As a freshman in 2003, he also was part of Miami's infamous 7th Floor Crew, a group of nine players who recorded a rap song that was, among other things, demeaning to women. The group was castigated for a song, Gooden said, that was never intended to be aired publicly.
"You can't take that back," Gooden said yesterday, looking his interviewer in the eye. "When you're young, you learn from your mistakes. ... I was 17, going on 18, just rapping. I didn't know that thing would blow up and be a big deal. We're perceived differently as athletes, so we have to be role models."
DeCosta said Gooden grew from the experience.
"We spent a lot of time with him in the spring," DeCosta said. "We worked him out, interviewed him at the combine. We think he's a good kid who made a mistake."
Mike Pettine, outside linebackers coach, visited Gooden in Florida before the draft.
"Mike was really impressed with him as a person, his character, as well as his athleticism," Mattison said.
The Ravens' medical team cleared Gooden, 6 feet 1, 235 pounds, as well - he has had a history of shoulder problems and missed the Senior Bowl with a hip injury - and DeCosta targeted him as a third-round pick.
The team's first-day maneuvering gave it the eighth pick of the third round, and it took Gooden.
"We had been trying for a couple years to draft some younger inside linebackers," DeCosta said. "Tavares was a player, quite frankly, who was undervalued by a lot of people in the scouting community."
The Ravens have Gooden behind veteran Bart Scott at inside linebacker. Though they expect him to contribute mostly on special teams this season, he could play in the dime (six defensive backs) package. And if either Lewis or Scott leaves after 2008 - both are in contract years - Gooden would be well positioned to take over.
"In some ways, he reminds me of Bart," DeCosta said. "He's got that same kind of explosion and burst. He's got all the upside in the world physically. ... We think his ceiling is very high."
ken.murray@baltsun.com
