Family photo
The Associated Press
She never paid much attention to that unique part of American sport culture known as the NFL draft. Watch the selections on television or follow them over the Internet? Buy a ticket and actually go to Radio City Music Hall to see the draft in person?
It wasn't on Sarah Marshall's to-do list.
Until now.
Sarah Marshall and her father, John, left Boston on Thursday aboard an Amtrak Acela bound for New York City. Not only do they have tickets to Saturday's NFL draft, they have prime seats. Sarah, a former Catherine McAuley basketball star and three-year starter at Boston College, has a connection.
His name is Matt Ryan, the former Boston College quarterback. People who are paid to pay attention to such things say he will be the first quarterback chosen in the draft. He's at the top of his class. His signing bonus alone should make him an instant millionaire.
He's also Sarah Marshall's longtime boyfriend.
"It's funny how sports can take your life in a different direction," John Marshall said before he left the family home in Falmouth. "I haven't really given (Sarah) any advice. She's mature beyond her years."
To those who know Sarah and Matt, it was a nice story when it first started more than four years ago. "Being on campus as an athlete, you start to see the same faces," said Sarah Marshall. "I saw him a lot at Conte Forum."
Until the nearby Yawkey Center was built for the football team, Conte was the hub for BC athletes. Most teams had their offices and locker rooms and training facilities there. Marshall and Ryan passed each other in the corridors. They noticed each other. Soon, friends encouraged them to meet.
"He's a really nice guy," said Marshall. She didn't elaborate further, conscious of the intrusion on a private relationship.
She doesn't know what to expect Saturday. More people have the opportunity to meet the nation's president than to be front and center at the NFL draft. The media, including the all-seeing eyes of television cameras, love the background stories of the players chosen in the first round of the draft.
It's the era of reality TV. Heaven help the player who was projected to be among the first picked but instead slides down the draft board. Cameras and commentators zero in on anticipation that changes to thinly disguised anxiety.
Girlfriends, wives and parents don't escape. Former Notre Dame quarterback Brady Quinn and his party were in everyone's eye until the Cleveland Browns finally rescued him last year after 21 players had already been picked.
"I'll try to do my best to avoid the cameras," said Marshall. "I'll try to have fun with this and put it all into perspective. I know that's how Matt feels. He's just trying to take it all in. We figure, no matter what happens, the day can't end badly."
Some of the so-called experts say the Atlanta Falcons, picking third in the first round, will choose Ryan. Others say Atlanta will pass and Ryan will fall to the Kansas City Chiefs, New York Jets or Baltimore Ravens, picking fifth, sixth and eighth.
Ryan is a 6-foot-5 athlete from outside Philadelphia with the strong work ethic and can-do attitude that makes teammates gravitate to him. The leader without the ego. Sounds a little like Tom Brady, the other quarterback who plays football in New England.
Funny how interconnected life can be. Ryan replaced Quinton Porter, the former Portland High star, during Porter's final season at BC.
Marshall and Ryan share many of the same character traits. She was the point guard for BC teams that were among the best in their conference.
Ryan played basketball in high school, though neither picked up a basketball around the other. Marshall laughs. No reason, really. No time, maybe.
Last weekend, they went to the movies. Yes, it was "Forgetting Sarah Marshall," the comedy about a jilted boyfriend going to Hawaii to forget about his lost love and finding her there. With her new boyfriend.
Now, there are hundreds of women in the United States named Sarah Marshall. But only one has a relationship with the quarterback every college football fan knows by name.
"It doesn't bother me," said Marshall. "The movie was funny."
A public relations firm promoting the movie in Boston sent her a box of swag with her name printed on the coffee mugs and such. Billboards in New York City shout: "My mother always hated you, Sarah Marshall" and "You do look fat in those jeans, Sarah Marshall."
Visiting an older sister in New York recently, Sarah stood in front of a billboard for a photo. It's now on a sister's cellphone.
Yes, this is the spring she won't forget. Any week, she's due to become a new aunt.
Sometime Saturday evening, Sarah and Matt might fly to the city of whichever team selects him. More greeting and meeting and more media exposure before a return flight to New York.
When John Marshall walks onto the Acela for the trip back to Boston on Sunday, his daughter will be with him. Sarah, who's finished with school and working in Boston, shares an apartment with her sister. Will Sarah relocate to Atlanta or Kansas City or anywhere an NFL team believes Matt Ryan is their next quarterback?
The WNBA didn't consider her in its recent draft. Her competitive basketball career, as she knew it, is over.
"We're just two young 22-year-olds," said Sarah Marshall. "We'll see where this goes."
Staff Writer Steve Solloway can be contacted at 791-6412 or at:
ssolloway@pressherald.com
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