"BETHLEHEM, Pa. - The ball was snapped, and the receivers, unfettered by pads and unworried about being hit, scattered quickly into the secondary like mice in a world without cats.

Over and over, Joe Mays was right behind them yesterday, casting a low, thick shadow of things to come on the tight ends and running backs who were his responsibility. He wanted to hit them, to separate them from the football with one of those cartoon tackles in which the helmet and the shoes of the unfortunate player pop off at the same time. But he wasn't allowed to hit them yet. No, not yet. That happens for the first time in training camp on Saturday.

Joe Mays is waiting.

"You just want to show the team that drafted you why they drafted you," the 23-year-old Mays said.

The Eagles didn't draft the linebacker because his resumé came from an impressive college program. Mays played for Division I-AA North Dakota State. They didn't draft him because he made the eyes bug out on the guys who carry around the tape measures and stopwatches at the NFL combine. He's 5-foot-11 and 246 pounds, and runs the 40-yard dash in 4.75 seconds, which is merely acceptable."