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Columbia Missourian

Maclin's road to the pros

By Robert Mays
April 18, 2009 | 9:48 p.m. CDT
Maclin during warmups before the start of the Kansas game at Arrowhead.

After two years at Missouri, wide receiver Jeremy Maclin is preparing to take his step in professional football as a probable first round pick in the NFL Draft.

Of the thousands of college football players who harbor what-if dreams of going pro, Maclin is given to be one of the 250 who will be picked in next weekend's NFL Draft. The 6-foot, 200-pound wide receiver is expected to be tapped in the first round and offered a contract worth up to $20 million.

For Jeremy Maclin, a young man whose talent, drive and luck carried him from a rough patch of Kirkwood to an elite suburban youth league to Missouri, here is the eve of the 2009 NFL Draft. And for him, the question is no longer if. It's who and how much.

Click here to see a video report of Maclin’s preparations for the draft, and to read about the life journey that got him here.

Click here to listen to Missourian staff talk about MU football players preparing for the draft.