Draft Day is here: Five good minutes with Kony Ealy

You can watch our newest edition of The Last Word that includes a special interview with Kony Ealy from Saturday's charity autograph session for his sister, Cierra Jones, in New Madrid. We also talk about where Ealy may land and what options the St. Louis Rams have. I suggest watching the video first before reading my short story on Ealy and tonight's draft.

It's refreshing to hear Kony Ealy speak.

It's simple, direct and exactly what he's thinking.

That can sometimes get you into trouble, I know, but Ealy has always had a 'what you see is what you get' tone since his days at New Madrid County Central. As a matter of fact, the only thing that's changed about Ealy since his NMCC days is about 60 pounds of muscle.

"He hasn't changed a bit," Longtime friend and former NMCC teammate Dontre' Jenkins said. "He likes to have fun and he hasn't changed in that aspect one bit. He's stayed the same, humble Kony Ealy."

The last stop before Ealy jetted off to New York City to attend the NFL Draft -- which is tonight at 7 p.m. on ESPN -- was in his adopted hometown of New Madrid. Fans that sat in the stands on Friday's and have watched Ealy most recently in a yellow jersey on Saturday's got a chance to visit with the potential first-round draft pick.

They all saw the same, congenial Ealy that left them four years ago.

"One thing that always struck me about Kony is that he was a good, personable person," New Madrid native Myron Hawes said. "He was always respectful of everyone. The way he looked after his father and sister was very honorable. The way he handled himself at Mizzou has always been with dignity in whatever question that was posed to him. He always handled himself with grace."

Ealy is expected to be drafted in either the first or second round of the NFL Draft and he's one of the more intriguing picks. He's one of the few that is versatile enough to potentially play three positions.

This future wasn't expected when Ealy moved from the rough streets of St. Louis to New Madrid during his seventh grade year.

"I don't think anyone expected this," Jenkins said. "He moved here in the seventh grade and we had to beg him to play football. It's kind of unreal to see what he's doing now about to go to the draft. I'm proud of him."

Ealy is 6-foot, 4-inches and 273 pounds. He could either play defensive end, a hybrid defensive end/linebacker or some teams have presented him the option of gaining a few more pounds and playing inside on the defensive line.

Publicly, the Dallas Cowboys, who hold the No. 16 pick, and the St. Louis Rams, who hold the No. 2 and No. 13 picks, have shown interest. There's also teams that want to remain hush-hush about who they talk to and they're spread all throughout the draft. In fact, you'd be hard-pressed to find mock drafts that agree on where Ealy will go. Most have him taken in the first round, but others have him slipping to the second.

He'd be a second round steal, in my opinion...

But Ealy's future team is nearly impossible to tack down. What happens with the Houston Texans' No. 1 pick and what the Rams do with the second overall pick will decide the direction of the draft indefinitely, especially for players like Ealy.

Although Ealy has expressed that he feels he's not only the best defensive player, but the best player period in the draft, the team doesn't matter to Ealy.

"He may say that he's the best player but at the same time he's like, 'wherever I go I'm going to compete and do what I need to do to get on the field'," Jenkins said.

What sets him apart from a Jadeveon Clowney or all the other top players?

"His mindset," Jenkins said. "He wants to be a winner."

Just like Ealy, his fans don't care too much either.

"We'll be pulling for whoever Kony is playing for regardless," said Hawes. "He's just an outstanding individual."