Vikings pick Clemmings remains philosophical during long wait

T.J. Clemmings had breakfast with his high school coach the morning of the first round of the NFL draft. The two discussed how things might unfold for Clemmings this weekend.

Late first round or early second round, they thought. That's what some draft analysts predicted, too.

A stress fracture in his foot discovered during the draft process created some uncertainty. Clemmings says he doesn't know how or when the injury occurred, just that it happened some time ago and gave him no problems during his senior season at Pitt. He referred to it as a "so-called injury."

"It's an old injury or old issue," he said. "I have no concerns with it."

Clemmings figured the injury might raise red flags, but not enough to cause him to tumble too far in the draft.

Round 1 came and went. Round 2 came and went. Round 3 came and went.

"It was difficult," said Benjie Wimberly, Clemmings' high school coach in New Jersey. "I had to stop watching it."

"The past few days have been interesting," he said.

Interesting, probably, in the same way that a migraine is "interesting," but the draft always offers examples of players who drop lower than projected. Clemmings admitted being surprised by his long wait but, to his credit, he didn't sulk or talk tough in a conference call with reporters after finally hearing his name called.

"We just stayed real positive and just kept saying the right team will draft you at the right time," he said.

If his foot injury truly is a nonissue, Clemmings eventually could become a nice find for the Vikings, at either tackle spot, considering their current options look as appealing as a canker sore.

Their offensive line as a whole became a mess last season, but their two tackles, Matt Kalil and Phil Loadholt, in particular have a lot to prove.

Clemmings has been a quick study throughout his career. He didn't even play organized football until his junior year in high school. His mom never allowed it because she worried about him getting hurt.

Clemmings was a basketball star. He held scholarship offers from several Division I programs, including Seton Hall and Providence.

Wimberly used to sit in the stands during his games and watch Clemmings pummel big men in the paint and envision him crushing quarterbacks.

"He was a very, very physical basketball player," Wimberly said. "He used all five fouls every game. He did not shy away from contact. He had that toughness about him. I thought he was a natural football player."

Clemmings' mom finally relented and allowed him to join the football team as a junior. The first day, Wimberly had to teach Clemmings how to put on his pads.

Wimberly stuck him at defensive end and explained football in simplest terms.

"Coach just said, 'Listen man, whoever has the ball, get him and take him down as hard as you can,' " Clemmings said.

Clemmings followed that instruction quite well. College recruiters started arriving halfway through his first season. He became the state's top-ranked player and a national prospect by his senior season.

Clemmings signed with Pitt and played three nondescript seasons at defensive end. He felt he could contribute more and accepted a position switch to offensive tackle as a junior, which essentially moved him back to square one.

He had to learn a new position, new techniques, basically a whole new way of thinking. He described it as playing "catch-up."

"I just had a nastiness or a certain aggression that I didn't have on defense," he said.

Clemmings probably experienced those same emotions watching the draft. That wait must have felt unbearably long after expecting to go much higher than the fourth round.

But it happened, and Clemmings seemed to keep a healthy perspective about it.

"Where I am is where I was supposed to be," he said.