NEW YORK -- Ha Ha Clinton-Dix and Calvin Pryor are well-attuned to their status as the top two safeties, and likely first-round picks, in the NFL draft Thursday. But while the easy assumption would be the prospects from Alabama and Louisville, respectively, are determined to be drafted before one another, Clinton-Dix said it's not that way in the least.
They only hope the first drafted doesn't have to wait too long, for the sake of the second.
"It's like, 'If you go first, please go early, so I can come off the board next," Clinton-Dix said from the NFL Play 60 Youth Football Festival. "The earlier he goes, the earlier I'll go, and vice versa. If he goes first, I'll definitely be waiting to come off the board next."
A brotherly way to approach things, indeed. But not altogether surprising. Both played high school ball in Florida, and although Clinton-Dix's Orlando Dr. Phillips team never clashed with Pryor's Port St. Joe Sharks, the two were considered two of the state's elite safety prospects even then.
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"I know CP very well. From the combine to pro days, we've been pushing each other and talking trash. But he worked out in Tampa and I was in California, so we went opposite ways to train," Clinton-Dix said.
The St. Louis Rams' second first-round pick, No. 13 overall, is one that the two will have their full attention on. The Rams could use help at the position, but neither safety figures to be in the club's plans with the No. 2 overall pick. At No. 13, however, the wait could be over for one of them. The Bears and Cowboys are two possibilities soon after, at Nos. 14 and 16, respectively.
Soon enough, Clinton-Dix said, to keep the second safety from having to sweat too long.
*Follow Chase Goodbread on Twitter **@ChaseGoodbread.*
