Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie is a name NFL fans will hear about for the next 10 years.

The Tennessee State defensive back may go in the Top 10 of the first round of this weekend’s NFL Draft. According to nfldraftcoundtown.com, he is slated to go to the Philadelphia Eagles at the No. 19 spot, but “after the shows he put on at both the Senior Bowl and the Scouting Combine he could very easily be gone long before this.”

Which would make him the first player from the Football Bowl Subdivision level to get drafted in the first round since 2000, when a pair of Jackson State players were drafted.

When Eastern played TSU in late October in Nashville, Tenn., Rodgers-Cromartie changed the course of the game early with a highlight-reel interception return.

He eyed Eastern quarterback Bodie Reeder rolling out to his right, and stepped in front of Eastern wide receiver Micah Rucker just as the ball was about to reach Rucker.

He gracefully picked the ball out of mid-air and without breaking stride, used his speed to outrun Eastern’s offense down the right side of the field for a 69-yard touchdown.

It was truly a breath-taking play for a player to make, as the other players chasing Rodgers-Cromartie down the field appeared to be in slow motion. And, ironically, it was done on a field Rodgers-Cromartie could someday make his millions – LP Field, home of the Tennessee Titans.

If Rodgers-Cromartie, commonly referred to as DCR, is selected in the first round on Saturday, it would make him the first from Ohio Valley since Phil Simms out of Morehead State was drafted eighth overall in the 1979 draft. The OVC has had 111 players drafted from 16 different league schools in the conference’s 60-year history.

The last player drafted from an OVC school came in the 2006 draft when the Tennessee Titans selected Samford defensive back Cortland Finnegan with the 215th pick in the seventh round.

Eastern probably won’t have anyone from this year’s team drafted. Rucker is the Panthers’ best option, but mock draft boards have shown him possibly going in the late seventh round. He has the size necessary to become a dominant wide receiver in the league (6-6, 220), but he just needs that chance.

The NFL is cluttered with starts from the FBS level. Terrell Owens (Tennessee-Chattanooga), Brian Westbrook (Villanova) and Tony Romo (good ole’ Eastern) are just a few.

Owens was selected in the third round of the ’96 draft by the San Francisco 49ers, while Westbrook went in the third round of the ’02 draft to the Eagles. The Dallas Cowboys, if you don’t know the story by now, signed Romo to a free-agent contract in 2003.

So sit back and enjoy the 48-hour marathon known as the NFL Draft. You may not have heard of some of the players drafted, but that doesn’t mean you won’t hear crowds chanting “DRC!” for years to come.

Matt Daniels can be reached at 581-7936 or at mwdaniels@eiu.edu.