The first chapter in the book for players who've just been drafted by an NFL team says to do everything they can to make the roster. David Alexander, selected in the fifth round by the Eagles in 1987, read between the lines and realized that the book's final page would conclude: Be versatile!

"Coming in as a middle-round draft pick, it was very important," said Alexander, a guard from Tulsa. "We'd gone through two weeks of pre-camp, with (head coach) Buddy (Ryan), that's no pads, and then we showed up at training camp for physicals.

"That night, I'm in my dorm room with another rookie and we're nervous, not knowing what to do. Then there's a knock on the door. 'Dave, you need to come see (offensive line coach) Bill Walsh. And bring your playbook.' I'm thinking to myself, 'Man, I got cut and I didn't even put my pads on yet.'

OL David Alexander

"So I go down to see the coach and he says, 'Ken Reeves had an appendicitis last night. Do you know the tackle plays?' I said, 'Yeah, I know them.' I didn't know them, but I said I did. He said, 'Well, you're the second-team offensive tackle tomorrow.' So I went back to my room and learned all my tackle plays. I deep-snapped too. I did everything I could to make the team."

In addition to playing special teams, Alexander was the self-described "sixth lineman," ready to step in at any of the offensive line positions. Five games into his second season, being so prepared paid off. Taking over at left guard for Ben Tamburello, he remained in the starting lineup through the playoffs. Ryan was impressed enough to call him the team's most consistent lineman.

The following year, Alexander became the man in the middle by playing center and remained there for the next five campaigns, never missing a single game.

"I was a natural center with my body size," said the 6-3, 275-pound Alexander. "That was my natural position. That's what I played most of the time growing up. But like I said, I'd do anything I could to get out on the field."

After demonstrating that he was a leader on the field, Ryan felt that Alexander had what it took to be a leader in the locker room as well and named him as an offensive captain along with quarterback Randall Cunningham. It was a role that Alexander learned to enjoy.

"Buddy showed a lot of confidence in me early on and that gives a player confidence, knowing that his coach has confidence in him," Alexander said. "When they named me captain, I don't know if I was ready to be a vocal leader at that point. But the next year, I kind of took over that role on the offensive side. The coach had a lot of confidence in me and gave me a lot of responsibilities that most offensive linemen don't have. It was a great experience.

"I'm pretty proud of everything I was able to do in Philly. The whole eight years I was in Philadelphia, I played in every game. I started the last 112 games I was there."

The work ethic and dependability that Alexander demonstrated as an Eagle is still evident today. A custom home builder in Tulsa, Okla., [ www.EagleHomes.com] he is also in his first season as head coach of an AFL2 team, the Tulsa Talons.

"Last year, a buddy of mine and a friend of his bought the team just about two weeks before the season started and they brought me in to just kind of be their eyes and ears, keep them informed of what was going on since I'd played football," Alexander says. "After the season, they wanted to make a coaching change and they interviewed a bunch of people they'd gotten applications from through the league office. Then they said, 'Dave, we just don't think we can find anybody, we'd rather have than you. Would you do it?'

"I'm excited to be back on the field. I hadn't been on a field since I retired. Even though last year I was part of the team, I really wasn't involved with working with the players in any hands-on stuff. Obviously, playing football for as long as I did, from grade school up through my (NFL) career, it was fun to get back on the field and get hands-on with the players. We've got a great group of guys."

Alexander, who makes his home in Tulsa with his wife, Kathy, and their children: Jake, 14; Kyle, 11; and Cassity, 8; brings a bit of the past Eagles to the present Talons.

"Buddy was obviously a real big influence on me. He's the guy that drafted me and gave me an opportunity. He only had a couple simple rules, but those were unwavering. And that's what I've tried to carry on," Alexander explained. "Don't be late. Take care of yourself, personally. Do whatever you have to do to prepare to win the game. If you're one of those guys that have to get in and watch two hours of film, you've got to get in and watch two hours of film!

"All of these young men aspire to go on to the next level -- whether that's the main Arena League or NFL aspirations. You just try to teach them what they have to do to get to that next level."