It took only twelve picks into Saturday’s NFL Draft for Wendell Bryant to become a professional football player.

With the No.12 selection, the Arizona Cardinals chose Wisconsin’s former defensive tackle, giving him the chance to play in next level.

“I’m excited that [the Cardinals] picked me,” Bryant said. “I just wanted to go to a quality ball club, just go to a team, period, somebody that was going to show me the respect that I was going to show them. I think the organization that picked me, I think they covered that hands down.”

The announcement of his selection ended an otherwise agonizing day for Bryant. The defensive tackle watched the draft with his mother, Karen Wells, and other friends, family and associates in a private suite in the Marriott Hotel, where the Badgers host their football banquet.

The small party stayed glued to the TV screen, waiting for Bryant’s name to be flashed across it saying that he was drafted.

“My pupils have been, like, dilated all day, I’ve been staring at the TV, just waiting,” Bryant said.

Eventually, the wait was over, as Bryant’s phone rang and the Arizona Cardinals told him he was the newest member of their squad.

And at that point, Bryant’s party finally got to see his name flashed across the TV.

“It was just a great moment,” the defensive tackle said. “My mom was sitting there, I hugged her, and all my people were around me. It was just really cool.”

Bryant visited with the Cardinals earlier this month when he met owner William Bidwill and Dave McGinnis, Arizona’s head coach, and got a chance to get familiar with the team.

“It’s a quality organization. They’re first class all the way,” Bryant said of his new team.

This class stretches to the defensive line coach, Joe Greene. Playing for Greene adds to the respect Bryant has for the Arizona personnel and presents a great learning opportunity for the rookie.

“[Playing for Greene] can do nothing but help me,” Bryant said of his future coach. “A Hall of Famer, a person that’s been in the league and seen the game progress as he has and has the knowledge that he has ? you can do nothing but learn from him.”

Another person Bryant can use for guidance is former Badger Tom Burke, the Cardinals’ defensive end. Bryant and Burke played together during the 1998 season when the Badgers won the Rose Bowl.

But Burke and Greene will most likely have to wait in line to offer Bryant guidance, as his biggest adviser — his mother — will be first on his list. Wells will be moving to Arizona to be with her son, a decision Bryant isn’t protesting.

“Might as well get a home-cooked meal instead of eating McDonalds and Burger King. You can only have fries so many days out of the week,” Bryant joked.

But Bryant knows how important his mother’s influence has been in his career.

“She’s like the middle linebacker — she directs all the traffic,” Bryant said.

Bryant said that Wells was content with her son playing for the Cardinals, and part of it could be related to the sentimental feelings her son has surrounding the team. Natives of St. Louis, Bryant and Wells once called the Cardinals their home team until the team moved in 1988.

As a child Bryant grew up cheering for the Cardinals, and he remembers watching the games with his grandfather. But then, Bryant said, when he was around nine years old, the team left St. Louis. The defensive tackle didn’t hold a grudge against the Cardinals for leaving — he just turned his loyalties elsewhere.

But now, over a decade later, Bryant is willing to give everything he has to the Arizona team. The Cardinals have struggled in the past but shown improvement over the last few seasons, and Bryant is ready to help and make his presence felt in any way he can.

“I would hope [the Cardinals] would want me to come in and try to make an immediate impact, because that’s my plan,” Bryant said. “I plan to try to play, just do whatever they need me to do. If they need me to wait, and if there’s a guy in front of me that has more experience and needs me to wait, then I will. If their plan is to have me come in and play, I’m all for that.”

Bryant won’t have to wait long to see what exactly the Cardinals do have planned for him. He flew to Arizona on Sunday morning for press conferences, and then he is set to start mini-camp next week.

Anelli, Echols, Greisen drafted: Three more Badgers were selected in the second day of the draft. Tennessee drafted Mike Echols with the 12th pick of the fourth round Sunday. Echols was the 110th player drafted overall.

Nick Greisen will join Ron Dayne in New York next season, as the Giants selected the linebacker with the 17th pick of the fifth round (152nd player overall).

Mark Anelli was the final Badger drafted Sunday when San Francisco chose the tight end with the 29th pick in the sixth round (201st player overall).