STEELERS CALL ON RUBIO IN 7TH ROUND

Angel Rubio was thrilled to be selected in the 1998 National Football League draft Sunday.

But the Southeast Missouri State University product realizes that now begins the hard part.

"Now I have to go and make the team," he said. "People don't realize that just because you get drafted doesn't mean you're on the team. You still have to make it."

Which Rubio says he's fully prepared to do.

"I'm confident," he said. "I think I've got a good chance."

A 6-foot-2, 300-pound defensive tackle, Rubio was selected in the seventh and final round of the two-day draft by the Pittsburgh Steelers. He was the 221st selection overall out of 241 players.

Rubio also earned the distinction of being the highest-drafted player from a Missouri college. Running backs Ernest Blackwell and Ron Janes from the University of Missouri were picks Nos. 224 and 233, respectively.

"It's pretty exciting," said Rubio just a short while after being drafted. "I'm pretty pumped up. I guess it hasn't really set in yet. It's really an honor. I'm still kind of in awe."

Rubio received a telephone call in Cape Girardeau from the Steelers notifying him that he was their seventh-round selection.

"I got to talk to coach (Bill) Cowher and the majority of their staff," he said.

Rubio, the 1997 Ohio Valley Conference Defensive Player of the Year and also a Division I-AA All-American selection, said the Steelers had shown considerable interest in him all along.

"They had seen me at the (NFL) combine, they had come to SEMO to scout me (during a game) and they had come to Cape to work me out after the combine," he said. "I'm happy to call myself a Steeler, even though I haven't made the squad yet."

The first order of business for Rubio will to attend a Steelers' mini-camp this weekend in Pittsburgh. After that, he'll continue to get ready for the main training jump in July.

"All I wanted was to go to somebody's camp and show what I can do," he said. "The hardest part is just getting a foot in door. I've got that foot in the door and now the ball is in my court. I'll just give it my best shot and see what happens."

Rubio is the first Southeast player selected in the NFL draft since linebacker Tony Walker was taken by Indianapolis in the sixth round in 1990. He played for the Colts four seasons.

The last Southeast product to actually play in the NFL was defensive back Marquis Walker, who spent the 1996 season with Washington and St. Louis and then played part of the 1997 season with the Rams before being released.

Rubio was one of only two OVC players drafted this year. Middle Tennessee quarterback Jonathan Quinn was the 86th overall pick, going to Jacksonville in the third round.