ChiefsPlanet - Chiefs Whitlock: For the Chiefs, Berry is the ideal choice

For the Chiefs, Berry is the ideal choice
JASON WHITLOCK COMMENTARY

Eric Berry’s resume is the most impressive I’ve ever read.

In the moments after the Chiefs made the Tennessee safety the No. 5 pick in Thursday’s draft, I read Berry’s full resume, and upon completion I felt stupid for championing Dez Bryant as my favorite player in this draft.

Oh, I still think Bryant is going to be a great player.

But Eric Berry might be the perfect football player.

Like his dad, he started for three years at Tennessee and captained the Volunteers. Coming out of high school, Berry was ranked the No. 1 defensive back prospect by Rivals.com and Scout.com. He graduated high school with a 3.75 grade-point average and was a member of the National Honor Society. He was an immediate starter at Tennessee and started every game he played there. In 39 career games, he was flagged for one penalty — pass interference as a freshman.

He was a two-time unanimous All-America selection.

I could go on and on, repeating his accomplishments on the field. Let me offer a simple summation:

Eric Berry is smart, mature, talented and comes from a solid family.

Actually that’s a boring summary. Eric Berry is freakishly talented and blessed with uncanny maturity and football instincts.

How about this? He’s Terrell Owens with brains and class.

When Chiefs coach Todd Haley emerged from Kansas City’s draft room, Haley shared a bit of insight into Berry’s character, relating how Berry had helped the Tennessee equipment managers shine helmets on Fridays before games.

If Tim Tebow had legitimate NFL talent, you might compare him to Eric Berry.

This was a great pick. Berry and Nebraska defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh were the only can’t-miss prospects in this draft. Only an injury will stop Berry from being a 10-year starter in the NFL.

When you’re drafting at No. 5 and you’re forced to dump millions of guaranteed dollars on a kid, you want a sure thing and a player you believe can handle the money.

If you watched the draft on the NFL Network or ESPN, you might have noticed how many players were wearing huge diamond bracelets, huge diamond watches and huge diamond earrings.

Before they signed an NFL contract, many of the players had already gone $100,000 in debt so they could sport the “right” look on draft night.

Berry and Suh were two players I noticed who hadn’t dropped a hunk of cash on jewelry for draft night.

For some kids, the NFL draft is a winning lottery ticket — an answer to their financial prayers. For other kids, the draft is a step along a journey to prove they’re the best football players in the world.

Every player appreciates and enjoys the money. But for some young players, the money breaks them, kills their drive. The money is the destination.

For kids like Berry, football immortality is the destination. The money will take care of itself.

That’s my read on why the Chiefs drafted Berry with the top pick. Clark Hunt can rest easy. His money won’t be wasted on a kid unwilling to give his best effort. Money broke Larry Johnson and Ryan Sims. It might prove to be the downfall of Dwayne Bowe and Glenn Dorsey.

For the most part, every kid in the first round of the draft has talent, the skill to excel at the next level. The character intangibles often separate the so-so players from the good-to-great players.

Yes, I wanted the Chiefs to take a chance on Dez Bryant, a kid with questionable character. But I’m a risk-taker, and I believe the Chiefs need an upgrade at receiver if we’re ever going to get a fair read on quarterback Matt Cassel.

But the selection of Berry makes total sense. He’s going to make an impact on the field, in the locker room and in the community.

If he’s available in the fourth or fifth round, I hope the Chiefs select Florida State Rhodes Scholar Myron Rolle, another high-character safety. I’d love to see Berry and Rolle at the back of Kansas City’s defense.