UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – Penn State national award winner and two-time first-team All-America linebacker Paul Posluszny has been elected to the College Football Hall of Fame as part of the 2024 class. Posluszny will be inducted to the Hall of Fame December 10, 2024 at the 66th National Football Foundation (NFF) Annual Awards Dinner in Las Vegas.
Posluszny and the 22 inductees (19 players, 3 coaches) will also be recognized at their respective collegiate institutions with NFF Hall of Fame On-Campus Salutes, presented by Fidelity Investments, during the fall. Their accomplishments will be forever immortalized at the Chick-fil-A College Football Hall of Fame, which is celebrating its 10th Anniversary in Atlanta on Aug. 23.
"It is incredible honor to be named to the 2024 College Football Hall of Fame Class," said Posluszny. "Football is the ultimate team game, and when an individual gets honored, you think of all the people who have played a role in allowing this to happen. I would like to thank my family, specifically my parents, Paul and Jackie, and my brothers and sisters, Stan, Mary, David and Anne, for their endless support of my football career growing up. I am also incredibly thankful to my Penn State teammates and coaches, who I share this honor with and am grateful for everything we accomplished together. To the Nittany Lion community, it was a tremendous privilege for me to play in front of the greatest fans in the nation. Lastly, I would like to thank the National Football Foundation and congratulate the other 21 members of this year's class."
Posluszny is the 27th member (21 players, 6 coaches) of the Penn State football family to be elected to the College Hall of Fame. Linebacker LaVar Arrington was the most recent player inductee in 2022.
"I am really excited for Paul Posluszny earning this well-deserved honor of being elected into the College Football Hall of Fame," said Penn State head coach James Franklin. "Paul is a great example of what Penn State Football is all about. He was elite on the field as a player, a leader and an overall teammate, but, he was also a tremendous role model for this program off the field. He is one of the all-time greats to ever wear this uniform and is just another shining example of Linebacker U. I would like to congratulate Paul and his family on this outstanding achievement."
"Paul Posluszny is a prime example of the ultimate Penn State student-athlete," said Penn State Vice President for Intercollegiate Athletics Dr. Patrick Kraft. "He will go down as one of the greatest players in the rich history of Penn State Football and is another classic example of our great Linebacker U tradition. Not only is he a two-time first-team All-American, a two-time Bednarik Winner and a Butkus winner, but he is a two-time first-team Academic All-American and Academic All-American of the Year, which is a rarity in college football. I am beyond thrilled for Paul to earn this honor of being Penn State's 27th College Football Hall of Famer and look forward to celebrating this achievement with him in December."
Posluszny, an outside linebacker for the Nittany Lions, was a first-team All-American in 2005 and 2006. A native of Aliquippa, Pennsylvania, he was selected a first-team honoree by the Associated Press, Football Writers Association of America, Sporting News and Walter Camp Football Foundation in 2005 and the Associated Press and Walter Camp Football Foundation in 2006. Posluszny became just the second two-time winner of the Chuck Bednarik Award, presented to the nation's top defensive player, in 2006. In 2005, he also won the Butkus Award, presented to the nation's top linebacker and was a finalist for the 2006 honor.
The 13th Nittany Lion to be named a two-time first-team All-American, Posluszny also was a two-time finalist for the Rotary Lombardi Award. He was selected Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week a conference-record five times in his career. The Nittany Lions' first two-time team captain since 1968-69, he became Penn State's career tackle leader with 372.
A starter in the last 37 games of his career, Posluszny became the first Nittany Lion to lead the team in tackles three times and to post three 100-tackle seasons, recording 116 in 2006. Posluszny also was a two-time first-team ESPN the Magazine Academic All-American and was selected the 2006 Academic All-American of the Year among Division I football players. He and Jeff Hartings (1994-95) are the only Nittany Lions to earn first-team All-America and Academic All-America honors twice. The Buffalo Bills' second pick of the second round in the 2007 NFL Draft, he played four seasons (2007-10) with the Bills and seven seasons for the Jacksonville Jaguars (2011-17).
The 2024 Penn State Football season is presented by PSECU.
