Camden’s Cesar Ruiz drafted 24th overall by New Orleans Saints

Cesar Ruiz’s football journey took him from Camden to Florida to Michigan.

Now the former Camden High athlete has landed in New Orleans as a first-round draft pick of the Saints.

“To see my name called by the New Orleans Saints, it’s just amazing,” Ruiz said on the ABC broadcast of the NFL draft on Thursday night. “I worked my tail off every single day, day in and day out.”

Ruiz was a two-year starter at center for the University of Michigan. The 6-foot-2, 307-pounder was regarded as the top interior lineman in the draft, a smart and instinctive player with the strength to anchor the middle as well as the quickness to operate in space.

Ruiz spent his first two years at Camden High. He was regarded as a team leader and a burgeoning star when he transferred to IMG Academy in Bradenton, Fla., with the blessing of Camden coach Dwayne Savage.

“This is the reason why you coach,” Savage said via text. “To share moments like this with your players. Usually you hope for college graduation or a wedding ceremony but first-round draft pick, words cannot describe how happy I am for Cesar and his family.”

Ruiz originally played guard in his first season at Michigan but moved to center and excelled at the position, starting 26 consecutive games. He declared for the draft after his junior season.

“He was one of the better interior offensive linemen I’ve seen in a while,” Saints coach Sean Payton said in a conference call. “We’re getting a player with great physical ability and we’re getting a player with a fantastic makeup. He’s tough. He’s a leader.”

Ruiz is the first Camden athlete to be drafted in the NFL’s first round since Woodrow Wilson graduate Donovan Darius, a defensive back from Syracuse, was selected by Jacksonville with the 25th pick in 1998.

On television on Thursday night, Ruiz buried his face in his hands in an emotional display when he learned that the Saints had selected him in the first round.

Ruiz credits his late father, also named Cesar Ruiz, as the inspiration for his development into one of the city’s more popular and celebrated athletes in recent years. The elder Ruiz was killed when he was struck by a car after he had stopped to help another motorist fix a flat tire when his son was 8 years old.

“The first picture I had in my head was my dad and then I looked at the screen and they put a picture of him on the screen,” Ruiz said on a conference call. “I dedicate my whole journey and everything I do to him.”