Outback Bowl Alumni Score Big In 1999 Nfl Draft

Tampa, FL - No. 1 pick Tim Couch led a class of twenty players who were selected in the 1999 NFL draft who played in the Outback Bowl during their college careers. Couch and four others were taken in the first round.

During the thirteen years of the Outback Bowl (known as the Hall of Fame Bowl the first nine years) college football fans have had the opportunity to see some of the best players in the sport including plenty of future professionals such as Charles Woodson, Robert Edwards, Leroy Hoard, Jerry Wunsch, Howard Griffith, Bobby Humphrey, Kelvin Martin, Heath Shuler, Joey Galloway, Tyrone Wheatley and Curtis Enis.

In all this brings the total number to at least 336 alumni of this bowl who have been drafted or signed as free agents with NFL teams. In just the past four years 92 players have been drafted including ten first round picks over the past two years.

The 1999 NFL draft selections of Outback Bowl alumni included:

Round 1 (Overall pick in parentheses)

Tim Couch, qb, Kentucky; by Cleveland (1)
Champ Bailey, db, Georgia; by Washington (7)
Matt Stinchcomb, ot, Georgia; by Oakland (18)
Fernando Bryant, db, Alabama; by Jacksonville (26)
Aaron Gibson, ot, Wisconsin; by Detroit (27)

Round 2

Chris Terry, ot, Georgia; by Carolina (34)
Jon Jansen, ot, Michigan; by Washington (37)

Round 3

Karsten Bailey, wr, Auburn; by Seattle (82)
Tom Burke, de, Wisconsin; by Arizona (83)

Round 4

Craig Yeast, wr, Kentucky; by Cincinnati (98)
Brad Ware, db, Auburn; by Tennessee (114)
Antonio Cochran, de, Georgia; by Seattle (115)
Orlandis Gary, rb, Georgia; by Denver (127)

Round 5

Jerame Tuman, te, Michigan; by Pittsburgh (136)
Brad Scioli, de, Penn State; by Indianapolis (138)
Floyd Wedderburn, ot, Penn State; by Seattle (140)

Round 6

Tai Streets, wr, Michigan; by San Francisco (171)
Cecil Martin, rb, Wisconsin; by Philadelphia (172)
Emarios Leroy, dt, Georgia; by Jacksonville (182)
Andre Weathers, db, Michigan; by NY Giants (205)

Round 7

The Outback Bowl matches the third picks from the SEC and Big Ten Conferences on New Year's Day in Raymond James Stadium. The 1999 game featured Penn State vs Kentucky playing in front of a sell-out crowd of 66,005. For ticket and sponsorship information contact the bowl office at (813) 874-BOWL.