For first-round NFL draft picks, the weight of high expectations is inevitable. But for Jeremy Maclin, life as a top pick comes with a couple dollops of extra pressure.
Maclin, an All-American receiver at the University of Missouri and the 19th player chosen in April's NFL Draft, now finds himself playing in a city -- Philadelphia -- notoriously nutty about sports, on a team -- the Eagles -- fresh off its fifth NFC Championship appearance this decade, and alongside a player -- DeSean Jackson -- who raised the bar for Eagles rookie receivers with his stellar season in 2008.
Not to worry, Maclin says. Nobody's hopes for the former Tiger are higher than his own.
"My expectations are always high,"
Maclin said. "That's the kind of person I am, and that's the kind of person I've been for a long time."
"You know,"
he said of the pressure, "that's what I want."
Maclin was in town Saturday, one of several former and current Missouri players on hand at Plaster Sports Complex to help with the Lorenzo Williams and Friends Football Camp.
Williams, a second-year defensive lineman with the Carolina Panthers, started the camp to raise money for Champion Athletes of the Ozarks, an organization that uses sports to help enhance the lives of disabled children.
Williams said the event would not have been possible without the help of his college teammates.
"We all stay pretty close in contact,"
Williams said. "I've got to thank them -- Jeremy Maclin, Martin Rucker, guys that are all across the country --being able to come back for my camp and help me out."
The dozen or so Tigers on hand Saturday were a testament to the close ties the former teammates keep, Williams said. They form a network that comes in handy for more than putting on camps; Rucker said that along with his brother, Mike, who played at Nebraska, former Missouri players in the NFL have been a valuable source of advice during his time as a pro.
"It's very important, because when you go to new teams and new environments, you don't know a lot of people,"
said Rucker, a second-year tight end with the Cleveland Browns. "But guys that you know from college that are going through the same experience that you are -- it's a priceless resource."
It's also a resource that is becoming more plentiful. Maclin was one of six Missouri players picked in April, bringing the number of Tigers taken since 2005 to 14 --and that doesn't include players like Williams, who caught on as a free agent.
But none of those players has come to the NFL as highly touted as Maclin, who many expected to be a top-10 pick before he landed with the Eagles.
Since the draft, Maclin has worked at "learning a whole new system,"
as he moves from the spread offense in which he flourished at Missouri to the West Coast scheme that Philadelphia employs. In the process, he has tapped the network of Missouri players Williams and Rucker praised.
With that kind of help available, Maclin seems confident he can stomach the pressure of life as a top pick in Philadelphia.
Other aspects of life in Philly --like the city's most famous sandwich -- aren't quite so palatable.
"I'm just not a really big fan of cheesesteak,"
he said, smiling. "It's good. It's just not my taste buds."
