The Art of the War Room, by Timothy Strauss

Dated: March 14, 1990

Many teams opted to take young players who are in the process of growing. Not Seattle Tritons GM
Scott Wasner. "Everybody wants the cheap players," said Wasner. "I'll be over here snapping up all the good players."

As I sat in the war room with Wasner, he made it clear early which player he was hoping would fall to the 29th position: DE John Croom. When asked why, Wasner raved. "If he gets [his spin move] off, the tackle might as well just sit down and take the rest of the play off, because it's over."

Wasner watched tentatively as four other DEs were picked before John Croom: Mike Hector to Minnesota, Gordon Rehberg to Louisville, Emile Zimmerman to Dallas, and James Barber to Denver. As
James Barber's name was called out, Wasner turned to me and simply said "unbelievable."

The next few picks fell in quick succession, and John Croom remained untouched. Hopes skyrocketed all around. If Seattle could land the 29-year-old monster pass rusher, it'd be the best pick of the second round. "He's a first-round value, high salary or not," said Wasner.

Soon, it was the Los Angeles Marshalls' pick. GM Tim-Chan George took his time, much to the agony of Wasner. Still, he remained confident. "There are some great receivers left, and they have a chance to have a franchise offensive trio at the skill positions if they take a wideout." The consensus in the war room was that either Gary Thompson or Andre Eisenhauer would be taken.

When the Los Angeles pick was announced, the whole war room was shocked. The name called out wasn't Croom, Thompson, or Eisenhauer: it was tight end Lenvil White.

"A tight end ahead of a franchise pass-rusher," Wasner said in disbelief. "White'll be good, but a tight end is still a tight end." Wasner wasted no time in getting his pick announced: DE John Croom.

Scott Wasner doesn't know how close he was to landing Croom. I later talked to New Orleans Knights
GM Darrel Michaud about the defensive end. "Truth be told," he remarked, "he was almost our first pick, but we decided to go with [ILB] Jeff [Miller]." Michaud was just as surprised as Wasner that such a talent could fall so low.

What does Wasner think?

"I couldn't be happier."