Two weeks from today, Troy Smith will know his NFL destination. For now, he's simply determined to enjoy the ride.

The journey from college star to NFL draft pick can be a wrenching one as teams and analysts dissect every perceived flaw. The Ohio State Heisman Trophy winner isn't immune. After the disaster in the BCS title game against Florida and because of concerns about his height, most analysts rate Troy Smith a second- or third-round pick in the NFL draft April 28.

"It's incredible to me how people make projections and they don't have a say-so in anything," he said after he and fellow Heisman winner Archie Griffin answered fans' questions last night before a Columbus Destroyers game.

"It's a situation where only a few percentage of people get to go through this. I'm really living it up. I'm living a dream. I'm happy with the situation, and that's how I'm taking it."

Troy Smith said he has visited his hometown Cleveland Browns and the Philadelphia Eagles and has meetings scheduled with the Carolina Panthers and the St. Louis Rams.

Troy Smith is asked often about playing for the Browns.

"It'll be like Christmas," he said. "But Christmas only comes once a year. It'll be good fortune if it happens."

A boy asked Troy Smith about the Florida game and pregame predictions that the Buckeyes would win comfortably.

"I think that's the problem we faced as a team," Troy Smith said. "We listened the whole time prior to them coming that they weren't supposed to be in that game. They made it seem Florida didn't have 11 guys on defense. They made it seem they didn't belong in that game.

"As a team, we might have swallowed that media (hype). We might have accepted what the media had to say. When the game started, their guys aren't any different than ours. My hat goes off to them. They deserved it. They were champions that night."

Another youngster asked about criticism "on SportsCenter saying you didn't do that good at the (NFL) combine" and whether that affected him.

After Troy Smith said it hadn't, Griffin chimed in.

"Troy will do very, very well in professional football," Griffin said. "I get a little upset hearing these people talking about he's falling in the draft, because he's going to have a great pro career."

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