HOT CORNER

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What: “Hey Rookie, Welcome to the NFL”

Where: ESPN, Tuesday, 5:30 p.m.

This one-hour documentary provides a revealing look of what it is like to be a young man trying to make it in the NFL. Six rookies are followed by NFL Films from draft day to mini-camps to training camp to exhibition games.

Four are well known--No. 1 overall pick David Carr, third pick Joey Harrington, fourth pick Mike Williams, a 370-pound offensive tackle from Texas selected by Buffalo, and tight end Jeremy Shockey of Miami, the New York Giants’ first pick.

The other two are not as well known. One is Jeff Hatch, a likable character who is an offensive tackle from Penn. The other is Josh Robinson, a defensive back trying to make the Baltimore Raven roster.

While Carr, Harrington and Williams are flown to New York and put up in upscale hotels for the draft, Hatch watches the draft at home with his family. He keeps telling himself he’s a fifth-round pick. He is ecstatic when the New York Giants make him the 78th pick overall in the third round.

The camera is rolling when Hatch gets a call from Giant Coach Jim Fassel. Hatch is so excited he can barely speak. At one point, he laughs out loud. “No, sir, I am not drunk,” he says.

After the call, Hatch says, “I feel elation, amazement and now it’s like, welcome to the NFL.”

Hatch’s unbridled emotion is a highlight of this excellent show. Unfortunately, Hatch is hampered by a back injury during training camp.

Shockey, a holdout, flies from Miami to New York and then travels by limousine to the Giant training camp in Albany, N.Y., after signing. He arrives at 4 a.m. and can’t find a hotel room, so he sleeps in the car.

Welcome to the NFL.