Denver Broncos scout Greg Miller said, “when you go 9-3, there’s a reason you go 9-3, you’ve got good players.”

The Cyclones went 9-3 last year, and the quality of players has been shown in the NFL draft and free-agency.

Saturday and Sunday, three former Cyclones were taken in the draft, and three more will venture into the NFL via free-agency.

All-Big 12 first teamer Reggie Hayward was drafted by the Broncos in the third round, quarterback Sage Rosenfels in the fourth by the Washington Redskins and defensive lineman James Reed went to the New York Jets in round seven.

J.J. Moses, the Cyclones leading receiver last season, was contacted by the Kansas City Chiefs to be a free agent. Defensive lineman Ryan Harklau will be a free agent for the Jacksonville Jaguars and fellow lineman Nigel Tharpe is a free agent with the Pittsburgh Steelers.

“I was just praying that my name would get called,” Reed said. He was the 206th player taken in the 2001 draft.

He said he wasn’t too worried about going.

“I knew when I visited both New York and Pittsburgh, I got a good vibe,” Reed said.

Tharpe said that he was a “nervous wreck” throughout the draft. When his name wasn’t called he said he was upset.

“It was like that moment when you wait for something your whole life and you don’t get it,” he said.

But then the phone rang.

Pittsburgh called with the good news.

“I was excited,” Tharpe said.

The same went for Moses, who had been in contact with the Chiefs during the draft. They had been calling him to see if other teams were interested. Moses said no other teams were calling, so Kansas City waited until after the draft to give Moses the news.

“It wasn’t even two minutes until they called,” Moses said.

“It hasn’t hit me yet,” Moses said of being on an NFL team. “It wasn’t J.J. Moses, it was Christ that helped me.”

Moses said all of his life he was told he is too small to play high school football and then too small to play college football.

“I’m thankful, now I’ve got another point to prove,” he said. “I still have to go out and compete and earn a job.”

Moses said it will be interesting to play against Hayward when the Denver Broncos meet the Chiefs twice next year.

While not all of the players picked will have the luxury of playing against their former teammates, they take pride in knowing that they are all in the NFL.

Tharpe said he is very proud that all of the senior defensive lineman, Reed, Hayward, Harklau and himself, were picked up by pro teams.

“For us to move on and have the opportunity to play again, it’s amazing,” Tharpe said.