Football: Monte Vista Alum Ryan Whalen Drafted by Cincinnati Bengals

After a , Ryan Whalen's NFL dreams became a reality Saturday as the Cincinnati Bengals selected the alum with the second pick in the sixth round of the NFL Draft.

He was at home in Alamo watching the draft with family when he received the good news.

"When the fourth and fifth round went by I started to get more anxious and hopeful," Whalen said.

Then the phone rang.

"I got a call from the Bengals and I talked to the receivers coach and four or five other people there," Whalen said. "They were letting me know they were ready to take me and that they were excited about it. It's somewhere I'll have a good chance to compete and fit it well with what they are trying to do. It's exciting ... it's definitely surreal."

Whalen didn't play organized football until his freshman year at Monte Vista where football coach Craig Bergman remembered him as a "skinny kid who was a phenomenal athlete."

"It wasn't until after his sophomore year where we said, 'Wow, this kid is going to be really good,'" Bergman said. "He just kept working himself into a heckuva athlete."

Whalen is the first Monte Vista player under Bergman to be drafted and the first Monte Vista player to be drafted since the Chargers selected Bob Gregor in 1980.

"It's pretty awesome. I'm so proud of Ryan of what he’s done and what he’ll continue to do," Bergman said. "You can't find a better kid, it's just fantastic."

Whalen graduated from Monte Vista in 2007, accepted a preferred walk-on spot at Stanford after a standout prep career and earned a scholarship a week after getting to campus. He went on to become one of the best receivers in the Pac-10 and led the Cardinal in receptions in both his sophomore and junior years. A heady player known for having good hands and being an excellent blocker, he'll join a Bengals team which drafted receiver A.J. Green with the fourth pick of the first round.

“He’s one of those guys that there are so many superlatives on his résumé of quality of character and things that he has accomplished that it sort of hurts your head,” Bengals receivers coach James Urban told Bengals.com. “He’s the kind of kid you can build a winning organization around and a great guy to have in your meeting room and, obviously, on your team.”

Due the uncertainty brought about by the NFL lockout, Whalen said he isn't sure what the next steps will be with the Bengals.

"They said they'll get a hold of me when they can," Whalen said.

In the mean time he'll finish his last academic quarter at Stanford and continue to work out in preparation for the season.

Growing up in Alamo, Whalen played CYO basketball for St. Isidore and and played baseball in San Ramon Valley Little League. He was also an exceptional basketball player at Monte Vista.

Whalen was drafted just two round after San Ramon Valley High alum Roy Helu was picked by the Washington Redskins.