April 16, 2010
Blue-White Central
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UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa.; - Penn State All-America defensive tackle Jared Odrick (Lebanon, Pa.) has accepted an invitation to attend the 75th National Football League Draft.
Odrick is among 16 players who have confirmed they will attend the first round of the draft, which will begin at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, April 22. Odrick and Iowa offensive lineman Bryan Bulaga will represent the Big Ten Conference among the players invited to attend the draft.
Odrick earned 2009 first team All-America honors from the American Football Coaches Association (AFCA), becoming the 80th Penn Stater to be named a first-team All-American a total of 94 times and the 77th player so honored under Joe Paterno. Odrick also received All-America honors from the Associated Press, Sporting News, CBSsports.com and Rivals.com. He was the sixth Penn State defensive lineman to earn first-team All-America accolades since 1999.
The Big Ten coaches selected Odrick the 2009 Defensive Player-of-the-Year and Defensive Lineman-of-the-Year. He became the first interior defensive lineman selected for the Big Ten's top defensive honor since Ohio State's Dan Wilkinson in 1993. Odrick garnered first-team all-conference honors for the second consecutive year.
The former U.S. Army All-American at Lebanon High School was ranked No. 7 in the Big Ten with 7.0 sacks. He was fifth on the team with 43 tackles and had 11.0 tackles for loss (minus-72), a big blocked field goal and a pass breakup. Odrick also played a significant role in helping Penn State rank in the Top 10 nationally in five of the six primary defensive statistical categories. Penn State has not allowed a 100-yard rusher in the last 16 games, the nation's third-longest streak.
Odrick played in the 2010 Under Armour Senior Bowl.
Paterno has seen more than 350 of his former players sign NFL contracts, with 239 players being drafted, including 32 first round choices. All-America defensive end Aaron Maybin was the No. 11 overall selection, by the Buffalo Bills, in the 2009 NFL Draft. All-America tackle Levi Brown was the No. 5 overall pick, by the Arizona Cardinals, in the 2007 NFL Draft.
ESPN and NFL Network will televise the NFL Draft. The first round is April 22 at 7:30 p.m. The second and third rounds are April 23 at 6:00 p.m. and rounds 4-7 are April 24 at 10:00 a.m.