Magnolia, AR--Scouts from eight National Football League teams have recently been on the campus of Southern Arkansas University to test Mulerider football players and visit with the coaching staff. The biggest name among the scouts was Larry Lacewell, the head of scouting for the Dallas Cowboys and a native of Fordyce. Lacewell told 'Rider coaches that Magnolia brought a lot of memories to him. He competed in high school for the Fordyce Redbugs against the Magnolia Panthers. After spending much of the day in Magnolia, he headed to Fordyce to visit relatives.

Other scouts were from the Jacksonville Jaguars, Indianapolis Colts, New Orleans Saints, Buffalo Bills, Miami Dolphins, Kansas City Chiefs and Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

The scouts were on hand to test the speed and agility of split end Drew Cone, defensive end Kendall Hill, strong safety Robert Fox and cornerback Eddie Bratton. Cone is 6' 3", weighs 222 pounds and was timed in the 40 in 4.45. He is from Van Buren, Ark. Hill is a 6' 5", 251-pounder who ran a 4.8 in the 40. He is from Nacogdoches, Tex. Fox is 6' 0", weighs 203 pounds and clocked under 4.6. He is from Irving, Tex. Bratton missed some of the drills because of an injury but recently ran under 4.5 for the scouts on hand.

Besides the 40-yard dash, the prospects were tested in shuttle runs and individual position drills. Cone, Hill and Fox performed exceptionally well in their shuttle runs.

Assistant coach John Bland said, "SAU has not had this much interest from NFL scouts before." He was exceptionally impressed that Lacewell personally was interested in SAU talent.

The NFL draft date is April 15. If some, or none of the 'Riders are not drafted, they will still have the opportunity for tryouts or sign as free agents.