Lefeld excited about chance with Falcons

As last Saturday afternoon wore on and the National Football League was wrapping up its annual college draft, Eric Lefeld wasn't overly concerned.

While it appeared that the former Coldwater High School and University of Cincinnati football standout was not going be drafted in the later rounds, the likelihood of getting a chance to compete for a professional football job was still a very good possibility.

"I had hopes to get drafted late, maybe the sixth or seventh round," Lefeld said in a telephone interview earlier this week. "It didn't happen, but calls started to come through to say 'Stay patient. Stay focused.' "

"The main thing is I'm where I need to be. It's time to hit the road running."

Just as the 256th and final pick of the draft was made, the Atlanta Falcons made the call to bring him to the team's free agent/rookie camp starting Friday in Flowery Branch.

"We basically sealed the deal directly after the draft," said Lefeld, who left today for the camp that runs Friday through Sunday.

The Falcons were one of several teams, according to Lefeld, that expressed an interest in having him come to their camps if he remained undrafted.

But Atlanta, which hired former Seattle defensive coordinator Dan Quinn as head coach earlier this season, was particularly interested in the 6-6, 310-pound offensive tackle.

"I had a lot of conversations with a couple of coaches and recruiting coordinators," Lefeld said. "(With) the reformed offense they're going through, there's no better opportunity than with the Falcons."

While Lefeld has gone through many camps at Coldwater and Cincinnati, he knows that this camp will be different.

"It'll be a whole new experience for me," Lefeld said. "I'm looking to meet the staff and coaches (and) to start to learn how everything operates.

"I'm very excited to see what the plan is and to come in and compete."