Now, it’s a spectacle: lights, cameras and Mel Kiper’s hair, Italian pinstripe suits on new millionaire running backs, video file footage ready to roll when each name is called at the NFL Draft.

Then, Tom Ruud remembers sitting at the phone at the Lincoln residence he shared with former Husker linebacker Bob Nelson, waiting for a call and news as to which new city Ruud was going to call home.

“We had a couple of friends that wanted to call and prank us, and we said, ‘You know, it’s really not too funny. If some team is trying to call and the line’s busy, they’ll just move on to the next guy on their list,’” recalls Ruud, a Nebraska linebacker from 1972 to 1974.

Pranks didn’t get in the way. Ruud became a Buffalo Bill, the 19th pick in the first round of the 1975 draft.

It’s funny. If he was nervous that day, it doesn’t come as close to the nerves attached to being the father of a potential draft pick.

He’s already seen one son, Barrett, get drafted in the second round of the 2005 draft by Tampa Bay. And this weekend, his next in line, Bo, will probably either be drafted in the late rounds or have his chance with an NFL team as a priority free agent.

“When you’re 21 years old, you’re excited about it, but you really don’t worry about too much of anything,” Tom says. “At that time in your life, there isn’t anything in your life that you can’t do. You have enough confidence in your abilities that you’re going to go play no matter what.

“But when you have kids, that’s what you do. You worry about them.”

All those people watching the draft today, but Bo Ruud won’t be one of them. “A buddy is getting married.”

The recent Nebraska graduate and former Lincoln Southeast star is probably more interested in what happens during the draft’s final five rounds Sunday anyway.

Bo says most teams have told him he’ll be a late-round pick or a priority free agent.

“I don’t have any clue if I’m going to get drafted or not,” Bo says. “I’ll get a shot, though. I’ve been told by some teams that they want me as a priority free agent no matter what.”

Some have said that it’s better to be a free agent than get picked in the late rounds, the thinking being that a free agent can kind of have a say in the situation/team he’d like to join.

Both Tom and Bo have heard that argument. Both would still just as soon see Bo get drafted this weekend.

“I feel if a club puts a draft choice toward you they have something invested in you, more so than they do as a free agent,” Tom says. “But no matter what,  he’s going to get an opportunity to try to make a team and that’s what you try and do in this position in your life. A lot of kids would like that opportunity.”

And a lot of dads would love to have two sons who will be working out in NFL camps this year. As Tom says: “That’s pretty unique.” 

Barrett has already made a name for himself in the league, especially breaking out last fall with 114 tackles, four forced fumbles and two interceptions.

Bo says he paid close attention to his older brother as Barrett went through the draft process, asking him questions along the way.

It’s the advantage of being a Ruud, a name synonymous with Nebraska football.

Still, Bo knows that Barrett’s pro success don’t grant him anything.

“Truthfully, I don’t think it matters at all,” Bo says. “I haven’t heard anybody even mention my brother. I think they check you out separately in every single way.”

After last year’s Husker season, Bo saw his first NFL game in December, traveling to Tampa, Fla., to see his brother’s team take on Atlanta.

Following that, Bo spent some time in Phoenix, training for Nebraska’s Pro Day, his chance to show scouts what he could do.

The training was worth it. He knocked down his 40-yard dash  time to 4.51 seconds, a very strong mark, compared with many of the other linebackers who went to the NFL Combine.

“I think I surprised a lot of people,” says Bo, who has recently been staying in Lincoln with his dad until the draft.

“I’m just waiting around now.”

There’s the cruelty of the draft, be it 1975 or 2008. Cell phones may have helped draft-day communication, but improved technology didn’t get rid of the waiting.

Whatever happens this weekend, the ultimate hope is that Tom Ruud will hardly have a spare moment come fall — flying here and there and everywhere.

Says Bo: “He’ll probably be a pretty busy guy if it all works for us.”

Reach Brian Christopherson at bchristopherson@journalstar.com or 473-7439.