BY SHANNON SHELTON • FREE PRESS SPORTS WRITER • April 28, 2008
Two Spartans will be teammates again.
On the second day of the NFL draft, the Chicago Bears selected Michigan State tight end Kellen Davis with the 23rd pick of the fifth round (158th overall) and defensive end Ervin Baldwin with the first pick of the seventh round (208th overall).
Davis waited longer than expected to hear his name called. Draft analysts had pegged him as an early second-day pick.
"I was surprised, before I was hearing that I was supposed to be a second- or third-round pick," Davis said in an interview with Chicago writers. "For me, I was up there for a while and it made it a little tense for me, but I ended up going to a good place and somewhere where I can feel that I can learn at the next level."
During those interviews, reporters asked Davis and Bears executives if Davis' involvement in a 2006 altercation after a party caused his stock to drop.
"I think I just explained it to teams by just telling them what happened and where I was at and that it is really just all the way behind me," Davis said. "I got off probation last month and just ready to play football and maturing as a person and hopefully have a great career."
Greg Gabriel, the Bears' director of college scouting, said MSU's previous coaching staff hadn't been high on Davis.
"The old staff that was there had some questions," Gabriel said. "(Bears offensive line coach) Harry (Hiestand) was at a workout and the new line coach at Michigan State just happened to be there and they started talking about this guy and he said, 'I don't know why they didn't like him. This guy is a heck of a football player. He does everything I ask of him.' We got good reviews on him."
The 6-feet-7, 262-pound Davis set career highs for receptions (32), receiving yards (513) and touchdowns (six) in 2007.
Baldwin's name appeared on some boards, but he was not considered as a definite draft selection. The 6-2, 270-pound Baldwin had 18 1/2 tackles for loss and 8 1/2 sacks last season.
