Billy Boyko has exams to deal with and a 15-page lab report due earlier this week. He probably can't wait for his senior year at Lehigh to be over because Boyko is set to fly to California in the coming weeks to participate in the Oakland Raiders offseason program.

The Raiders signed Boyko, a 6-foot-2, 239-pound linebacker, minutes after the NFL Draft commenced Saturday night.

"Five minutes after the draft, I got a call and the Raiders said they wanted to a deal," said Boyko. "It's all surreal at the moment. I'm still trying to grasp that I'm in the NFL, but I still have to make the 53-man roster."

Boyko seems poised to accomplish that, despite the heavy competition he'll see at the position, as the Raiders signed three free agent linebackers in the offseason and drafted Connecticut's Sio Moore (LB) in the third round.

"They're trying to rebuild the whole defense," said Boyko. "I think all the rookies and free agents are in the same boat. We're all there to compete and win a spot. I've always been motivated and this is a great opportunity to go up against these guys."

Boyko was one of two Lehigh products to get signed as undrafted free agents, as wide receiver Ryan Spadola signed with the New York Jets.

"It's awesome that he got signed," said Boyko of Spadola. "We got a workout in [on Monday] and we're both real excited to get to work."

Raiders' general manager Reggie McKenzie was at Lehigh's pro day in March and spoke with Boyko directly after his workout. Boyko couldn't tell how interested the Raiders were in him at the moment, as several teams spoke with the Northampton product, but he certainly knew the Raiders had interest.

"I can't speculate on how they felt about me at the time," Boyko said. "All I know is that they seemed interested and things worked out."

Boyko thanked his trainers, Eric Markovcy and Ed Ruisz, of Speed Advantage Training (SAT) for getting him ready over the past couple months to be in this position, as well as his linebacker coach at Lehigh, Matt Sanders.

He also thanked his family for the overwhelming support they've showed him throughout the years, but he probably wasn't in a thankful mood to have homework to do as he preps for the NFL.

"I didn't get a lot of work done over the weekend," he said, as the draft occupied him. "I just want to get through all my school work and then get out there. It's just awesome."