Posts filed under ‘Penn Staters in the NFL’
For Tamba Hali and Cameron Wake, Sacks = Success
This story is a few days old, but I’m posting it today for a couple of reasons — the first is that it’s just a really compelling read. The second is because Tamba Hali ’06 is keeping himself newsworthy. In a good way.
Hali (left) built his reputation at Penn State as a playmaking defensive end, ultimately starring on the Nittany Lions’ 2005 Orange Bowl-winning team. He’s in his fifth season with the Kansas City Chiefs, where he’s become one of the best defensive players in the NFL. More compelling than his on-field play is his backstory, a tale of surviving childhood in war-torn Liberia and never losing the perspective that experience gave him. This Kansas City Star feature does a great job conveying Hali’s focus and determination — including a great bit about how, when his NFL workouts haven’t been sufficiently challenging or intense, he comes back to Penn State to get serious about working hard.
That work has paid off, as Hali goes into this weekend’s games with 11 sacks, putting him among the league leaders. As USA Today notes, that production makes Hali a candidate for NFL Defensive Player of the Year. Also among the top handful of candidates? Cameron Wake ’04, who has a league-high 14 sacks for the Miami Dolphins. Like Hali, Wake took an unlikely path to NFL stardom. Like Hali, he has emerged as one of the best in the game.
Ryan Jones, senior editor
Michael Robinson Now a Seahawk
We interrupt our Bama Week coverage briefly to bring you a nice tale about former Nittany Lion quarterback Michael Robinson ’04, ’06, who was cut by the San Francisco 49ers this past weekend. Robinson was quickly picked up by the Seattle Seahawks, and according to this article at seahawks.com, his new team is very happy to have such a great athlete and classy guy. Thanks to one of our colleagues over in Ag Sciences, Vince Verbeke ’82, for calling my attention to the story.
Tina Hay, editor
Jared Odrick is a Miami Dolphin
Miami made Penn State defensive tackle Jared Odrick a first-round draft pick last night, selecting him as the No. 28 overall pick in the NFL draft. It’s likely that Odrick will move to defensive end in the Dolphins’ scheme.
For some coverage of Odrick, check out the story in this morning’s Centre Daily Times and the one in the Miami Herald. Additionally, the Philadelphia Daily News has a good story on Odrick, and the New York Times has an interesting blog in which Nick Corasaniti takes a look at how Penn State will replace him on the defensive line.
The draft resumes tonight, with Sean Lee ’09 among the Nittany Lions hoping his name will be called.
Tina Hay, editor
Mike Reid Featured in the L.A. Times
A feature in today’s L.A. Times offers a cool reminder that one of Penn State’s all-time football greats has had an even more interesting and successful career off the field. Mike Reid ’69 is profiled by Times sports columnist Jerry Crowe, who gets right to the point of what makes Reid unique:
Dozens have won the Outland Trophy, presented annually to college football’s outstanding interior lineman.
Hundreds have won Grammys.
Only Mike Reid has won both.
Reid must surely also be the only man enshrined in the College Football and Nashville Songwriters halls of fame. Without a doubt, he’s one we’re proud to call our own.
Ryan Jones, senior editor
Wally Triplett in the Detroit Free Press
Today’s Detroit Free Press has a short Q&A with Wally Triplett ’49, who is the central character in our Sept-Oct cover story, “Men Among Lions.” In the Free Press piece, Triplett talks about being one of only a handful of blacks on the Penn State campus in the mid-1940s, about playing football without face masks, and about spending his post-NFL years living in Detroit.
He also expresses concern about today’s Penn State-Michigan State game: “I think we should win,” he says. “But I’m worried because we’ve played so poorly.”
Not to worry, Wally.
Tina Hay, editor
Kerry Collins Continues Country Music Rise
Kerry Collins, as pictured in Nashville Scene.
Is it possible that one day, Kerry Collins will be known not as a quarterback, but as a songwriter? He’s been trying to follow the path of fellow Penn Stater Mike Reid for a while now, and he took another step recently when a song he co-wrote was performed at the Bluebird Cafe, a famous country music venue in Nashville.
“Running out of Reasons” was performed by his co-writer, Lisa Hentrich, the wife of his Tennessee Titans teammate, punter Craig Hentrich. You can read all about it in this story from Nashville Scene, and you can hear the song on Lisa Hentrich’s MySpace page.
Lori Shontz, senior editor
Keeping Up With Deon Butler
Deon Butler ’08 finished his college career last season as Penn State’s career receptions leader. Like most NFL rookies, Butler — now with the Seattle Seahawks — is finding the going a bit tougher in the pro ranks. He’s not complaining, though. Instead, he’s keeping a weekly diary for The Seattle Times, in which he writes about getting acclimated to life in the Emerald City, biding his time behind veteran receivers, and what it’s like to have his mother take over every inch of his bathroom sink when she comes to visit. It’s good stuff.
Ryan Jones, senior editor
Aaron Maybin About to Sign with Buffalo
Or so ESPN.com reports.
Ryan Jones says my blog post yesterday was just the push they needed.
Tina Hay, editor
Aaron Maybin Still Unsigned in Buffalo
Aaron Maybin, who left Penn State after his junior season and was drafted in the first round by the Bills this past April, is still a contract holdout in Buffalo.
I saw an article a week or so ago that explained that it’s typical for first-round picks to wait for the players who were drafted ahead of them to sign contracts (so they can see how much money those guys are going to get) before they finalize their own contracts. It made sense to me.
But yesterday’s Buffalo News has a commentary by Jerry Sullivan that argues pretty persuasively that Maybin’s holdout has gone on too long.
The Bills are ready to slot him into the No. 11 spot and make him rich beyond his wildest imaginings. It’s time to sign a contract, get on the field, and start figuring out what it takes to be a productive NFL defensive end.
Sullivan points out that Maybin is likely to make at least $25 million over the next five years—just a bit more than you or I were making at the age of 21, huh?
Maybin should be thanking his lucky stars. A year ago, he was a sophomore backup at Penn State. If suspensions and injuries hadn’t opened up a spot, Maybin might be preparing for the opener against Akron today.
Less than one year as a college starter and he’s worth $25 million. Great country, eh? Maybin is lucky the NFL hasn’t negotiated a rookie salary cap. The current system, which showers millions on unproven players, is absurd.
Sullivan’s commentary is pretty thought-provoking and well worth a read. Head to the “Leave a Reply” box at the bottom of this post and let me know what you think.
Tina Hay, editor
July-August Issue Now Hitting Mailboxes
We can always tell when the new issue of the magazine is starting to get delivered to readers’ mailboxes, because we start to see an uptick in class notes, letters to the editor, and other correspondence from readers.
The magazine is printed in Strasburg, Va. (just west of Washington, D.C.) and gets mailed from there. So the Alumni Association members in the mid-Atlantic region are the first to get their copies, and people in other parts of the country tend to get it after that. Our goal is to have it in half of all mailboxes by the first of the month—I think my copy arrived at my house on June 27—so I’m guessing that just about everyone should have it before this week is out.
Our cover story, on Ronald Mallett ’69, ’70g, ’73g, is attracting the most attention from readers so far. My column, in which I report the early results of our reader survey and invite readers to e-mail me with comments about the magazine, is also getting some response. And so far about three readers have contacted us to report a mistake they saw in the Sports section—but that’s all I’m saying about that for now. You’ll just have to find the mistake yourself….
In case you’re not familiar with the print version of The Penn Stater, it’s a benefit of membership in the Alumni Association. You can join here.
Tina Hay, editor
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