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Since he planned to spike his exasperatingly unreliable cell phone against the nearest wall as soon as possible, Tom Zbikowski had people call it repeatedly Saturday and Sunday, to test the reception and sheer functionality.
The Baltimore Ravens had his home number, as it turns out. And soon after they rang it to take the former Buffalo Grove and Notre Dame standout in the third round of the NFL draft, someone half-seriously suggested sending Zbikowski's sister, Kristen, out to buy some team gear. In Baltimore.
As these episodes suggest, patience is not a virtue with the Zbikowski clan. Still, Tom Zbikowski will need to develop an even keel as he heads into an apprenticeship with one of the NFL's stingiest defenses.
"I still don't think it's sunk in," Zbikowski said. "In a couple of days, I'll be strapping it up in the same huddle as Ray Lewis and Ed Reed. It's ridiculous thinking about that."
It was a mercy pick, though Baltimore didn't know it. Zbikowski agonized over the wait this week. Sleep was a worthless endeavor Saturday night. He had four televisions on throughout the house early Sunday, not to mention a bevy of charts and lists in the family's own mini-war room.
Now he has clarity at last, going from Illinois Gatorade player of the year to Notre Dame All-American to this.
"There are definitely a lot of feelings I can't even explain and put into words," Zbikowski said. "It's been a long time coming - years of hard work, since you were a little kid playing in the street, saying one day you wanted to play in the NFL. It's finally come true."
It also requires a dose of that elusive patience. Though Zbikowski started all 48 games in his Notre Dame career at safety, he's probably going to Baltimore to add depth on defense and play special teams.
Though new Ravens coach John Harbaugh joked on ESPN that Zbikowski would be his bodyguard, in reference to his boxing career, Baltimore put a premium on skills that produced 11.5 yards per punt return and three touchdown runbacks for the Irish.
"(Zbikowski is) physical, fast, can run to the football," Ravens general manager Ozzie Newsome said. "He can also be a backup returner for us. Those were areas where we got hit pretty hard last year, and we ended up taking guys off the practice squad, taking guys off the street.
"We feel like we've added some real good depth, and over the course of the next three or four years, guys that could become starters for us."
Meanwhile, Zbikowski can soak in lessons from the likes of Reed, a four-time Pro Bowl safety.
"(Who) better than Ed Reed to teach him?" said Zbikowski's father, Ed. "That's like a doctor doing his internship at the Mayo Clinic."
JDSports_Fan 
