When it comes to longevity — and production — it’s tough to top the 2004 National Football League Draft.
Eli Manning was the first overall pick by the San Diego Chargers. Not wanting to play for the Chargers, he forced a trade to the New York Giants, the only team he’s ever played for.
Still the starter for the Giants, Manning has thrown for 55,142 yards, the seventh best in NFL history.
With the fourth pick, the Giants took Philip Rivers, another quarterback. The Giants dealt Rivers to the Chargers.
Rivers is still going strong for the Chargers and his 53,986 passing yards are the eighth best in history.
With the 11th pick, the Steelers drafted Ben Roethlisberger, yet another quarterback.
“Big Ben” is still piling up yards for the Steelers and enters Sunday’s showdown with the Patriots with 55,292 passing yards, the sixth-best total in NFL history.
Three quarterbacks … all with the same team after all these years … and all still starting … and sixth, seventh and eighth in passing yards in NFL history.
Not bad.
Speaking of longevity, and playing for one franchise, the third pick that year turned out pretty well for the Cardinals — wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald will waltz into the Hall of Fame when his career ends.
The 2004 draft turned out well — and tragically — for the Patriots.
The Patriots snagged two excellent players in the first round — defensive tackle Vince Wilfork at No. 21 and tight end Ben Watson at No. 32. Wilfork will some day enter the Patriots Hall of Fame. Watson is still playing for the Saints.
With their second-round pick, the Patriots drafted defensive end Marquise Hill of LSU. Hill only played in nine games over two seasons. On May 27, 2007, Hill and a companion were thrown off a jet ski into a lake north of New Orleans. Hill’s companion said he saved her life. Hill’s body was found the next day.
Best of the best
Tip of the cap to Littleton High star runner Sarah Roffman for finishing 35th at the Foot Locker Cross Country Championships on Saturday in California.
Running against the top high school runners in the country, Roffman finished in 19 minutes, eight seconds.
She will run at Cornell University.
For the first time, the female runner of the prestigious event hails from Massachusetts.
Northbridge native Sydney Masciarelli, a sophomore, sprinted at the end to earn the championship. Incredibly, it was the first cross country season for Masciarelli, a student at Marianapolis Prep in Connecticut.
Pream simply Super
Dracut resident Aise Pream was not only a member of the St. John’s Prep football team that won the MIAA Division 1 Super Bowl over Catholic Memorial earlier this month, he was a prime contributor to the win.
Pream rushed for 155 yards and two touchdowns for SJP, while on defense he intercepted a pair of passes in the 40-22 victory. Not a bad day at Gillette Stadium.
Hub of hockey?
The Tavern in the Square in Lowell was the place to be for hockey fans Saturday night.
The Bruins-Maple Leafs game was shown on many of the giant TV’s near the bar. Former UMass Lowell skater Todd Fletcher walked past our table and said hello, then showed me to a table where his father, former Chelmsford High coach Jack Fletcher, sat with a pair of friends.
Todd Fletcher then joined his fellow Chelmsford High boys hockey coaches across the restaurant. Minutes later, UML head coach Norm Bazin walked in following his team’s game against BU.
Meanwhile, on the other side of the restaurant sat ex-UMass Lowell and BU goaltending coach Mike Geragosian. The only thing missing from this hockey version of “Cheers” was Billy Riley tending bar.
Big city lights
Former Alvirne High basketball star Max Bonney-Liles is averaging 6.1 points in eight games as a freshman at Suffolk University in Boston.
The 6-foot-4 guard, last winter’s New Hampshire Gatorade Player of the Year, is averaging 3.3 rebounds per game. He is the son of Karen Bonney, Alvirne High’s athletic director.
One of Bonney’s teammates at Suffolk is Lowell native George Grillakis, a former Central Catholic star. Grillakis is shooting 54.8 percent from the floor and averaging 7.4 points per game.
Follow Barry Scanlon on Twitter@BarryScanlonSun
