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April 2, 1998
BY MARK POTASH STAFF REPORTER
Penn State's Curtis Enis is everything an NFL team could want in a running back: He's got the size, speed, durability and hands to be a star of Jerome Bettis' caliber--or better.
Off the field, he is reverent and polite, a polished 21-year-old who can admit a mistake and isn't afraid to say ``I don't know'' when he doesn't know--a perfect fit for any locker room.
The 6-0 1/2, 250-pound Enis, who ran in ``the low 4.5s'' in the 40-yard dash at a recent workout, is rated the No. 1 running back prospect in the upcoming NFL draft, certainly worthy of the No. 5 pick in the first round.
The only question is how badly the Bears need him. They've invested heavily in Raymont Harris, Edgar Bennett and Rashaan Salaam. And the Bears appear to have greater needs than running back--defensive line, linebacker and wide receiver.
But Enis' total package might be worth creating a logjam. Though Harris, Bennett and Salaam each has rushed for more than 1,000 yards in a season, all are coming off injuries. And that logjam could be easily broken by trading Salaam and making Harris a free agent.
That would leave Bennett and Enis as the top two running backs, and by taking the transition tag off Harris, the Bears would free up $2.6 million to sign free-agent defensive end Clyde Simmons, or somebody else.
``If I was to come here I think we would have one of the most talented backfields in the NFL,'' Enis said. ``Guys like Rashaan Salaam, Raymont, Edgar Bennett. And I don't want to forget [Darnell] Autry, who's a Big Ten guy. I can come in and learn from those guys.''
Even if the Bears don't select Enis, he can at least say he had lunch with Walter Payton, the Bears unofficial greeter who dined with Marshall wide receiver Randy Moss on Tuesday.
``It was great to have lunch with a childhood hero,'' said Enis, a junior last season who scored 20 touchdowns for the Nittany Lions. ``He has all these highlight tapes I used to steal moves off of. I finally got the chance to admit it to him.
``Walter is a guy I totally admire, not for his football ability, just the way he is as a person. For me to have lunch with [him], it made my day. It was great to speak to a legend. That's one of my goals, to be a legend like Mr. Payton.''
Yes, he even called him ``Mr. Payton.''
``He got all nervous about that,'' Enis said. ``He said he was going to bust me up if I didn't call him Walter. I kind of got scared. ... It looks like he could play a few more years.''
Upon stepping up to the lectern in the media room at Halas Hall, facing a battery of television cameras, Enis said, ``Is this what Michael Jordan has to go through every game?''
But Enis proved as adept as Jordan at handling touchy issues when he was asked about the one negative mark on his record-- his violation of an NCAA rule by allowing an agent to buy him a suit and his suspension for Penn State's Citrus Bowl game against Florida.
Given the opportunity to blame the agent and the NCAA, he chose neither.
``It was a mistake I made,'' he said. ``I knew the rule and I still made the mistake and I learned from that mistake.
``The NCAA is there to govern. The rules are there for a purpose and I broke those rules and had to suffer the consequences. I put myself in that position. I did it on my own. The agent had nothing to do with it. I persuaded the agent to do it.''
NOTE: Georgia Tech linebacker Keith Brooking and Florida defensive lineman Vonnie Holliday will be among 15 college players the Bears will entertain today and Friday. The players, some of whom will be potential undrafted free agents, will meet current and former Bears players at a dinner tonight and will tour the team's facilities Friday.
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