Saturday's NFL draft was nearly 11 hours old before Aaron Rouse got the call he had dreamed about since he strapped on his first football helmet.

Thirty minutes later, the Virginia Tech safety was ready to knock some heads.

Following a long, laborious day of waiting for his name to be called in the draft, Rouse got a phone call from the Green Bay Packers around 10:40 Saturday night. By a little after 11, Rouse could hardly wait to make the trip from his family's home in Norfolk to Wisconsin.

"It was tough, real tough watching all these guys go before you," said Rouse, after being informed the Packers had selected him in the third round as the 89th overall pick in the draft.

"All those teams that looked over me, they just added more fuel to my fire. I've got a huge chip on my shoulder, man. I'm about go show Green Bay why they picked me and why the other teams should have picked me. I just want my opportunity to show my worth in the NFL and make my name known ... because it will be known."

The 6-foot-4, 224-pound Rouse, who entered his senior season last fall projected as one of the nation's top prospects at safety, is determined to show that teams made a huge mistake by letting him slip so far in the draft.

"I just want to thank Green Bay for having faith in me," Rouse said. "Most definitely, I think they got a steal. I'm astounded and excited, but I'm ready to go to work in mini-camp and be a part of history there with [NFL icon quarterback] Brett Favre."

When asked if he had enough heavy clothes to bear the brutal winter climates of Green Bay, Rouse said: "I've got a cold heart and that's all I need."

Rouse said he didn't know what caused his stock to fall in the draft. His senior season numbers at Tech -- 57 tackles and one interception -- didn't come close to matching his junior year in which he had 77 stops and a team-high four picks.

"My thing is the NFL draft is just unpredictable," said Rouse, who was the only Tech or Virginia player taken in the first three rounds. "A lot of feelings get hurt ... just look at what happened to [Notre Dame QB] Brady Quinn today. It's so unpredictable that all you can do is put faith in God and know it's going to work out, and more importantly, once you hear your name picked, you go in knowing you've got to take advantage of this opportunity."

Tech wide receiver David Clowney, who was projected as a third-round pick by many draft analysts, wasn't among the 17 wideouts picked Saturday. Clowney figures to be a sure-fire choice in today's rounds 4-7.