River Falls, Wis. ? In the modern, high-tech world of scouting new players, the Kansas City Chiefs found offensive tackle Kevin Sampson the old-fashioned way – by word of mouth.

Hundreds of NFL prospects converge every February in Indianapolis for the annual combine, where they’re prodded like cattle, given agility tests and respond to rhetorical questions with character-defining answers.

Only the best players entering the NFL Draft are there. But Sampson wasn’t invited.

In 2004, the Chiefs got a tip about Sampson and took a chance by drafting him in the seventh round. Now, with the 6-foot-4, 312-pound second-year player entrenched as the preseason starter at right tackle, the gamble seems to have paid off.

Kansas City's Casey Wiegmann, left, tangles with teammate Eric Hicks during training camp. The two squared off Tuesday in River Falls, Wis.

“Our scout knew about him and recommended him, and we sent Irv Eatman to work him out, and Irv really liked him,” Chiefs coach Dick Vermeil said. “Irv spent a lot of time with him – he really liked him.”

The Chiefs have a history of discovering jewels along their offensive line. Pro Bowl guard Brian Waters entered the league as a free-agent tight end. Center Casey Wiegmann also started his career as an undrafted free agent with Indianapolis. Perennial Pro Bowl guard Will Shields was a third-round draft pick, and tackle Willie Roaf, a 10-time Pro Bowler, was traded to the Chiefs for a fourth-round draft pick.

Kansas City's Casey Wiegmann, right, throws an open-handed punch at the helmet of teammate Eric Hicks during a fight at practice. Hicks claimed Wiegmann poked him in the eye, starting the fracas Tuesday in River Falls, Wis.

While some players are quick to express defiance toward the teams that overlooked them, Sampson says he would rather worry about his next practice than about being shunned by other teams.

“I don’t see it as an issue at all,” Sampson said. “I don’t think to myself, ‘Oh, I was a seventh-round pick, look at where I am now.’ I don’t have that perspective. I have the perspective, ‘I have an opportunity here. Make the best of it. Don’t screw it up.”‘

Sampson, who played at Syracuse, hopes that as a low-round pick, he can succeed quickly.

“If that’s the co mmon belief that a seventh-round pick is a developmental project, then I obviously I don’t have that perspective,” Sampson said. “I think anyone with a competitive attitude would want to get on the field as soon as possible.”