Expected to enter the draft is Eddie Strong of Batesville. Strong just finished up at Ole Miss as a linebacker.

Strong so far is one of the top 200 college prospects and expected to do well in the draft. Talk around the draft boards indicate Strong will likely be chosen in the second or third round.

One analyst said the linebacker position is not a major position to fill this year but he said Strong is a versatile player, maybe one of the most versatile in the league.

Strong is out of town and not available for comment at this moment, but periodic updates on the upcoming draft will appear.

The draft will be held April 20 and 21 and will be televised on ESPN and ESPN2.

Deshea Townsend was the last player from Batesville drafted in the NFL in 1998. He was drafted by the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Dwayne Rudd of Batesville was drafted by the Minnesota Vikings in 1997. He signed with the Cleveland Browns in 2001.

In related news, Ole Miss junior quarterback Eli Manning has not said whether or not he will enter the draft early. There was some speculation right before the Independence Bowl he would forgo his last year of eligibility and enter the draft.

Even though it was cold and snowing where some NFL teams were playing this weekend, a couple of games left me sweating at the end.

The Cleveland Browns lost in the last minute after leading the whole game to the Pittsburgh Steelers 36-33 Sunday afternoon.

Dwayne Rudd, of Batesville, plays for the Browns. Deshea Townsend, also of Batesville, plays for the Steelers. Both players did their teams proud.

Townsend, a cornerback, got a lot of playing time and was in on some big plays. Since Cleveland used its air game primarily, Townsend and the other cornerbacks and safeties were tested time and time again.

This was the third meeting between these two teams and they all ended with the Steelers winning by three.

The other Sunday game between the 49ers and the Giants was another nailbiter. The 49ers came back and beat the Giants 39-38. The last time I looked at the score of this game, the Giants were leading 38-25 or something like that.

Those are the way playoff games are supposed to be with the top teams matched up against each other.

Saturday was a whole different story. The Jets just blasted the Colts out of the water with a 41-0 shutout.

The upset of the day, according to my colleague Michelle Sanders, was the 27-7 Falcon win over the Packers.

She is from Wisconsin and really loves the Packers. When I saw the score at halftime, I decided NOT to call her. I could hear her in Courtland all the way from Pope.

In case anyone was wondering if we were being bombed Saturday, no, that was just Michelle exploding.