Matt Leinart Parties With Paris Hilton -- And 200 Others -- In Las Vegas

Well, I can say I ordered him a free cocktail last week. We -- just the two of us -- were at the bar at Gustavino's in NYC last Thursday and I said "I'll never get the chance to say this, so 'Buy the bar a round?"

I just hope Matt can focus on the field once training camp starts, but I think he can. It's a new level. Still, it's like he's turning 21 again -- what's one more big bash?

Thing is, he's a very nice person, so those 200 people who were in attendance were not there just for his name.

Paris Hilton & Matt Leinart: Cozy in Vegas

Thursday May 04, 2006 3:50pm EST
By Stephen M. Silverman
Hilton and Leinart on May 1
CREDIT: ALPHAX / X17

Matt Leinart celebrated being drafted into the NFL by partying at a Las Vegas nightclub on Tuesday with Paris Hilton.

For the record, Leinart was joined at the club PURE by more than 200 of his closest friends, including Nick Lachey, Wilmer Valderrama and Danny Masterson – but he spent the better part of the evening with the newly single Hilton, a source tells PEOPLE.

On his way into the bash, the 22-year-old, 6'5", Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback, who was recently drafted by the Arizona Cardinals, told PEOPLE, "After this, it's all business, all NFL."

Inside, he danced with Hilton, 25, on the club's VIP beds. She called him "baby" and rested her head on his back, sometimes holding his hand, says the source.

The pair danced the night away – and at one point disappeared together behind closed doors in the club's private suite.

Later, Hilton treated the crowd to an impromptu concert, jumping on top of the DJ booth and belting out several songs from her upcoming album, including a rendition of Rod Stewart's "Do You Think I'm Sexy" – which she dedicated to Leinart.

When not on the dance floor, the pair nestled themselves into the corner of a VIP bed, where they kissed and hugged before leaving around 3:30 a.m.

Hilton and Leinart have been spotted together several times recently. On May 1, Hilton, wearing a brunette wig, shopped at the Grove in Los Angeles with Leinart, PEOPLE reports. That night, they partied together at L.A. club Shag. "They seemed really into each other," said one witness. "He was very touchy-feely."

Leinart's rep denies that they're dating, and Hilton's publicist, Elliot Mintz, says, "She knows Matt, she likes Matt. They are friends. I don't want to go any further than that. They have known each other a while."

Oakland Raiders Legend Michael Dotterer's Advice To The New Raider Draftees - Video

Oakland Raiders running back Michael Dotterer -- who was also on the Stanford team that lost to Cal because of "The Play" in the 1982 Big Game -- has been my friend for about 11 years now. He played for the Silver and Black during their LA years and was part of the 1984 Super Bowl Championship Team. He is also one of only 24 two-sport all stars in Stanford University history.

During my trip to the NFL Draft, I asked Mike if I could do a kind of walking interview of him and his advice for the Raiders newest draftees on the eve of the NFL Draft. He was more than happy to allow this. The result is a talk and walk through Midtown Manhattan on the way to dinner at The 21 Club restaurant. My favorite.

Along the way, Mike reveals that his Raiders roommate was none other than the legendary Lyle Alzado, a true character and so much in the Raider mold it's easy to forget he played for the Denver Broncos. Mike also instructs rookies to listen.

We covered a lot of ground and in more ways than one.

Here's my conversation with Michael Dotterer:

2006 NFL Draft - Sights And Sounds Before The Start Of The Draft

I took my camcorder on a kind of tour around the main theater of Radio City Music Hall just before the start of the NFL Draft. It was kind of like the crew of the Starship Enterprise preparing the big vessel before it leaves drydock. A cool scene.

During my rounds I reconnected with Todd Barnes, who, with Jerry Andersen formed the plans for the use of the Oakland / Alameda County Coliseum for the 2005 Super Bowl in1999-2000. He's a very nice person, who's landed well as the architect for the NFL. The segment where I almost ran into him wasn't fake -- it really happened.

I also feature Bill Chachkes, who as you know if you regularly read this has attended more NFL drafts than perhaps all but a handful of people in the room. I also catch ESPN's Mike Golic, who at the 2005 NFL Draft was tossing his cookies to the audience. No kidding. (He later told me that security really got on him for that, so he didn't do it this time.)

I also met Jerry Davis, Al Davis brother, whom I refered to earlier. You can see how much he's really like the man who runs the Oakland Raiders.

You also see both ESPN's crew and the NFL Network's hosts getting ready to go into action.

Along the tour one can gain a keen idea of the complexity of this massive production.

Here's the video:

2006 NFL Draft - "From A White Game To A Black Game" - S.I.'s Paul Zimmerman On The NFL Draft, Pro Football, and Katie Couric - Video

I had the pleasure of conducting an interview with the legendary Sports Illiustrated writer, Paul Zimmerman at the 2006 NFL Draft. While our conversation was short -- we were all getting ready for the drama that was to unfold after the Houston Texans officially annouced their selection of defensive lineman Mario Williams -- it was blunt, honest, illuminating, and fun.

Some of the highlight of our conversation: "If I were the Texans, I'd have taken the best player I thought was available, and busted my hump to sign him. Maybe they did that...Football has changed from a white game to a black game. It's a speed game... If I were the Texans, I'd have taken the best player I thought was available. Maybe they did that. Time will tell... You tell me. What has Katie Couric done for $15 million?"

Well, you get the idea. This was totally off the cuff. Paul didn't know this guy was going to come with with a camcorder and ask for an interview. We didn't go over exactly what was going to be asked. I just filmed our conversation. It was that simple.

For those of you who don't know who "Dr. Z" is, here's his bio from S.I.com:

"Paul Zimmerman, a senior writer at Sports Illustrated since 1979, videotapes and charts as many as eight NFL games a week from his home. It's safe to say that Dr. Z has watched more NFL games than any other person on the planet. In addition to his regular columns for SI, he contributes Insider, Power Rankings and Mailbag columns to SI.com.

Dr. Z is the author of seven books on the NFL, including The Thinking Man's Guide to Pro Football. His inside analysis and opinions are rooted in more than 50 years of playing and watching football.

As a 15-year-old, Zimmerman sparred with Ernest Hemingway in a Manhattan gym. He sustained four broken noses as an offensive lineman in high school (Horace Mann High in the Bronx, N.Y.), at two colleges (Stanford and Columbia) and for his Army team (the Western Area Command Rhinos, in Germany). He also played semi-professionally in New Jersey for the Paterson Pioneers and the Morristown Colonials.

Before joining SI, Zimmerman worked for the New York Journal-American and the New York World-Telegram & Sun, and spent 13 years at the New York Post, where he covered pro football and three Olympic Games. He was one of the few journalists to get close to the Israeli compound during the 1972 hostage-taking in Munich; he bucked two lines of security guards and took a rifle butt to the head.

Zimmerman and his wife, to whom he often refers in his columns on CNNSI.com, live in Mountain Lakes, N.J.

Dr. Z refered to his wife in our conversation, too.

Here's the video of my conversation with Paul Zimmerman:

2006 NFL Draft - A Neat Sign-Off: Bill Chachkes Takes Us Out, NFL Network's Pat Kirwan and NLS John Murphy Give Views

While it's not the last video from the NFL Draft you'll see on this blog, it was the last one taken there. It's a sign off, and starts with Bill Chachkes of www.nextlevelscoutinginc.com and Fieldposition.com and now nflbusinessblog.com signing off, Mel Kiper giving an opinion just as he's called away by someone at ESPN, NFL Network's Pat Kirwan providing his views, and John Murphy of www.nextlevelscoutinginc.com chiming in as well.

In this, you'll not only get a view of Radio City Music Hall, but also an idea of just how many people are required to put on what really is a TV production. Also notice how fast everyone was working. That's because Radio City's security people kept coming by and asking us to pack up. It was a little much, especially considering that we had not received the on-paper results from the 7th and final round. Some draft attendees write down each pick. I did that last year; not this year and because the NFL's going to give them to us, and I figured I needed the time to produce video and blog content.

Here's the video:

Video - 2006 NFL Draft - Draft Analysis By Bill Chachkes, Eric Strauss, and Matt Shapiro

Three NFL Draft media veterans totalling 34 years of NFL Draft experience talked about the 2006 NFL Draft with me at Radio City Music Hall. Bill Chachkes (pictured) of www.nextlevelscoutinginc.com and Fieldposition.com and now nflbusinessblog.com which you're reading, Eric Strauss of Raiderfans.net , and Matt Shapiro of cstv.com provide this really interesting take on the draft and which teams did well and why. I really enjoyed filming this. We even picked an interesting place, all the better to escape the loudspeakers.

As to their takes, it's varied and well worth listening to. It's also contains some opinions on where the draft was held, and other views you're not going to get anywhere else.

Here's the video:

2006 NFL Draft - It's Over And Too Bad

The NFL Draft finished with Paul Salada's read of the Oakland Raiders selection of Maine's Kevin McMahan as "Mr. Irrelevant" at as the 255th pick and all the while as fans were cheering for Marcus Vick to be that pick.

Best draft? Well, John Murphy of www.nextlevelscoutinginc.com and a 10 year draft veteran says that "I really like New England for how they filled those long-term offensive needs with Laurence Maroney and Chad Jackson... Cardinals have continued to add value across the board... Leinart, Lutui, Pope and then Gabe Watson who falls into the second day... Eagles have traded around and gotten excellent value, especially Winston Justice in round two... also like how the Broncos added a future starting QB in Jay Cutler and improved for this season by trading for wide receiver Javon Walker."

I've got a lot of video "in the can" as they say, and came away with some new friends and solidified some existing relationships. Longtime NFL Draftnik Bill Chackhes is joining my blog, and I welcome his knoweldge, wisdom, and charm. Now, if I can just get him to acitivate his Blogger account!

(Speaking of Blogger, I thought this little experiment of video / blogging went very well. With some tweaking, it will be huge next year.)

The NFL staff, as usual, were great to work with and feel like family to me. Radio City Music Hall was a great venue to hold the Draft and as I understand it better than the ballroom at Javitz because of the ceiling design there. I liked the space at Javitz but at Radio City everything and everyone was around me, as the videos will show.

Neat.

Stay tuned for a lot -- a large number -- of video clips and pictures. You'll love it.

2006 NFL Draft - At Selection 252, The Fans Cheer For Someone To Draft Marcus Vick

Marcus Vick has taken a dramatic freefall in this year's draft, and for reasons concerning his character and not his talent. Right now, we're at the 252nd selection in the draft and the fans are standing and cheering for them -- or someone -- to take Marcus Vick.

Green Bay selected Dave Tollifson, a DE from N.W. Missouri. Two picks to go. Vick's still around.

San Francisco selected, which leaves the Oakland Raiders ....the fan are cheering LOUDLY now...for Marcus Vick.

2006 NFL Draft - How A Draftees Name Gets Called

Last year, I explained the process of how an NFL draftee's name gets called. This year, I thought I'd show it. Here's the text from my report from 2005 and a video of a couple of NFL "runners" taking the name of a pick of the San Francisco 49ers to the NFL's main table.

First, the report on "How a Draftee's Name Gets Called" from my 2005 NFL Draft Report:


While I was next to the stage, I took time to record the process by which a name gets called to be the "whatever round" pick of a team. It works like this: First, the team -- let's say the San Francisco 49ers -- has 15 minutes (or a quarter in football lingo) to decide who they're going to select. Two giant football-style clocks count down the seconds. If a team fails to make a pick during that time span, they must pass and the next organization in draft order has 15 minutes to make a selection. This is called being "On the clock." Redskins' Team Table: One of 32


It's Starts With The Team Table

Second, the team's representatives, including (depending on the team) the owner, general manager, head coach, and player personnel staff, are not in New York at the Draft, they're at the team's headquarters. It's from here that they call in their selection to their representative at the team table. Washington Redskins team representatives are in the foreground in the first picture shown on this page. NFL Head Table


...Then The Name Is...

Third, the team's representative -- which range from a friend of the organization to a young employee -- write the name of the choice on a card. NFL and CSC events employees pick up that card and carry it to the NFL's main operations table. (NFL SVP Frank Supovitz is the leftmost person above.)

Fourth, from that table and to its left, the card is passed over to a bank of NFL staffers that enter it into a computer system to be recorded.

Now, here's the video of part of that process:

Bob McNair Clears The Air - On Video

Earlier today, you saw the post of Texans owner Bob McNair explaining the rationale behind his organizations selection of Mario Williams as that team's first pick and number one pic of the First Round of the NRL Draft. Now, here's the entire video of that press conference.

Vince Young Comes Out To Stage - The 2006 NFL Draft - Video

This is a video I took of the Titans first pick in the First Round of the NFL Draft, Vince Young, as he and hid family come out from the green room and onto the state of the 2006 NFL Draft.

Note how enthusiatic the crowd reception is. It wasn't the same for his counterpart, USC (and now Arizona Cardinals) quarterback Matt Leinart, who was greeted with some boos from the gallery of Radio City Music Hall.

Why? I really don't know. I think -- at that point -- the reason was to send a message that Matt wasn't wanted by the New York Jets fans, which are in abundance at the NFL Draft.

Here's the video:

2006 NFL Draft Day Two Part One - Houston Is On The Clock

Unlike the sheer craziness of Day One, Day two of the NFL Draft feels more like a club. But for draftniks and football fans -- real fans -- the drama is still real. Where will Penn State's too-fast quarterback Michael Robinson go? Will be a QB?

Houston opened up the Fourth Round and Day two with the selection of Wisconsin TE Owen Daniels. She's 6-3 253 pounds and plays with a toughness much like the New York Giants Jeremy Shockey.

Today, only ESPN's working. There's no one at the NFL Network at this time -- 11:14 AM EST. Only a fraction of the media in attendance yesterday is here today. But the gallery and the seats to the far left of me are still filled with fans. I think ESPN convinced them to go over there.

The Niners are on the clock now. They selected Michael Robinson...as a running back. A running back, not a quarterback. I wonder if Robinson agreed to that in general. Interesting. And even more so considering the Niners need for quality backup signal callers. The Oakland Raiders are on the clock now. They've selected pick 101: Darnell Bing, Linebacker from USC -- well, he played safety.

One person who's here is Paul Salata, the creator of "Mr Irrelevant" week. In this year's draft, the Oakland Raiders have the honor of picking the last draft pick, called "Mr Irrelevant." Then, later in the year on June 11-16, Mr. Irrelevant will be sent to Newport Beach, CA, where he will be "celebrated with a shower of gifts from hundreds of sports teams, treated to a day at Disneyland, honored at the All Star Sports Banquet, and presented the Lowsman Trophy from the University Athletic Club," according to the press release.

A Brief Word On The Shortness of Day One

I can't believe we finished at 9:38 PM. In 2005, Day Two went on to about 11:10 PM. Plus, it was raining like crazy. It's a lovely day in New York City this time.

Back to Day Two

Unlike Day One, the NFL didn't provide food for the media, and on that note, their was less food on Draft Day One 2006 than on Draft Day One 2005. The point is I was hungry. So, after not being able to get a simple cup of coffe because Radio City Music Hall's security guard was less than helpful, I walked over to The Broadway Deli, just one block away and one block from the Ed Sullivan Theater, where David Letterman's Show is taped. It's a great place to get a cheap meal where you just pick what you want and put it in a dish, then pay and leave. I got a lot of food. Then as I returned Mr. Salada was kind enough to stop by with two cups of coffee for me.

We're still in Round 4 and at the 128th pick. Here are some updates on the Draft to date:

• For the second time in history, Ohio State had two linebackers selected in the first round, A.J. Hawk and Bobby Carpenter. The last time that happened was 1974.

• Both Vince Young and Bobby Layne share two things in common: both are Texas Longhorns and both were picked number 3 in the NFL Draft. Vince Young is the fifth Longhorn to go in the First Round in NFL History.

• According to the NFL, Houston's new First Round pick, Mario Williams of North Carolina State breaks a streak of five consecutive quarterbacks taken with the top selection in the draft, and a string of seven QBs taken No. 1 in the past eight
drafts.

More soon!