The Associated Press

INDIANAPOLIS - Larry Fitzgerald's goals were a little different than most 14-year-old boys.

In five years as a ballboy for the Minnesota Vikings, Fitzgerald figured he'd catch a few passes and scout his future opponents. For Fitzgerald, the NFL was never a distant dream; it was an expectation.

Quarterback Ben Roethlisberger from Miami U. takes questions at a news conference at the NFL combine in Indianapolis Friday. (AP photo)

"I was out there sizing the competition up," he said Friday at the NFL's scouting combine. "I knew I was going to be out there one day."

In those days, Fitzgerald enjoyed impressing the Minnesota receivers and coaches who were watching. Now Fitzgerald is impressing everyone.

The Heisman Trophy runner-up has catapulted past Texas' Roy Williams and Oklahoma State's Rashaun Woods and is regarded almost unanimously as the top receiver in this year's draft class. Fitzgerald is expected to be a top-5 pick April 24. He's one of two sophomores at the combine, joining Maurice Clarett.

But Friday, Fitzgerald provided a marked contrast to Clarett, who fought his way into the draft by winning a court challenge against the NFL's rule requiring players to spend three years out of high school before becoming eligible.

Fitzgerald checked in at 6-foot-3 and 225 pounds - the same playing weight he had at Pittsburgh. Clarett was 7 pounds overweight.

Fitzgerald also showed more humility and said he would have gladly returned to the University of Pittsburgh if the NFL hadn't let him in the draft. "You don't want to fight the NFL," he said. "It would have been in my best interest to go back to school."

Instead, Fitzgerald will spend this fall playing with or against some of the players he once handed balls to - Randy Moss and Daunte Culpepper - and he hopes to show he's learned a few things.

"Coach (Dennis) Green and all the coaches would tell me, 'You've got good ability. Don't let it go to waste,' " Fitzgerald said. He could be reunited with Green, whose Arizona Cardinals have the third pick.

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