Draft day memory: How McKeesport's Mike Logan ended up in Jacksonville

Mike Logan thought the day of the NFL Draft was a good time to have a party.

Especially in 1997 when Canute Curtis, who was Logan’s friend, roommate and teammate, was projected to be a first-round choice after an All-American season as a West Virginia linebacker.

Logan, a McKeesport graduate, played cornerback to some acclaim for the Mountaineers, but he wasn’t sure when he might hear his name.

“My dad asked me, ‘Should we come down the first day or should we come down the second day?’” Logan said.

“I said, ‘Pops, I really don’t know.’”

Still, Logan’s agent, who also represented Curtis, reserved two rooms in a Morgantown, W. Va., hotel and invited some friends. Everyone waited.

“We were there for support for Canute,” Logan said. “If my name started to heat up a little bit, we would start to celebrate.

“I didn’t have any expectations. All I thought was, ‘Canute‘s going to be drafted in the first round.’”

It didn’t work out that way, but it still worked out for Logan.

Remember, this was 23 years ago and Logan didn’t own a cell phone, but when he called home during the first round to check his messages, the NFL had left a few.

“Teams are telling me, ‘You’re on our draft board.’”

Finally, he spoke to someone from the Detroit Lions, who said they were planning to take him in the second round with the 54th overall pick. “They said, ‘You are our guy,’” Logan said.

Moments later, the Lions called back and told Logan the Jacksonville Jaguars, at No. 50, were planning to draft him.

Next thing Logan knows, he’s on the phone — his agent’s phone — with Jaguars coach Tom Coughlin, and his 10-year NFL career was launched.

Meanwhile, Curtis was still waiting.

“Fortunately or unfortunately, I ended up getting drafted before Canute,” Logan said. “My family was there and we were able to party, but it was kind of somber when you’re there to support someone and they’re falling down the draft board and you’re rising up.

“I was stuck in between. This is was something I chased my entire life. Should I go celebrate or stay there and support my friend and roommate?”

But Curtis relieved Logan’s anxiety.

“Canute is one of the best gentlemen I’ve ever known in my life,” he said. “He supported me. He was happy for me.

“He said, ‘Hell, let’s go out and party. I’m going to come off the board at some time. You got money first. Let’s go spend your money.’”

And they did. Finally, Curtis was drafted the next day by the Cincinnati Bengals in the sixth round.

What about Logan’s hometown Pittsburgh Steelers?

He said he spoke to coach Bill Cowher and defensive backs coach Tim Lewis prior to the draft. But when the Steelers took Maryland cornerback Chad Scott in the first round, Logan knew they wouldn’t take another defensive back in Round 2. He was gone to Jacksonville by the time the Steelers made their second-round selection, anyway.

“I pitched my pledge to be in the black and gold and how that would be a storybook ending for me,” Logan said, “and it didn’t work out.

“They were on my radar. I don’t know if I was on their radar.”

No matter.

Four years later, Logan signed with the Steelers as a free agent and played the final six years of his career in Pittsburgh.