April 23, 2010
Looking Back at Lee's Penn State Career
Looking Back at Bowman's Penn State Career
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - The Dallas Cowboys selected Penn State linebacker Sean Lee (Pittsburgh) Friday night in the second round of the National Football League Draft. Nittany Lion linebacker Navorro Bowman (District Heights, Md.) was chosen by the San Francisco 49ers in the third round.
Lee was the No. 55 overall selection in the draft, as Dallas traded its second and fourth round picks to Philadelphia in order to select him.
Lee and Bowman join defensive tackle Jared Odrick as Nittany Lions selected in the 2010 NFL Draft. Odrick was a first round selection by the Miami Dolphins. "Linebacker U." was the first Big Ten team with multiple choices in this year's draft.
Lee and Bowman become the third and fourth Penn State linebackers selected in the first three rounds of the NFL Draft since 2007.
With their selections, 242 Nittany Lions have been drafted under Hall of Fame Coach Joe Paterno and more than 350 of his players have signed NFL contracts.
A 2009 co-captain, Lee becomes the first former Nittany Lion on the Cowboys' roster.
"Sean is real instinctive with good coverage ability," Cowboys owner and general manager Jerry Jones told ESPN. "His profile...when he was on the phone with Wade Phillips, he said, "Let's go win a championship."
Having missed the 2008 season with a torn ACL, Lee returned to the form this past season that helped him be selected the 2007 Alamo Bowl Defensive MVP and a Pro Football Weekly All-American. After spraining his left knee against Temple, Lee did not play in the next three games and saw limited duty in the wins over Minnesota and Michigan. The final month of the season, though, the former Upper St. Clair High School all-stater again was playing like one of the premier linebackers in the nation, leading Penn State's Top 10 defense. A semifinalist for the 2009 Butkus Award, Lee was selected second-team All-Big Ten for his second career all-conference honor.
A two-time All-Big Ten selection, the 6-2, 235-pound Lee ranks No. 4 in Penn State career tackles with 325 hits. Lee was third on the team and No. 6 in the Big Ten at 8.6 tackles per game this season. He recorded 86 stops, with 11 tackles for loss (minus-41), two sacks, one interception and seven pass breakups, the second-highest total on the team. At the team's Senior Banquet, Lee was the recipient of the Ridge Riley Award, presented to a senior for "sportsmanship, scholarship, leadership and friendship."
Bowman will join former Nittany Lion, Michael Robinson, the 2005 Big Ten Silver Football recipient, on the 49ers roster.
Bowman distinguished himself as one of only two players to receive the Big Ten's Defensive Player of the Week more than once during the 2009 season. His play over the last two months of the season, after missing nearly three games with an injury, lifted the vastly talented and athletic Bowman to first-team All-Big Ten for the second consecutive year. He was selected a 2009 second-team All-American by Sporting News, CBSsports.com, SI.com, Rivals.com and Phil Steele's College Football and was a third team All-America choice by the Associated Press and collegefootballnews.com.
A semifinalist for the 2009 Bednarik Award, Bowman ended the regular-season in spectacular fashion, recording 10 tackles (seven solo), with 3.5 TFL (minus-17), a sack and a pass breakup in the 42-14 win at Michigan State. The former Suitland High School standout was first nationally among all linebackers in TFL with a 1.55 average and was No. 7 nationally overall in minus-yardage hits. Bowman led the team with 17.0 TFL (minus-60) despite missing 2 ¾ games when he re-aggravated a pulled groin in the first quarter of the Akron game. He was second on the team with 93 hits, good for No. 7 in the Big Ten in tackles per game (8.5 avg). Bowman had three sacks, two interceptions, two fumble recoveries and three pass breakups.
The 2009 Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year, Odrick is the 36th Nittany Lion to be selected in the first round of the NFL Draft, 33 of whom have played for Paterno. Odrick is the eighth Nittany Lion to be selected in the first round of the NFL Draft over the past seven years.
Additional Nittany Lions are expected to be selected in the 75th NFL Draft. Rounds 4-7 of the draft are Saturday starting at 10:00 a.m.