Tracking Pigott's NFL Teammates

Well most people don't believe me- but I do have five former high school teammates currently in the NFL. Pictured here (clockwise, from upper left) are Chris Spencer of the Seattle Seahawks, Parys Haralson of the San Francisco 49ers, Mike Espy of the Washington Redskins, Doug Buckles, most recently of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and Stephen Gostkowski of the New England Patriots. Starting with Spencer, who played in the Super Bowl, he might be the best young center in the league, and was recently on espn.com in the "ultimate salary cap team" by John Clayton, with John Clayton calling him the best young offensive lineman in the NFL. I'll always remember Chris having the biggest foot I've ever seen wearing a size 21 shoe. Leaving Ole Miss after his junior season, Chris was a huge part of Eli Manning's success in the SEC. Mike, who is an undrafted free agent with Washington, and son of former U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Mike Espy, Sr., and who I spoke with Friday night, enters camp on a loaded team already with receivers Antwaan Randle El, Brandon Lloyd, and of course Santana Moss. However, Mike is a dangerous kick returner, and could sneak onto the roster that way. I always remember him on every punt return (even in practice) reaching down on the ground and grabbing the grass, similar to Russell Crowe in #4 Gladiator. Haralson, a 4th round pick of the 49ers, could start as a rookie. While at Tennessee, he was the active SEC sacks leader, and is a relentless pass rusher. The funny thing about Parys is that he was this size at 14! Gostkowski might be the best kicker I've ever seen. A 4th round pick of the Patriots, he was the only kicker taken in the draft. He left Memphis as the 13th all time leading scorer in NCAA history including 70 made field goals. Beaver was a 3 sport athlete in high school being the closer on the 2002 state champion baseball team as well as playing soccer. Doug is currently back in Mississippi, but the last I heard, was trying to catch on with the Kansas City Chiefs. Also a part of the formidable Ole Miss offensive line unit with Spencer, Doug was the 1999 State player of the year in high school and was only held back from making Tampa Bay's final roster due to a long standing hip injury (I remember when he injured it). So, next time you wanna talk smack about my high school football team- take a look at these guys.