SACRAMENTO - Devontae Booker's NFL dream is now a reality, and he's headed to the mile-high city.
Booker, the Utah running back who attended Grant Union High School and American River Junior College in Sacramento, was drafted 136th overall by the Super Bowl champion Denver Broncos in Saturday's fourth round of the NFL Draft.
Originally thought to go before the conclusion of Friday's third round of the Draft, the 23-year-old Booker had to wait just one more day to see his lifelong dream come to fruition.
"Everything happens for a reason," Booker told ABC10, outside his mother's home in Sacramento's Del Paso Heights community. "When I got the phone call, I was extremely excited and I'm ready to work.'
On Friday, Booker attended a draft party in his thrown by friends and family in his honor at Mark & Monica's Family Pizza in Carmichael, where he watched the third round pass him by. He knew even a day earlier that he was on the Broncos' radar.
"For them not to call my name yesterday, I was kind of pissed off," Booker admitted. "But when they called me today, it was all exciting and I knew that they wanted me there - and I knew I wanted to play in Denver."
The likely reason of his slide in the NFL Draft is primarily due to suffering a torn meniscus last November while playing at Utah, where he became just the second Utes rusher to eclipse 1,000 yards rushing in consecutive seasons.
Despite two operations on that knee since suffering that injury, Booker said he is almost back to full strength.
"I don't think I'll be doing (much) at this rookie minicamp," Booker said of next weekend's offseason training program in Denver with his new team. "But when real minicamp comes in June or July, that's when I'll be ready."
The 5-foot-11, 220 pound running back will join a Broncos backfield headlined by Vallejo native C.J. Anderson, who was one of the first people to reach out to Booker and welcome him to Denver.
"It meant a lot, it definitely showed that he watched college football and he knows a lot about me," said Booker. "Just for him to (acknowledge) that I'm another hometown kid, and for him to reach out to me, it was definitely cool.
"He called me and was just like, 'man, I'm ready to work with you and want to make each other better,'."
Also from the Sacramento area to be selected in the NFL Draft was Oklahoma linebacker and former Foothill High School star Devante Bond. He was selected with the 183rd overall pick in the sixth round by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Like Booker, Bond played at the junior college level - attending Sierra College in Rocklin before his standout career at Oklahoma.
Nevada running back Don Jackson, who played at Laguna Creek High School in Elk Grove was not drafted, but a short time following the conclusions of the draft, he signed a free agent deal with the Green Bay Packers.
The Packers were the only team Jackson visited during the pre-draft process.
Follow Sean Cunningham on Twitter: @SeanCunningham
