSU football head coach Nick Saban. Vickerson led MSU in tackles for losses in 2004.

Whitticker was selected by the Green Bay Packers, 246th overall. He was a starter on the offensive line and was voted by the media to the second-team All-Big Ten and an honorable mention by the coaches.

The NFL Draft officially closes the college careers of several Spartans, but Rayner says he will carry with him his experience in college football and Spartans pride.

"I am going to miss MSU. It's been great for me for four years," he said. "I will be forever indebted to MSU, the coaches, my teammates and people there. I will be a Spartan for life.

"But it is a new chance in my life, and I am going to go into it full go and try to be successful at it."

The players said they know the NFL will kick up the level of play and challenge them to take it up a notch as well. Rayner said that his kicks are going to weigh a lot more on his career and that playing in the pros "is a job and every kick can mean you're fired or you're hired."

Cobb also knows he will have to bring the intensity to match the level of play with his future teammates.

"The biggest challenge will be everybody on the field with that hunger. The intensity is going to be picked up. I just want to keep that and play a lot of athletes with the best of the best," he said.