May 13, 2013
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - Nine former Penn State football student-athletes participated in National Football League rookie mini-camps this month, four of whom were in camps that concluded Sunday.
During the 2013 NFL Draft, three Nittany Lions were selected: first-team All-Big Ten defensive tackle Jordan Hill (Steelton/Seattle Seahawks), All-Big Ten linebacker Gerald Hodges (Paulsboro, N.J./Minnesota Vikings) and first team All-America linebacker Michael Mauti (Mandeville, La./Minnesota Vikings).
Four former Nittany Lions signed free agent contracts: tackle Mike Farrell (Pittsburgh/Pittsburgh Steelers), cornerback Stephon Morris (Washington, D.C./New England Patriots), first-team All-Big Ten center Matt Stankiewitch (Orwigsburg/New England Patriots) and running back Michael Zordich (Youngstown, Ohio/Carolina Panthers).
In addition, two more Penn Staters were invited to NFL rookie mini-camps: quarterback Matt McGloin (Scranton/Washington and Carolina) and linebacker Pete Massaro (Newtown Square/Philadelphia Eagles).
The rookie mini-camps for the Eagles, Panthers and Seahawks ended Sunday.
A total of 332 Nittany Lions have been selected all-time in the NFL Draft, including 36 in the first round. Penn State had at least three NFL Draft picks for the 15th time in its 20 seasons of Big Ten Conference competition.
There were 30 former Nittany Lions with NFL teams at the end of the 2012 regular season, placing Penn State in the top 15 nationally among schools in producing current NFL players.
Super Bowl XLVII marked the 42nd time in the Super Bowl's 47-game history that at least one Penn State alumnus was a member of one of the participating teams. All-Pro linebacker Navorro Bowman started for the San Francisco 49ers in the game and rookie linebacker Nate Stupar was a member of the 49ers' practice squad. Thirty-five former Nittany Lions have earned a total of 51 Super Bowl rings, most recently tackle Kareem McKenzie and defensive tackle Jimmy Kennedy with the Super Bowl XLVI champion New York Giants.
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