University of North Carolina Athletics
Bills Draft Aiken, Hilton Fielding FA Opportunities
April 27, 2003 | Football
April 27, 2003
By Adam Lucas
When Sam Aiken's cell phone rang about ten minutes after 12 on Sunday afternoon, he thought it was another relative calling with some encouragement.
Instead, it was Buffalo Bills head coach Gregg Williams calling to greet his newest wide receiver.
"I was about to go crazy," said Aiken, who was the 127th pick overall and the 30th pick in the fourth round. "I was about to hang up the phone right when he said who it was. But I had to keep my composure."
Keeping his composure was never much of a problem for Aiken in Chapel Hill, as the 6-foot-2 wide receiver from Kenansville set school records for receptions and receiving yards during his senior season. His tall frame and sure hands intrigued pro scouts at the Senior Bowl this winter, and he was perceived to be moving up most draft boards as Saturday's first three rounds approached.
His 40-yard dash time (4.6), however, apparently concerned teams enough that he went unpicked on the first day despite some mock drafts that had him slotted in the late second round. Not surprisingly, Aiken wasn't particularly concerned about being overlooked. He was a virtual unknown in college recruiting circles until he turned in a stellar performance at the Shrine Bowl his senior year, so he's used to surpassing expectations.
Slipping out of the first day of the draft didn't especially frazzle him--he spent his Sunday morning playing catch in the front yard with his little brother and sister.
Aiken, whose mother is originally from Brooklyn and who still has family in New York, should have an opportunity to contribute right away for the Bills. Buffalo traded Peerless Price to Atlanta, leaving them with a receiver corps of Eric Moulds, Josh Reed, and Charles Johnson.
"He's in a situation where he can contribute right away," said Aiken's agent, Alvin Keels. "They run a lot of three-receiver sets and with Drew Bledsoe at quarterback it's a situation where he can flourish. If you don't go in the first round, then you just want to go to a team where you can flourish, and that's what happened for Sam."
Aiken will leave for Buffalo's minicamp on Thursday and return home on Sunday. He'll find plenty of friendly faces with the Bills, as their roster currently includes ex-Heels Marcus Jones, Brandon Spoon and Merceda Perry.
Meanwhile, Aiken's former teammate, tight end Zach Hilton, surprisingly went undrafted after being generally expected to be a late-round pick. Late in the draft's seventh and final round, teams were already calling to inquire about the possibility of inking him as a rookie free agent. At least eight teams expressed serious interest, including Minnesota, New Orleans and Buffalo.
Interested squads will work out the details with Hilton's agent, Harold Lewis of the National Sports Agency, and Lewis will advise his client on which team offers the best opportunity within the next day or two. The advantage to not being drafted as opposed to going late in the last round is that Hilton will have the chance to select a team that needs help at the tight end position rather than be locked into a team that might not have any roster space.
"It sounds like things are moving fairly quickly," Hilton said Sunday evening. "I'm so ready to get this over with."
Adam Lucas is the publisher of Tar Heel Monthly and can be reached at alucas@tarheelmonthly.com. To subscribe to Tar Heel Monthly, click here.
