Few teams in college football have ever had a running back tandem with the ability and production that Auburn received from Brown and Carnell Williams. Brown, blessed with the size of a fullback and the speed of a sprinter, is an excellent receiver in addition to his skills as a power runner. Brown, a Communications major, spent last spring interning at the Auburn Network, where he edited and produced highlight films. Based on his stellar performances as a Tiger the last four years, his own highlight tape might be longer than “Gone With the Wind.”

Brown gained 1,931 yards on 206 carries (9.4 avg.) and scored 25 touchdowns and caught 15 passes for 343 yards (22.9 avg.) and three scores as a senior at Cartersville High School. He also competed as a free safety and intercepted three passes, earning Georgia Class 2A Player of the Year. He scored three touchdowns and rushed for 180 yards on 20 carries in a 27-21 win in the state championship game that year. The three-year starter rushed for 936 yards and 12 touchdowns as a junior.

Draft Order as of today.

1 San Francisco

2 Miami

3 Cleveland

4 Chicago

5 Tampa Bay

6 Tennessee

7 Minnesota (from Oakland)

8 Arizona

9 Washington

10 Detroit

11 Dallas

12 San Diego (from N.Y. Giants)

13 Houston

14 Carolina

15 Kansas City

Finally, after months of previews, the lights have dimmed and the curtains have opened on the NFL draft’s trade market. While two-plus days remain for deals to rise and fall, at least one mega trade has appeared on the horizon.

A league source said Wednesday that the Miami Dolphins, who have avidly pursued trading down from the No. 2 overall pick, are on the verge of trading that choice to the Minnesota Vikings for the seventh and 18th picks, as well as another mid-round choice. Several signs point to the deal coming to fruition in the next few days.

“Imminent is a little strong, but I think it has momentum,” the source said.

It now appears Miami has been targeting Utah quarterback Alex Smith with the No. 2 pick � which was precisely what one NFC coach insisted at the March owners’ meetings. But with Smith in negotiations with the San Francisco 49ers, Miami may be forced to go with Plan B with the second selection.

Contrary to popular belief, it now appears that Auburn running back Ronnie Brown is not being targeted by the Dolphins. In reality, communication between Miami and Brown has been a bare minimum over the last month, an odd occurrence for someone expected to be head coach Nick Saban’s first-ever draft choice.

That, combined with the possibility that San Francisco will be taking Smith with the No. 1 pick, has opened the door for the Minnesota Vikings, who are attempting to move to the top of the draft to select Michigan wide receiver Braylon Edwards. The Vikings have placed “exploratory” calls to both San Francisco and Miami to find out the price tag for obtaining their picks.

Opinions across the league are splintered about the value of trading up in the draft, and the Vikings would be paying a handsome price by surrendering two first-round picks to grab Edwards. However, he’s widely considered the best player in the draft and would go a long way toward filling the void left by Randy Moss.

As most expected, teams have begun to loosen their ties and hunker down just a few days before the draft begins on Saturday. While most of the major trades won’t begin to occur until Saturday morning, word is slowly leaking out of what’s in the works.

Among the other trades that are expected to pick up steam in the next 48 hours:

Miami cornerback Patrick Surtain for the Kansas City Chiefs’ second-round pick.

Mike Tyson hunched in his chair and tapped his 9-year-old daughter’s hand while she rested her head on Daddy’s ample shoulder. Later, the heavyweight once called “the baddest man on the planet” cuddled his napping son.

“I feel like Mr. Mom,” Tyson said, then stomped his foot and smiled at his own joke. Wearing a pinstriped suit, he could have been any family man, albeit one with a tattoo on his face.

Silent and expressionless for the first 15 minutes of Tuesday’s news conference to announce his return to the ring, a scheduled June 11 bout at the MCI Center against journeyman Kevin McBride of Ireland, Tyson lit up and laughed when his foe’s manager promised an upset.

And from that point forth, Tyson came close to being the Tyson everyone has come to expect: the curiosity that promoters hope can still sell tickets and pay-per-view buys even though he’s 38 and lost two of his past three fights.

He talked about sinking into depression, called McBride “real cute,” labeled himself “probably the worst husband in the world,” and told a PR person running the show to “chill out” when she pointed out it was time for more posed photos.

Yes, The Mike Tyson Show is headed to the nation’s capital.

“I just hope these people of Washington, D.C., are prepared to handle this,” Tyson said. “It’s going to be a train wreck.”

It will be the former champion’s first fight in nearly a year, and just his second in 28 months. In his most recent outing, at Louisville on July 30, he was stopped in the fourth round by Danny Williams after tearing cartilage in his left knee. Tyson had surgery � the knee is fine, he said Tuesday � and he’s been training in Phoenix for three weeks.

He’s been more than $30 million in debt, and when asked how much longer he thinks he’ll keep fighting, Tyson answered: “Long enough to take care of my children � a long time.”

The 6-foot-6 McBride, who’s 32-4-1 with 27 knockouts, was originally supposed to be Tyson’s opponent for that July bout. Make no mistake, this fight is entirely about Tyson. McBride’s name wasn’t even uttered by master of ceremonies Rock Newman until nearly 20 minutes into Tuesday’s event.

“It’s a no-win situation for me,” said Tyson, 50-5 with two no contests and 44 knockouts. “If I knock him out in two seconds, he’s a bum. If he gives me a shellacking, I’m a bum.”

For his part, McBride vowed at least three times: “I’m going to shock the world.”

His manager, Rich Cappiello, was more specific.

“If people are thinking we’re coming to lay down … we are coming out to knock Mike Tyson out. He had his day. His day’s gone. I think Mike Tyson gets knocked out within five rounds,” Cappiello said.

That’s when the first crease crossed Tyson’s face as he laughed.

“We are going to stop Mike Tyson and hopefully end his career,” Cappiello added.

Later, in a classic Freudian slip, Cappiello wrapped up his speech by proclaiming, “We’re going to go out there and knock Kevin � uh, Mike Tyson � out.”