By Joel Weckerly, Sports Editor

From his parents’ home in Eastland, Britt Lively watched as 255 names other than his own flashed on the television screen.

“It was disappointing,” said Lively, the former ACU offensive lineman. “All these scouts and agents were telling me I was definitely going to get drafted-everybody was.”

Upon the draft’s conclusion, ESPN NFL guru Chris Mortensen gave his two cents: “If you’re a player who didn’t get drafted, it might be better for you-you get to pick your own team.”

If only the process was so simple.

On Sunday and Monday, Lively’s new agent, Dallas-based Scott Casterline, frantically tried to shop his client to NFL teams in need of priority free agents to fill their roster slots. Through Tuesday, his efforts were unsuccessful.

“There’s a big rush at the end of the draft for priority guys,” explained Casterline. “Each coach on his respective team is pushing his guys to his personnel director, who makes the decisions.

“But Britt falls in the next category,” he said. “The teams already have their priority guys, and he’s in hold status.”

Casterline, who has represented such former NFL stars as Larry Brown and Curtis Enis and current ones like Antowain Smith and Lincoln Kennedy, said he was in the process of talking to “two to three” teams interested in Lively.

“We’ve still got a lot of calls out, a lot of possibilities,” Casterline said. “We’d like to get this done as soon as possible.”

If the teams fail to sign Lively, Casterline said he would have to wait until June 1-when teams make veteran roster cuts-to vault Lively into the NFL.

But for now, Lively must await a certain phone call to quell the pit in his stomach he can’t get rid of.

“It’s a sick feeling,” Lively said. “I could never play football again. That’s my dream. I’ve always wanted to play in the NFL, and it’ll be hard to let that go and move on to something else.”