The first call former Penn State defensive end Michael Haynes got from an agent came in July.

Needless to say, Haynes wasn't expecting to hear anything about the NFL after finishing the 2001 season with just four sacks. He expected to spend his next summer trying to figure out what medical school he should go to chase his other dream of being a veterinarian.

"He was like 'Why are you guys calling me?' " his agent, Brian Mackler said. "We just saw something in him that I guess no one else saw."

Since then everyone's seen it. Starting with his breakout campaign in the fall and continuing through the draft combine and Penn State's pro workout day, Haynes has done everything to make himself a first-round draft pick.

That's what pretty much everyone is saying about Haynes. It's not really a question of whether he'll go in the first round at this point, but which team will use their first selection to take him.

It doesn't really matter much to Haynes. He's moved around plenty in his life as the son of two military parents. He played most of his high school football at a military base in Panama before going to Columbus H.S. in New Jersey in his senior year, so he doesn't have any allegiances to teams, nor does he have a hometown he really wants to stay close to.

"I'm excited," Haynes said. "I've already got my stuff packed, and I'm just waiting to see where I'm going. It doesn't really matter to me where that is. I'm just happy to be getting drafted."

That didn't seem like much of a possibility when he got that call in July after a disappointing junior campaign. Even according to Mackler, Haynes probably would have had to break in as an undrafted free agent if the 2003 draft were held before the 2002 season began.

However, since that season started, Haynes has done pretty much everything right. He picked up two sacks in the Nittany Lions' first game against Central Florida and it was on from there. He finished the season atop the Big Ten conference in sacks with 15, tying Larry Kubin for Penn State's all-time single season record.

Haynes' stock kept rising since the season ended. He was looked at as a possible second or third round pick before a tremendous Senior Bowl week. In the game, Haynes had a sack, two tackles for loss, and two forced fumbles to win the Defensive MVP award for the North squad.

Even the one time it seemed like Haynes hit a bump along the road to draft, he actually improved his status. Haynes woke up late for his workout at the NFL combine and had to hurry up to warm up. In doing so, he pulled his quadriceps muscle and was in a lot of pain. However, he had heard NFL scouts talking about how upset they were that other players didn't workout at the combine, and he decided to push through it.

"I told them I was going to run, so I knew I had to come through and do it," Haynes said. "I didn't want to be a hypocrite and keep telling them I'm going to work out and not do it."

Haynes ran the 40-yard dash in 4.8 seconds, slightly below his standards but still good considering the amount of pain he was in. Having the grit to run the 40 in that much pain was enough to impress the scouts and general managers.

"Most guys would have bowed out with an injury like that," Mackler said. "The coaches were really impressed to see that he's a tough guy and he'll push through injury. He went through all those drills and he was hobbling about, and in the NFL, you have to prove you can play through pain."

Haynes continued to impress coaches with his personality in the interviews at the combine. The well-spoken and often jovial Haynes held court with the media throughout the season and used the same personality traits to show coaches that he could handle the pressure of the NFL media hordes. He also wowed them with his intelligence. According to Mackler, he had one of the top scores on the Wunderlick test, a staple at the combine, which requires players to answer 50 questions in 12 minutes.

Once he got back to Penn State for pro day, he overwhelmed scouts with his athletic ability again, running a 4.65 in the 40 on his healed quad, and registering times in the three-cone and shuttle run drills that according to Mackler were close to those of cornerbacks. Needless to say, there aren't many coaches who wouldn't want a 270-pound behemoth who can run like a cornerback to play defensive end.

That last workout basically solidified Haynes spot in the first round, and it gave Mackler one more reason to pat himself on the back for making that phone call in July.