M.J. Stewart waited patiently in the Langston-Brown Community Center Friday night. With his phone never leaving his hand and the 2018 NFL draft on the television screen as the piles of food on the tables were left uneaten, the nervous Arlington native paused for one specific call.

The Yorktown graduate’s phone rang on the second day of the NFL draft. This was the moment he had been waiting for, it was supposed to be call from an NFL team to tell him he was going to be drafted. But alas, it was just one of his good friends.

“When he called, my heart dropped and I thought it was a team,” Stewart said. “I was kind of mad about that in the moment.”

Ten minutes later, his phone lit up again. This time, Stewart knew it was the real thing. And just like that, Stewart was the highest drafted player from the DMV during this year’s NFL draft. He was chosen No. 53 by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the second round.

“When I got the call the second time, I knew it was a team and my heart dropped again. It was an amazing feeling,” Stewart said.

The defensive back went to the University of North Carolina and was a three-time All-Atlantic Coast Conference selection. Stewart is Yorktown’s first player to be drafted in the NFL draft. He was a standout two-way starter and kick returner at Yorktown, amassing over 7,000 all-purpose yards in his career.

“It is a really big accomplishment, I’m really honored,” Stewart said. “I got Yorktown on my back and I have a lot of people behind me as well. It is not any added pressure, it just drives and motives me.”

Yorktown head football coach Bruce Hanson said Stewart was the best football player he’s ever coached during his 46 years on the job. Coming to Yorktown as a sophomore, Hanson said Stewart was “light-years ahead of any sophomore.”

“Every time he stepped on the field I knew he was special,” Hanson said. “He scored 72 touchdowns in his career. He made us look awful smart.”

Other local players that were drafted in the 2018 NFL draft include Oren Burks (South County), Dorian O’Daniel (Good Counsel), Nick Nelson (Suitland), Da’Shawn Hand (Woodbridge), Ja’Whaun Bentley (DeMatha), Marcus Allen (Wise), Jermaine Carter (Friendship Collegiate), Tim Settle (Stonewall Jackson), Kamrin Moore (Bishop O’Connell) and Greg Stroman (Stonewall Jackson).

Burks was chosen No. 88 by the Green Bay Packers in the third round. The linebacker spent his college career at Vanderbilt. O’Daniel was chosen No. 100 by the Kansas City Chiefs in the third round. The Clemson outside linebacker will join fellow Good Counsel alum Kendall Fuller on the Chiefs.

Nelson was picked by the Oakland Raiders with the No. 110 pick in the fourth round after playing for Wisconsin at defensive back. Hand was chosen No. 114 by the Detroit Lions in the fourth round after playing at Alabama as a defensive end. Bentley was chosen No. 143 by the New England Patriots in the fifth round after playing at Purdue as a linebacker. 

Allen was chosen 148th by the Pittsburgh Steelers in the fifth round after going to college at Penn State as a safety. Carter was selected at No. 161 by the Carolina Panthers after his college career at Maryland. Settle was taken at No. 163 by the Washington Redskins after playing at Virginia Tech as a defensive end.

Moore was chosen No. 189 by the New Orleans Saints after his collegiate career at Boston College as cornerback. Stroman was selected No. 241 by the Washington Redskins after going to college at Virginia Tech as a cornerback.