There's big, as in Stage Deli sandwich-Michener novel-Oprah big. And then there's Baker big.

How big is Baker big? So big, that Sam, the youngest Baker, the Falcons new 6-foot-5, 310-pound lineman, is considered the runt of the litter. Poor little fella.

CURTIS COMPTON/staff (ENLARGE)

Falcons tackle #72 Sam Baker gets plenty of support from his dad, David, who was on hand with team owner Arthur Blank for his son's first day at the team's Flowery Branch headquarters. xyxy \uFEFFCURTIS COMPTON / Staff

CURTIS COMPTON/staff (ENLARGE)

Offensive lineman #70 D'Anthony Batiste and tackle #72 Sam Baker run drills at the Falcons minicamp

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A mere 9-pounds, 5-ounces at birth, Sam was barely a keeper.

"We almost threw him back — too small," laughs his mother, Patty Baker.

"He must be slow at the dinner table based on what I've seen," said Falcons offensive line coach Paul Boudreau, who has seen bigger Bakers.

The three-time All American tackle drafted out of USC to protect Matt Ryan's valuable pelt is huge by almost any measure. Except those marked on the doorframe of his childhood home.

His father is the biggest commissioner in professional sports. Not because he runs Arena League Football, but rather for the fact that he is 6-foot-9 by 400-plus-pounds. He could pack Roger Goodell in his shaving kit. If Tolkien imagined a league commissioner, it would be David Baker.

First son, Sam's older brother Ben (yes, Big Ben), goes about 6-7, 360. A former lineman at Duke, he also works in the Arena League office.

David gives credit to Jackie Slater, the 20-year NFL veteran lineman, for helping direct Sam to football. Back home in Southern California, Sam and Slater's son were teammates on a youth basketball team that the elder Baker coached. "You'd make a great offensive lineman," the Hall of Famer told young Sam. Sam immediately asked his father to buy him a football.

"I will," dad responded, "but I don't think Jackie touched a football very much."

But, honestly, just how prescient was Slater? All he needed was one peek at Sam's kinfolk in the stands and a remedial knowledge of genetics.

Sam Baker is living out a big guy's destiny. For the past six years, he and his father spent the first day of the NFL draft together, lifting weights and setting goals.

"That could be you," David would tell his boy whenever some beefy lineman got taken. They were observing the ritual this spring, too, just before the Falcons traded up to take Baker with the 21st pick of the draft.

Ah, great days to be a Baker. Not only is the Arena League a niche success after David's 11 years in charge, but now there's a Baker boy playing full-scale football in Atlanta.

There is a different sense of proportion in play when considering the Falcons' plebe lineman and the influences that shaped him. Everything's big.

Big impressions

"I grew up with my mom [the Bakers divorced when Sam was 3], but whenever my dad would come pick me up in elementary school, it was like an event at school," Sam said. "All these little kids just looking up and seeing the biggest man they've ever seen."

Big beard

Sam began growing one in high school to try to give his large, round face a little definition. He began with a closely trimmed strip but eventually lost control. When the mood strikes, he'll go in and clear-cut, but that's infrequent. A lineman has to look tough.

"I'd look like a newborn baby if I shaved," said Sam.

Big modesty, if such an incongruity is possible.

When asked if he was going to hit up fellow first-rounder Ryan for a meal now that the quarterback has his big contract, Baker said, "No, I should be buying him dinner. He's just a good dude."

"He's a quiet guy; he's a hard guy to gauge," Boudreau said of Baker. "He's the type of guy where a lot of things won't fluster him."

Injured for parts of his senior season, Baker showed better on tape of his junior season, the Falcons line coach said. As he was compensating for his wounds, his didn't quite so obviously dominate. "That's the first thing I said to him coming in — 'Now if we draft you you're going to have to finish a little bit harder, play a little bit more physical.' He just said, 'I know.' "

That fits the laid-back mold of a kid brought up in Orange County. But don't be fooled, his father said. There's a serviceable temper and mean streak there, on reserve for when needed on the field.

Big humor

The size thing can be a great shtick for a promoter such as David Baker. It's the lesson he has taught his sons, to have fun with their size because it's not like they can hide it.

For example, here's David after just landing from another of his endless business flights: "As soon as I step on a plane, you can see it on every face: 'Good Lord, please don't let him sit next to me.' "

Or, this on his youngest son's body type: "You know, at one point in the process, he had 16 percent body fat. That's 46 percent less than any other Baker, ever."

What isn't funny is Sam's constant vigil to keep his weight under control. He was a soft 350 entering USC, and had to remake his body. Carbs are his sworn enemy.

"He's so disciplined now with his eating habits, that really shows his focus," said his mother. "Nobody's been able to figure out where he got that from, because the rest of us aren't that way."

Big challenges

For one thing, he never could beat his dad, a former power forward at UC-Irvine, at one-on-one basketball. The old man knew every trick. The last time they played, when it looked like Sam might break through, his father pulled up with a mysterious back injury.

On quite another level, there is coming in as a rookie on the Falcons oft-brutalized line, slotted to play the difficult left tackle position. Fending off the NFL's best pass rushers is not a job for the under-experienced. Nor is it one for the inadequately armed.

Here's an adjective never before seriously connected to Baker that emerged at the pre-draft combine: Short.

As in, his arms are too short. Not to worry.

"I've had guys with 37-inch arms [Baker measured 32] who punch out real wide and they make themselves short," Boudreau said. "If he's good with his hands and he targets well, he's not short. If his hands are inside, he usually should win. I'm fine with that."

Word of this got out and a couple of friends e-mailed pictures of a T-Rex to his mother (little arms, get it?). That's the Baker way — laugh it off.

"I wouldn't have known I had short arms if I hadn't gone to the combine," Baker said, tongue in hirsute cheek.

Not to worry, little fella. In this league, you're just as big as you play.