Category: PSU in NFL

Micah Parsons wants a jersey from Tom Brady

With Tom Brady announcing his retirement, Micah Parsons will go down in NFL history as a trivia answer.

Even on national signing day, Tom Brady found a way to steal the headlines. Brady announced on social media he is retiring from his first-ballot hall of fame career in the National Football League, bringing a close to a storied 23-year career (again). Naturally, news of this kind was going to be reacted to across the football universe, including by some former Penn State players who have played with and against arguably the greatest quarterback of all time.

Among those reacting to the news on Twitter was former Penn State linebacker [autotag]Micah Parsons[/autotag], who just so happened to play a part in Brady’s final game in the NFL. Parsons will go down in history as the last player in NFL history to sack Brady, doing so in the Dallas Cowboys‘ wild-card victory over Brady’s Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Parsons shared Brady’s retirement video message with a plea for a jersey to add to the collection.

Parsons also made his NFL debut against Brady and the Bucs. Parsons at times looked like a rookie linebacker playing in his first career game in the 2021 season opener, coming off the Bucs’ Super Bowl victory the previous season. Brady made Parsons look lost a few times, which was to be expected at the time. But Parsons managed to learn from the experience and went on to be the NFL’s unanimous defensive rookie of the year. And now, Parsons will go down in history as the last player to sack Brady.

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Miles Sanders helps Eagles advance to Super Bowl

Former Penn State running back Miles Sanders scored the first and the game-winning TD in the NFC championship game.

One way or another, Penn State would be represented in the Super Bowl on the NFC sideline as the Philadelphia Eagles and San Francisco 49ers both had former Nittany Lions on the roster. This year it will be [autotag]Miles Sanders[/autotag], the former Penn State running back, who will be hoping to celebrate a Super Bowl victory as the NFC champion, and he played a big role in the NFC championship game victory by the Eagles on Sunday.

Sanders capped the game’s opening drive of the game with a touchdown run right up the middle of the San Francisco defense without a defender managing to lay a hand on him.

Sanders and the Eagles were held in check for most of the first half after that opening touchdown drive, but Sanders broke a 7-7 tie later in the second quarter for what proved to be the game-winning score in the Eagles’ 31-7 victory.

Sanders rushed for 42 yards on 11 carries against one of the NFL’s top defenses in the 2022 season.

Sanders will play in his first Super Bowl in two weeks against either the Kansas City Chiefs or Cincinnati Bengals. The Eagles are hoping to win their second Super Bowl in franchise history.

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Micah Parsons and Saquon Barkley among NFL award finalists

Micah Parsons and Saquon Barkley are finalists for a pair of NFL awards this season.

Their postseason runs may have come to an end last weekend, but former Penn State standouts [autotag]Micah Parsons[/autotag] and [autotag]Saquon Barkley[/autotag] are among the finalists for a pair of NFL awards for the 2022 season. Both players already have rookie of the year awards to show off in their trophy collection, and with any luck each could be adding some fresh hardware to their mantles.

Parsons is one of the three finalists for this season’s NFL defensive player of the year award after his second season with the Dallas Cowboys. He is up against Nick Bosa of the San Francisco 49ers and Chris Jones of the Kansas City Chiefs.

Parsons, who was the unanimous winner of the NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year last season, was named All-Pro and selected to the Pro Bowl Games after recording 149 combined tackles in 17 games this season. Parsons had 14 TFL and 13 sacks this season. Although he fell short of his goal of breaking the NFL’s single-season sack record, he still proved to be a dominate defensive force for the Cowboys for the majority of the season.

Barkley is a finalist for the NFL comeback player of the year, and he will have some stiff competition for the honor as well. Barkley is up against 49ers running back Christian McCaffrey and Seattle Seahawks quarterback Geno Smith. Barkley rushed for 1,312 yards and 10 touchdowns for the New York Giants this season, who advanced to the NFC divisional round after scoring two touchdowns in his playoff debut in the wild card round.

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Patriots hire former Penn State coach as offensive coordinator

Former Penn State head coach returns to the NFL

The New England Patriots have hired former Penn State head coach and current Alabama offensive coordinator [autotag]Bill O’Brien[/autotag], ESPN reported.

The teams agreed to a deal Tuesday for O’Brien to become their next offensive coordinator, a position he held for the 2011 season.

O’Brien has spent the past two seasons as the offensive coordinator under Nick Saban at Alabama, and he coached Bryce Young to a Heisman Trophy in 2021 in his first year with the team. He now returns to the NFL where he began his career as a coaching assistant over 15 years ago.

In that first stint in New England, O’Brien quickly became a notable name on Bill Belichick’s staff as quarterbacks coach and offensive coordinator. He spent three years (2009-11) in that role before departing for head-coaching positions with Penn State (2012-13) and the Houston Texans (2014-20).

Most notably with Penn State, O’Brien took the job after the overhauling the program and school underwent following the Jerry Sandusky scandal. Penn State wasn’t a job many people were clamoring for but O’Brien took it and kick-started a turnaround that [autotag]James Franklin[/autotag] continues with today.

As for New England, Belichick didn’t name an official offensive coordinator for the Patriots in 2022, leaning on Matt Patricia as the primary play-caller after he spent an entire career as a defensive play-caller and head coach in the NFL.

The lack of offensive clarity resulted in the Patriots having one of the worst-ranked offenses in the NFL. Now he is set to work with another former Alabama quarterback, Mac Jones, as he hopes to help turn the Patriots back into a force in the AFC East.

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Robbie Gould helps 49ers reach NFC title game by remaining perfect

Nothing is guaranteed in life except death, taxes, and Robbie Gould kicking field goals in the postseason.

Nothing in life is guaranteed except for death, taxes, and [autotag]Robbie Gould[/autotag] converting a postseason field goal attempt. The former Penn State kicker once again was perfect on every field goal attempt he took in Sunday’s NFC Divisional Round matchup between the San Francisco 49ers and the Dallas Cowboys, and the 49ers needed Gould’s perfect postseason career streak to continue.

The 49ers won a defensive battle with the Cowboys to advance to next week’s NFC championship game against the Philadelphia Eagles in Philadelphia.

Remarkably, Gould’s postseason clutchness streak continued on Sunday, as he is now a perfect 63-for-63 on field goals and PATs over the course of his 18-year career.

But it wasn’t just his kicking that came up big for the 49ers. Gould also made a potentially game-changing tackle on a kickoff return by the Cowboys, preventing a possible touchdown early in the fourth quarter.

Gould is joined by fellow former Penn State player Kevin Givens in the 49ers’ latest attempt to reach and win the Super Bowl. To get there, they will have to win a road game in Philadelphia next week against Miles Sanders and the top-seeded Eagles in next week’s NFC championship game. For all of Goulden’s postseason success, he is still lacking a Super Bowl ring. Will he keep his streak going against Philadelphia for one more shot at the Lombardi Trophy?

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Miles Sanders moving on to NFC Championship

Miles Sanders out-rushed Saquon Barkley as the Eagles eliminated the Giants.

In a showdown of former Penn State running backs in the NFC Divisional Round, [autotag]Miles Sanders[/autotag] and his Philadelphia Eagles got the best of [autotag]Saquon Barkley[/autotag] and the New York Giants. Sanders out-rushed Barkley in the Eagles’ 38-7 victory on Saturday night in Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia as the Eagles moved on to the NFC Championship Game next week.

Sanders carried the football 17 times for the Eagles and rushed 90 yards. That was enough to lead all players and the team in rushing yards until just after the two-minute warning when teammate Kenneth Gainwell ripped off a 35-yard touchdown run to eclipse the 100-yard mark. Gainwell’s final college football game was played against Penn State in the 2019 Cotton Bowl. Gainwell rushed for 34 yards and accounted for 78 receiving yards for Memphis in Penn State’s Cotton Bowl victory.

Barkley finished the game with 61 rushing yards and 21 receiving yards, but the Eagles kept him out of the end zone a week after Barkley scored two touchdowns against the Minnesota Vikings in the NFL’s super wild card weekend.

Sanders and the Eagles will be home for next week’s NFC Championship Game. The top seed in the NFC will host the winner of Sunday’s divisional-round matchup between the San Francisco 49ers and Dallas Cowboys. One way or another, Sanders will be going head-to-head against more former Nittany Lions. [autotag]Micah Parsons[/autotag] and [autotag]Connor McGovern[/autotag] are starters for the Cowboys, and [autotag]Robbie Gould[/autotag] and [autotag]Kevin Givens[/autotag] play for the 49ers.

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Saquon vs. Miles: Penn State running backs set for NFL playoff matchup

Saquon Barkley and Miles Sanders battle for a spot in the NFC Championship Game this weekend.

Two of Penn State’s finest running backs produced for the NFL will go head-to-head this weekend in the NFL’s divisional round of the playoffs. [autotag]Miles Sanders[/autotag] and the Philadelphia Eagles will host [autotag]Saquon Barkley[/autotag] and the New York Giants in a classic NFC East slobber knocker, and both former Nittany Lion running backs will be keys to victory for their respective teams.

Barkley is coming off an impressive postseason debut with the Giants. In last week’s road win against the Minnesota Vikings, Barkley scored two touchdowns and accumulated 109 yards of total offense. He scored the first touchdown of the game on the first offensive series for the Giants and the eventual game-winning score later in the fourth quarter. It was an impressive playoff debut that felt long overdue for the five-year veteran.

Sanders is entering the postseason after a career-best regular season with 1,269 rushing yards and 11 rushing touchdowns. Quarterback Jalen Hurts may get the spotlight with his MVP-caliber regular season in Philadelphia, but Sanders has had a terrific season as well, which is why he was selected to his first career Pro Bowl.

In the first regular-season meeting between the Eagles and Giants this season, Sanders rushed for 144 yards, a season-high, and scored two touchdowns. Sanders had a significantly lower rushing total in the regular season finale between the two division rivals, but the Eagles offense also didn’t appear to go all out in its effort knowing it should be able to manage clinching homefield advantage in a home game against the Giants’ backups (the Giants already had their playoff seed locked in; the Eagles needed a win or a loss by the San Francisco 49ers and Dallas Cowboys).

It seems that every time Miles Sanders faces the Giants, TV announcers make a point to remind everyone watching that he backed up Saquon Barkley at Penn State. But Sanders and the Eagles have held the upper hand on the scoreboard more often than not over the past five seasons, and Sanders has been a part of some of that success. Expect to be reminded of that again on Saturday night as the Eagles and Giants battle for a spot in the NFC Championship Game. One way or another, a Penn State running back will be playing for a spot in the Super Bowl next week.

Will it be Barkley or Sanders?

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Bill O’Brien interviews with Patriots

Bill O’Brien watch continues as the Patriots search for an offensive coordinator

Former Penn State head coach [autotag]Bill O’Brien[/autotag] could soon be back in the NFL, and he could be taking on the role he held prior to being hired by Penn State.

O’Brien, currently the offensive coordinator at Alabama, had his interview with the New England Patriots to talk about the vacancy at offensive coordinator. O’Brien has long been the easy subject of various coaching rumors in recent years since his return to the college game at Alabama, but this could be the gig that lures him back to the NFL if all goes well.

O’Brien is still considered by NFL reporters to be the favorite to land the offensive coordinator job with the Patriots, as we previously mentioned and currently reiterated by Ian Rapoport of the NFL Network, via Twitter.

O’Brien was not the last person scheduled to interview for the job with New England, however. As noted by Rapoport, it is believed the Patriots will be done with interviews soon.

O’Brien was hired by Penn State to be the head coach of the football program as the successor to [autotag]Joe Paterno[/autotag] (following interim head coach Tom Bradley) in 2012. He had previously spent the 2011 season as the offensive coordinator for the Patriots, a role he held for one season after serving as the team’s quarterback coach from 2009 through 2010 and two other roles on the staff the previous two seasons. Penn State was O’Brien’s first head coaching job in his career.

In two seasons as Penn State’s head coach, O’Brien accumulated back-to-back winning seasons despite the program being hammered by NCAA sanctions in the wake of the Jerry Sandusky scandal. O’Brien went 15-9 as Penn State’s head coach. Following the 2013 season, O’Brien accepted a job offer to become the head coach of the Houston Texans. O’Brien spent six seasons as the coach of the Texans, where he was 52-48 overall but just 2-4 in the postseason. He was fired following an 0-4 start to the 2020 season.

In 2021, O’Brien joined the Alabama coaching staff under head coach Nick Saban, filling the role of offensive coordinator after Steve Sarkisian left the role to become the head coach at Texas.

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Twitter reacts to Saquon Barkley’s first career NFL playoff touchdown

Twitter reacts to Saquon Barkley’s electrifying first career NFL playoff touchdown

Former Penn State running back [autotag]Saquon Barkley[/autotag] scored his first career playoff touchdown in the first quarter of his NFL postseason debut, and he quickly set the NFL Twitter world on fire with his electric play. Barkley got the New York Giants on the scoreboard in the wild-card matchup with the Minnesota Vikings with a 28-yard run. For a player with so many memorable touchdown runs, this one will surely go down as one of the more special ones for Barkley considering the milestone attached to it.

Here is how Twitter reacted to watching Saquon Barkley’s first career playoff touchdown.

Twitter reacts to Mike Gesicki’s first career playoff touchdown

NFL Twitter reacts to Mike Gesicki’s signature touchdown dance after first career postseason TD

For the first time in his five-year career in the NFL, former Penn State tight end [autotag]Mike Gesicki[/autotag] is getting a firsthand taste of the NFL playoff action. And after five years, Gesicki scored his first career postseason touchdown. Gesicki caught a touchdown pass late in the first half of the wild card matchup between Gesicki’s Miami Dolphins and the Buffalo Bills.

With Gesicki’s touchdown, the Dolphins erased a 17-0 first-half deficit on the road against their division rivals with a successful two-point conversion. Gesicki made sure to relish in the moment with his signature, yet often ridiculed dance moves.

Afterward, the buzz was almost as much about Gesicki’s dancing shoes as it was the Dolphins had crawled all the way back from a 17-0 deficit! Here are some of the best reactions from Twitter commenting on Gesicki’s post-touchdown celebration.