UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa.; May 12, 2012 - A total of 16 former Penn State football student-athletes are participating in National Football League rookie mini-camps this month, six of whom are in action this weekend.
Three more former Nittany Lions signed free agent contracts this week: tackle Quinn Barham (Durham, N.C./Detroit Lions), tailback Stephfon Green (Bronx, N.Y./Detroit Lions) and cornerback/kick returner Chaz Powell (New Freedom/Oakland Raiders).
In addition, three more Penn Staters were invited to NFL rookie mini-camps: safety Drew Astorino (Edinboro/Philadelphia Eagles), tackle Chima Okoli (Virginia Beach, Va./Seattle Seahawks) and guard DeOn'tae Pannell (Southfield, Mich./New Orleans Saints).
During the 2012 NFL Draft, four Nittany Lions were selected: All-America defensive tackle Devon Still (Wilmington, Del./Cincinnati Bengals), guard Johnnie Troutman (Brown Mills, N.J./San Diego Chargers), defensive end Jack Crawford (Longport, N.J./Oakland Raiders) and linebacker Nate Stupar (State College/Raiders). Still was selected in the second round, while Troutman and Crawford were fifth-round selections. Stupar was the Raiders' seventh-round choice.
Powell joins former Penn State teammates Crawford and Stupar in Oakland's rookie mini-camp. Astorino joins former Nittany Lion teammate Brett Brackett in the Eagles' mini-camp this weekend.
2011 Penn State seniors in NFL rookie mini-camps:
- Drew Astorino (Philadelphia)
- Quinn Barham (Detroit)
- Jack Crawford (Oakland)
- Stephfon Green (Detroit)
- Eric Latimore (Minnesota)
- D'Anton Lynn (New York Jets)
- Derek Moye (Miami)
- Chima Okoli (Seattle)
- DeOn'tae Pannell (New Orleans)
- Chaz Powell (Oakland)
- Devon Still (Cincinnati)
- Nate Stupar (Oakland)
- Joe Suhey (New York Jets)
- Nick Sukay (Buffalo)
- Andrew Szczerba (Dallas)
- Johnnie Troutman (San Diego)
A total of 329 Nittany Lions have been selected all-time in the NFL Draft, including 36 in the first round. Penn State had at least four players selected for the 39th time in NFL Draft history. There are 34 former Nittany Lions on NFL rosters, not including 2012 draftees and free agents, placing Penn State in the top 15 nationally among schools in producing current NFL players.