After four UConn Huskies football players were drafted on Saturday, it was thought that Julius Williams and Dahna Deleston could possibly hear their names called on Day 2 of the NFL Draft.

But for Williams and Deleston it wasn’t meant to be as the draft came and went yesterday without a draft call from any of the teams. They did however get some phone calls near the end of the draft and immediately after from teams offering free agent contracts.

The Jacksonville Jaguars called Williams and he will sign a rookie free agent contract with the Jaguars as will Tyler Lorenzen. It’s thought that the Jaguars would like to make Lorenzen a tight end.

Deleston had a choice of the New England Patriots and Chicago Bears. He wound up signing with the Bears as he thought they were a better fit for him and would give him the best chance of cracking the 53-man roster.

Center Keith Gray will be heading to Charlotte as the Carolina Panthers have signed him to a rookie free agent contract.

UConn already has 5 players on NFL teams right now in Tyvon Branch (Oakland Raiders), Alfred Fincher (Washington Redskins), Dan Orlovsky (Houston Texans), Donald Thomas (Miami Dolphins) and Danny Lansanah (Green Bay Packers). The total now stands at 13 UConn players who will have chance to represent the football program in the NFL.

I said it yesterday and I’ll say it again now. This should do absolute wonders for Randy Edsall in regards to recruiting.

UConn Huskies football is now on the map!!

Wrapping up a busy Sunday [Ramblings from The Runway]

Four UConn Players Sign As Free Agents; 2 State Players Drafted [Hartford Courant]

On Saturday evening, Donald Brown made UConn Huskies football history when he was selected 27th overall in the 1st round by the Indianapolis Colts. After an eventful day on Saturday, Brown was in Indianapolis to be introduced to the Indianapolis media on Sunday

[flash http://ianbethune.com/donaldbrwon.flv]

Video: Donald Brown Goes No. 27 Overall To The Indianapolis Colts [SOX & Dawgs]

Donald Brown Taken 27th Overall By Indianapolis [SOX & Dawgs]

It was all about the young kids for the Boston Red Sox tonight as Justin Masterson, Michael Bowden and Jacoby Ellsbury all helped them to a 4-1 win over the New York Yankees in front of 38,154 and national television audience on a stunning night for baseball at Fenway Park.

The sweep of the Yankees (9-9) was the third straight sweep of a team on the homestand (won 4 against the Baltimore Orioles, 2 against the Minnesota Twins) and is their 10th straight win after starting the season 2-6.

What can I say about Justin Masterson? The boy got the job done again. He’s been simply brilliant on the mound filling in for the injured Daisuke Matsuzaka. Tonight, he gave the Red Sox 5 1/3 innings of 1-run ball. He gave up 6 hits while walking just one and he struck out four.

Hunter Jones went 2/3 of an inning striking out 1. Michael Bowden, who was called up for the night, struck out 2 in 2 innings. Takashi Saito allowed just a hit in the 9th to pick up his second save of the season.

Obviously the play of the game and the season so far was the steal of home for Jacoby Ellsbury. He went 1-for-3 with a walk, 2 runs scored and 2 stolen bases.  David Ortiz picked up 2 RBIs on the night, one coming on a sac fly and the other on a double while J.D. Drew had an RBI double before leaving the game with tightness in his quad.

Andy Pettitte went 6 innings for the Yanks, allowing 4 runs (3 earned) 6 hits and walks while recording 6 strikeouts, including two of Drew.

Masterson retired the first six batters he faced for Hideki Matsui led off the 3rd with a single. He would go to second on a Melky Cabrera single and ended up at third on an Angel Berroa sacrifce bunt with Melky going to second.  Brett Gardner gave the Yanks a 1-0 lead with a sacrifice fly to left.

The Red Sox quickly got their young pitcher the run back in the bottom half of the inning.

Nick Green reached on an error by Berroa to start the inning and then was forced out at second on an Ellsbury fielder’s choice. With Dustin Pedroia at the plate, Ellsbury stole second and then went to third when Pedroia reached on a Berroa throwing error. It did look like Teixeira was distracted by Ellsbury running as he couldn’t scoop the poor throw.  Ortiz tied it at 1 with a sac fly to left. The inning ended with Kevin Youkilis at the plate when Pedroia was picked off trying to steal second.

Jason Varitek worked a leadoff walk in the 5th. After a Green strikeout, Ellsbury walked. Pedroia flew out for the second out and then Big Papi followed with a double to score Varitek to give the Red Sox a 2-1 lead with Ellsbury stopping at third. With a 1-1 count and Drew at the plate, Ellsbury broke for home beating the pitch from Pettitte for a straight steal of home to make it 3-1. The pitch was called a ball and Drew hit the next pitch for a ground rule double that scored Big Papi to provide the final margin of 4-1.

Obviously it goes without saying the Red Sox are playing some really great baseball right now. Other than a few blips in the radar, the bullpen has been outstanding as of late picking up the starters when needed. The other nice thing about the winning streak for the Red Sox is that it seems like there is a different hero each night.

The Red Sox will welcome Julio Lugo back to the team as they head out on a 9-game road trip that starts tomorrow night in Cleveland and ends against the Yankees. Tim Wakefield looks to continue his strong performances of late for the Red Sox and he’ll be opposed by the reigning Cy Young winner Cliff Lee.

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