One round went by. Then another.
And then another.
The anticipation continued to grow on Sunday for A.Q. Shipley, the former Penn State center project to go as high as the fourth round in last weekend's NFL Draft.
"I was getting anxious," Shipley said. "I wasn't getting nervous or frustrated or anything, but after the fifth round passed and I didn't hear my name called, I was starting to get a little more anxious than normal."
Two rounds later, and unsteady nerves turned into goosebumps for the Coraopolis, Pa., native, as he officially got word that he would be playing for the Pittsburgh Steelers -- his favorite NFL team.
"It's amazing. It really is," Shipley said. "I think when I got that call, it was like a weight lifted off my shoulders. It was unbelievable."
In came the congratulatory texts from Rich Ohrnberger, his best friend and fellow former Penn State offensive lineman whom the New England Patriots traded up to draft in the fourth round earlier that day.
Shipley said he is now looking forward to going against the animated guard as a conference rival.
But first and foremost on the former second team All-America's agenda is securing No. 52, the jersey worn by former Steelers center Mike Webster, who died of a heart attack in 2002 at the age of 50.
Shipley played alongside Webster's son, Garrett, at Moon Area High School and said he will ask the Steelers for the currently unused number during his first meeting with them at mini-camp today.
Ourlads.com draft analyst Dan Shonka compared Shipley's size to that of Webster's during his Hall of Fame career.
Shipley is listed at 6-foot-1, 297 pounds while Webster was 6-foot-1, 255 pounds.
Shipley's short arms, which held the Rimington Trophy as the nation's top center at the end of the 2008 season, have been the biggest question mark surrounding him.
"That's about what he's like. Mike Webster wasn't a long-arm guy either," Shonka said. "Webster was a real thick, short-arm guy, very muscular.
"But the thing is, Webster didn't see a lot of 3-4 defenses, and he could get onto the linebackers."
Yet the lure of donning the black and gold like his childhood heroes will give Shipley extra incentive in training camps, Shonka said.
The fact the Steelers suffered through offensive line woes all season in 2008 should give Shipley a better shot than most seventh-rounders to stay on the team that drafted him.
"I know he's gonna be working extra hard," Shonka said. "But he's gotta be able to take the extra punch and do everything right on every play, because he's got physical shortcomings with those arms."
