If ever there was a good bet to snap the Bears’ second-round jinx under coach Dave Wannstedt, meet Penn State’s Bobby Engram. What a past-performance sheet.
Todd Sauerbrun, Pat Riley, Marcus Spears and Carl Simpson, the other second-round picks in the Wannstedt era, still labor under the same one-word burden: bust. Engram is a stark and pleasant contrast.
Many people need only one word to describe the wide receiver the Bears snatched with glee in Saturday’s second round. Among them: gamer, productive, polished, intelligent, quick, coach.
“Bobby’s a coach on the field,” Nittany Lions coach Joe Paterno said.
“Joe also said Engram was the most productive player he’s ever had at Penn State,” Bears offensive coordinator Ron Turner said. “He’s polished, mature and quick. Sometimes quickness is better than speed.
“We have (wide receivers) Curtis Conway and Michael Timpson for speed. Bobby gives us a guy who can work inside to catch the ball and get underneath the coverage.”
The Bears had a need at receiver after Jeff Graham moved to the New York Jets as a free agent. But Wannstedt sounded even more excited about what Engram can mean to his punt-return team, which he called below average last year, Graham virtually going nowhere after the catch. Engram was fourth best in the Big Ten last season with a 9.8-yard punt-return average.
“It was a very easy decision for all of us with Bobby still on the board,” Wannstedt said of the 52nd selection overall.
Engram has seldom slumped statistically in his career. He set Penn State records for catches (183), yards (3,298) and touchdowns (34). Former Nittany Lion O.J. McDuffie, now with the Miami Dolphins, held the catch mark (125) before him.
The only statistics used against Engram are his size (5 feet 10 inches, 185 pounds) and speed (4.55 seconds in the 40-yard dash).
“I’ll run a 4.55 for you anytime, but it’s when the whistle blows that I’m at my best,” Engram said. “I see myself as a receiver who can take over games.”
Engram has overcome a personal trauma. He was arrested in August 1992 for burglary, charged with stealing stereo equipment from an unlocked apartment in State College, Pa. He was suspended from the team for 1992. The Bears were impressed by how he reacted to the embarrassment, for which he received rehabilitation time for first offenders.
“Hopefully they can learn from my mistake,” Engram said about what he tells youth groups about how he coped with the incident. “A lot of kids look at athletes as superhuman, but a lot of us make mistakes because we’re human.”
