April 27, 2010
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa.; - Penn State All-America tackle Dennis Landolt (Burlington, N.J.) has signed with the New York Giants on the heels of the six Nittany Lions that were selected in last weekend's National Football League Draft.
Landolt is the first of several Nittany Lions that are expected to sign free agent contracts with NFL teams. The signings will be announced as NFL teams make their announcements.
A 2009 first team All-Big Ten selection, Landolt joins former Nittany Lions Jay Alford and Kareem McKenzie, both of whom also were New Jersey prep standouts, on the Giants roster.
Landolt was selected a 2009 Associated Press third team All-American and an ECAC All-Star. He started all 39 games the past three seasons, moving to left tackle last year after two seasons at right tackle. Consistently grading out at 90 percent or higher throughout his career, Landolt was instrumental in Penn State finishing second in the Big Ten in total offense (406.9 ypg) and allowing only 17 sacks in 13 games last year.
An all-state selection at Holy Cross High School, Landolt was presented the Richard Maginnis Memorial Award as the team's top offensive lineman at the 2009 State College Quarterback Club Senior Banquet. Landolt earned two undergraduate degrees, in supply chain and information systems, and economics.
In the 2010 NFL Draft, six Penn State players were selected, the most since having six in the 2006 NFL Draft and tied with Iowa for highest among Big Ten Conference schools. Penn State was tied for fifth nationally for the highest number of draft picks.
Defensive tackle Jared Odrick (1st, Miami), linebacker Sean Lee (2nd, Dallas), linebacker Navorro Bowman (3rd, San Francisco), tight end Andrew Quarless (5th, Green Bay), tight end Mickey Shuler (7th, Minnesota) and linebacker Josh Hull (7th, St. Louis) were the Nittany Lions selected in the 2010 NFL Draft. All three of "Linebacker U's" starters were drafted, pushing Penn State's total of linebackers selected to six in the past four drafts.
Bowman, Hull, Landolt, Lee, Quarless and Shuler all earned degrees last December.
With the six selections last weekend, 245 Nittany Lions have been drafted under Hall of Fame Coach Joe Paterno and more than 350 of his players have signed NFL contracts.
The 2009 Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year, Odrick was the 36th Nittany Lion to be selected in the first round of the NFL Draft, 33 of whom have played for Paterno. A 2009 first team All-American, Odrick was the eighth Nittany Lion to be selected in the first round of the NFL Draft over the past seven years.
Penn State Football will hold its 36th annual summer camps in June. The camps feature two offense / defense skills and fundamentals camps for athletes entering 8th-12th grade in the fall, to be held June 20-23 and June 27-30. A "seniors only" camp will be held June 25-26, Penn State's popular 7-on-7 team passing camp will be held June 18-19 and a placekicking camp is June 4-5.
For more information on the Penn State Football Camps, please visit: www.pennstatefootballcamps.com or call the Penn State sports camps office at 814-865-0561.