Sam Baker is a an offensive tackle from USC, projected to go in the first or second round of April's NFL draft. His father, David Baker, is the commissioner of the Arena Football League, which is not a likely destination for an elite pass blocker. But David still gets asked about his son playing the indoor game. A few years ago, before it was apparent Sam was NFL-bound, David got asked about it a lot.

"The first time I got asked that question [in a radio interview], I hadn't prepared a response," David Baker said yesterday, after watching his son work out for the North team for this weekend's Senior Bowl, showcasing college prospects. "I said, 'Well, in the Arena Football League, guys play both ways. My son's really an offensive lineman. I don't know if he could play both ways.'

"Sammy heard that interview. He was driving someplace. He said, 'Hey, I can play defense.' That year, Matt Leinart threw six interceptions. Sam got the tackle on three of those plays. He was like, 'I'm tellin' you, I can.' "

But he won't, any time soon. Although draft analysts tout Sam Baker's smooth versatility, he won't need to be quite that versatile; protecting a quarterback's blind side, as Baker did last season at left tackle for the Trojans, is considered a full-time job in the pro league that plays outdoors.

David Baker said having such a close connection to the arena game "has given Sam a great respect for the game of football . . . a real appreciation for the work ethic." There are an awful lot of football players out there, scrabbling to make a living. Players sometimes approach Sam about how to get tryouts. He refers them to his father.

"He loves football. He loves playing football," David Baker said. "I would say Sammy's strongest trait is his work ethic . . . I do think he's an exceptional pass-blocker. He's got great technique and he's worked hard on it."

Sam Baker, 6-5, 305, is a curly bearded giant who looks small next to his father. David is a 6-9 former Cal-Irvine basketball player, who in the subsequent years has filled out to football-lineman dimensions. Sam might wish he had his father's bulk: Some analysts wonder if he's hefty enough to be a standout pro tackle.

The other question sometimes is quantified as "toughness" or "meanness." Not surprisingly, neither Sam nor David agrees that this is an issue. Sam said he doesn't plan to bite, kick or fight anyone this week in practice to show something to NFL scouts.

"I don't know how you're not mean when you play offensive line," Sam said. "Everybody has that intensity. You just come out and play. I don't know how they got that."

"I'm not sure what that means, either," his father said. "The whole process is such a beauty contest. They tell me the first 3 1/2 hours you come here, there's personality testing. It's become an intensive process, both here and in Indianapolis [at next month's scouting combine] to measure everything that is measurable about an athlete.

"Maybe, because I am commissioner of the Arena Football League, I tend to think it's difficult to measure a man's heart, and his endurance, his perseverance, and his character - the things that really count, when it's overtime and there's seconds left and you're at Lambeau Field and it's 7 below . . . some of that can only be measured on the field, by what happens there."

Sam said he has talked to a number of former USC offensive linemen who have gone on to the pros (though he said he hasn't talked to the Eagles' Winston Justice, a similarly ranked prospect 2 years ago who has struggled since being drafted in the second round). He said the linemen he talked to told him to savor the Senior Bowl experience, and he said he is. He said he considers it a bigger deal than the combine.

"This is football," Sam Baker said. "The combine isn't football. I would assume this would weigh a lot more heavily than the combine."

Although Baker is from California, he is feeling pretty much at home in Mobile, with nine Trojans listed on the North roster. At one point yesterday, his father noted, Baker was lined up between USC guard Drew Radovich and USC tight end Fred Davis. A USC star, particularly a three-time All-America such as Baker, is college football royalty. It's different once you get to the pros, though, as Justice found out, sitting for more than a full season, then attracting national attention for melting down in his first start, as the Giants sacked Donovan McNabb 12 times in the teams' Sept. 30 meeting.

Sam Baker has benefited from Justice's NFL experience, his father said - a year ago, Sam thought hard about declaring for the draft, and was remorseful when he saw tackles he thought he compared favorably with drafted high in the first round. But the feeling around USC was that Justice hurt his draft stock and his development by leaving a year earlier than he had to.

"When Sammy decided to stay, that's one of the reasons he did," Don Baker said.

It would be ironic if concern over Justice's progress, as the heir apparent to 33-year-old left tackle William "Tra" Thomas, led the Eagles to draft Baker this year.

Senior moments

After 3 days of practice, one conclusion being drawn by several observers is that Delaware quarterback Joe Flacco (Audubon, N.J.) has an NFL arm, and Hawaii quarterback Colt Brennan does not . . . During the North practice, Jeff Nalley, agent for Eagles corner Joselio Hanson, conferred with Eagles vice president Howie Roseman. Hanson is scheduled to become a restricted free agent. Nalley said the Birds are undecided at what level they will tender Hanson . . . Also conferring during the North practice were agent Drew Rosenhaus and Eagles president Joe Banner. They must have been talking about Jevon Kearse, Jerome McDougle or the weather, since it would be strictly against NFL rules for them to discuss any of Rosenhaus' clients who might be on the verge of becoming free agents. That sort of thing never, ever happens. No siree. *