The Next Step Is The Hardest

The draft was three days away, and here was Savage, looking at a player he might take in the seventh round or try to sign after the draft as a long-shot free agent. Why? Because he was panning for draft nuggets, and one of his scouts, 25-year-old Bobby Vega, assigned to small colleges in the East and South, told Savage this was his top prospect at any position. Savage had watched some video of Hall and seen speed and production (26 sacks in three seasons). But before committing a precious pick, he needed to see Hall in person.

Savage placed a football eight yards beyond a line of four cones and asked Hall to high-step, fast, over the cones to the ball. Hall ran, knees high, over the cones and, without being told, accelerated to the ball, scooped it up in full stride and ran back. The athleticism stunned Savage. Vega was right. Hall had a chance to fill a void, and he might last till the seventh round.

APRIL 26--27
BEREA

WITH NO pick on the first day of the draft, Savage jogged through his Bay Village neighborhood west of town. On Day 2 the Browns did not get a cornerback—every one they had listed on their draft board had been taken. But as Cleveland's final pick, No. 231 overall, approached, Savage called Hall at his Glenarden, Md., home and asked him if he had the TV on. Hall said yes. "Well, look at the bottom of the screen," Savage said. "You're going to see your name." In a moment Hall saw it. His family exploded in celebration. Hall said what all draft picks essentially say: "Now that they're giving me this opportunity, they'll never be able to get me out of there."

MAY 20
BEREA

THOUGH THE Browns were talking to a few teams about acquiring a corner, they were trying to convince themselves they'd be O.K. with a marginal crew of Brandon McDonald and Eric Wright as starters and Daven Holly as the nickel, none of whom had been in the league for more than three years. But during a seven-on-seven drill pitting receivers against corners, Edwards and Holly both went up high for a pass downfield, and their legs entangled. Edwards came down hard on his right leg, pain shooting through his hip. Holly came down hard on his left foot, buckling his knee.

Edwards got up. Holly stayed down. Within an hour Holly, 26, was lying in an MRI tube three miles away. This was his first major injury, and his mind was racing. Will my speed be gone? My quickness? I'll come back. I won't come back. I'll be fine. I'll never be the same. For 45 minutes he didn't know what to expect.

Then, in the exam room, team physician Tony Miniaci looked at the MRI and told Holly, "You do have some ligament damage. We'll have to operate." Holly's stomach hit the floor. He would miss the season.

Now what were the Browns going to do? With Tony Romo and Ben Roethlisberger (combined touchdown passes last year: 68) coming to town the first two weeks of the 2008 season, Cleveland had a crisis at cornerback. The Browns signed Terry Cousin, a veteran nickelback who had been released by Jacksonville. It was not how they wanted to go into the season.

JUNE 12
BEREA