Barry Faulkner
Ahmad Miller, who nearly cast his lot as a collegian with the
University of Houston, will be given a chance to make his NFL dreams come
true in the same Texas town, after being chosen by the expansion Houston
Texans with the last pick of the NFL draft Sunday.
With his selection, the 261st of the seven-round, near-18-hour draft
held over two days in New York, the 6-foot-4, 320-pounder, who started
three seasons on the defensive line at UNLV, becomes Mr. Irrelevant
XXVII.
As such, Miller will be honored June 16-22 in Newport Beach during the
annual Irrelevant Week festivities, initiated and overseen by former NFL
player and prominent Newport Beach businessman Paul Salata, who announced
the final pick Sunday.
And while Miller seems to be warming to the Irrelevant Week theme of
"doing something nice for somebody for no reason," he said during a
post-draft phone interview from Las Vegas that he'd just as soon not have
put himself in that position.
"If I'd have worked harder, not depended on anyone else and taken the
steps I should have taken since high school, I don't think I'd have been
the last pick in the draft," said Miller, who turned 24 April 10 and
plans to graduate with a degree in social science May 18.
"People say I was inconsistent (at UNLV) and I don't argue. I know
it's my fault and I've learned my lesson. I've been working hard all
offseason and I just want to go make the team. I know I have to go in
there and beat some people out, but I believe I can do it."
Miller, who twice received honorable mention for All-Mountain West
Conference honors and collected 96 tackles and five sacks in three
seasons as a Rebel, said self-confidence helped get him through an
inauspicious start to his high school football career.
"I got in a fight and was kicked off the team before the first game my
freshman year and I was ineligible the second half of my sophomore season
on the varsity," Miller said.
He went on to star at defensive end and middle linebacker at Southeast
High in Bradenton, Fla., but he did not qualify academically to attend
four-year schools.
He played one season at Southwest Mississippi Community College,
before sitting out the 1998 season while attending Manatee Community
College in his home town.
Miller's rare blend of size and athleticism, however, kept him on the
minds of collegiate recruiters at Houston, UNLV, South Carolina and West
Virginia.
"I visited Houston and I really liked it there, but I decided to go to
UNLV," he said. "It was a tough choice."
