Four From County Caught in Draft

A few years ago, Roman Fortin, Curt Dykes and Robert Claiborne had trouble finding schools to play football for.

Monday, each was selected in the National Football League’s college draft.

San Diego State’s Fortin, an offensive lineman, and Claiborne, a receiver, were selected by the Detroit Lions in the eighth and 12th rounds. Dykes, an Oregon offensive lineman from Orange Glen High and Palomar Community College, was selected by the Philadelphia Eagles in the eighth round.

All three defied significant odds, considering where they were after graduating from high school.

Another local player, Ernie Spears of El Camino High was taken by the New Orleans Saints in the 10th round. Spears, a defensive back who starred in 1989 with 65 tackles and two interceptions, became the 10th USC player drafted, the most since 1983 when 11 Trojans were drafted.

Fortin, the 203rd overall pick, was a quarterback at Ventura High before going to Oregon State in 1985 where he played tight end. After one year, he transferred and was a walk-on at SDSU and soon became an offensive guard then a tackle.

“My dream always as a little kid was to play pro football,” Fortin, 6-foot-4 1/2, 280 pounds, said. “But in high school, I never thought I would be an offensive lineman . . . Ever.”

Dykes, a second-team All-County selection by The Times in 1985, said he had a couple scholarships offers out of high school, but he did not have enough core classes under the NCAA’s Proposition 48, and he would have been ineligible his first season at a four-year school. Dykes, 6-3 1/2, 280, went instead to Palomar for two years before transferring to Oregon.

“I wasn’t much of a student then,” said Dykes, who now has a 3.0 grade-point-average and will be about a semester short of graduating with a degree in American Studies.

“I’m so close, I’d be stupid if I didn’t continue, no matter what happens” he said.

Claiborne got a couple of looks out of Mt. Miguel High, but with his size then--5-7, 130 pounds--that’s all it took for college recruiters to write him off. He enrolled at Grossmont Community College then transferred to Southwestern before landing at SDSU, where he caught 81 passes for 1,312 yards in two years, including 55 for 938 last season.

He is now 5-10, 175 pounds and impressed scouts with a 4.37 40-yard dash time.

Of the four, only Spears was invited to the NFL scouting combine in Indianapolis. Spears thought he did pretty well there, working out with the juniors and injured seniors because he underwent arthroscopic knee surgery the day after the Rose Bowl to remove cartilage after an early season injury.

Spears, 6-0, 190, said New Orleans’ rookie minicamp begins May 7, but that he will be a few days late because he is graduating May 10 with a degree in communications.

Fortin and Claiborne said they will leave for Detroit this weekend with the Lions’ minicamp set to open next Tuesday.

Dykes said he is flying to Philadelphia early this morning for the Eagles’ camp, which begins Thursday.

Two other Aztecs, receiver Monty Gilbreath and defensive back John Wesselman are trying to hook on with an NFL or Canadian team via free agency.