NEW YORK (AP) – In today’s high-tech world, not even live television is always quick enough with the news.

Several teams embraced the most modern technology Saturday, either posting their picks on their Web sites or on Twitter.

The San Diego Chargers scooped even commissioner Roger Goodell in announcing their pick of Northern Illinois linebacker Larry English on their Web site before Goodell announced it in New York. The Chargers then interviewed general manager A.J. Smith and had English on a speaker phone interview.

Jets owner Woody Johnson announced first-round news with a Tweet, saying: “We have selected Mark Sanchez. Go Jets.” The team had traded up to No. 5 overall for that opportunity.

Also, moments before Goodell announced Atlanta had taken Ole Miss defensive tackle Peria Jerry with its first-round pick, the Falcons went public on Twitter.

A team official, who wasn’t identified, delivered the news in 140 characters or less. General manager Thomas Dimitroff and coach Mike Smith said they weren’t involved.

“I just learned what (Twitter) meant about three days ago,” Dimitroff said.

“I still don’t,” Smith added. “What does it mean?”

The NFL is less than thrilled with such announcements. Spokesman Greg Aiello said the league will review how teams are announcing their picks and determine whether it needs to develop a policy.

Timely picks

The first round of the draft took 3 hours, 23 minutes, far less than some of the interminable rounds of the past.

The NFL clearly has speeded up the process by limiting teams to 10 minutes in the opening round, 7 minutes in the second, and 5 minutes in the other five rounds.

Several teams took almost all of the 10 minutes in the first round, particularly St. Louis at No. 2 (Baylor tackle Jason Smith) and Kansas City at No. 3 (LSU defensive end Tyson Jackson). In contrast, Oakland barely waited 30 seconds to select Maryland wideout Darrius Heyward-Bey, and Pittsburgh was even quicker in finishing off the first round when it took Missouri DT Evander Hood at No. 32.

Money man

Minnesota Vikings quarterback Sage Rosenfels was taken aback, to put it mildly, by the six-year contract top pick Matthew Stafford signed with Detroit. The Georgia quarterback will get $41 million in guaranteed money and could earn as much as $78 million.

“That blows me away. I guess that’s the way it’s set up now, right or wrong,” Rosenfels said. “He makes twice as much money as Tom Brady or something like that. To me, that doesn’t make sense. Congratulations to him. I think he’ll do a great job. Hopefully he earns every bit of that.”

And if he doesn’t?

“But if he’s not successful, it’s really going to put that organization on hard times for a couple of years, all that salary cap money they’re going to have to dish out,” added the veteran entering his ninth year and acquired from Houston in February. “To me, I wish it wasn’t these crazy numbers for these top picks. If I were a team, I wouldn’t want a top pick. I’d want a late first-round pick or a second-rounder because there’s a lot of good players that are going to be picked 20-32 or 32-50.

“There’s great players out there. A lot of our good players in Houston were late-round picks. … To give a guy $41 million guaranteed before he’s thrown an NFL football is a huge risk. It has a possible huge reward at the other end, too.”

USC’s ‘Backers

The last of the USC linebackers picked on the first day of the NFL draft was the All-American.

Middle linebacker Rey Maualuga, the most decorated of the Trojans’ three highly touted linebackers, ended up going in the second round with the No. 38 pick to Cincinnati.

He won the Bednarik Award last season as the nation’s top defensive player.

His teammates, Brian Cushing and Clay Matthews, were both first-rounders and there was speculation all three USC ‘backers would go in the first round. Indeed, Sports Illustrated guaranteed it with a cover story this week.

Cushing, considered the most versatile of the bunch, went No. 15 to the Houston Texans.

Matthews, whose father and grandfather played in the NFL, went No. 26 to the Green Bay Packers. His uncle, Bruce Matthews, is a Pro Football Hall of Famer.

The three teammates push each other hard. Cushing had even admitted there was friendly competition among the three about who would be drafted first.

“It feels good. You know I was kind of expecting it and would have been a little disappointed if it hadn’t happened, but I guess I’ve got those bragging rights for a bit,” Cushing said.

USC ended up with three players selected in the first round: quarterback Mark Sanchez, fifth overall to the Jets, plus the two linebackers. Last season, the Trojans had four players selected in Round 1.

Also taken in the second round was USC defensive tackle Fili Moala, selected No. 56 by the Colts.

USC’s other starting linebacker last year, Kaluka Maiva, who was third on the team in tackles behind Maualuga (79) and Cushing (73) with 66, was expected to be a second-day pick.

No wonder the Trojans’ defense was best in the nation last season.

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