Tag: Paul Posluszny

Paul Posluszny elected to College Football Hall of Fame

Another Penn State legend has been elected to the College Football Hall of Fame.

Linebacker U is sending another linebacker into the College Football Hall of Fame. [autotag]Paul Posluszny[/autotag], one of Penn State’s all-time best linebackers, was elected to the College Football Hall of Fame, it was announced on Monday. Posluszny will be officially inducted to the Hall of Fame on Dec. 10, 2024 at the annual National Football Foundation awards dinner in Las Vegas.

Posluszny was a two-time First-Team All-American and is one of two two-time winners of the Bednarik Award as the nation’s top defensive player (2005, 2006). Posluszny also took home the Butkus Award as the nation’s best linebacker in 2005 and was a finalist for the award again in 2006. Posluszny recorded three consecutive 100-tackle seasons and was the first player in program history to do so. Posluszny recorded a career total of 327 tackles with 35 tackles for loss and nine sacks. Posluszny’s career tackle total remains the second-best in program history. Only Dan Connor has more career tackles in Penn State history.

Posluszny went on to become a second-round draft pick of the Buffalo Bills in 2007 and play 11 seasons in the NFL with the Bills and Jacksonville Jaguars. Posluszny made the Pro Bowl in 2013 with the Jaguars when he recorded 162 combined tackles, with 122 solo tackles for the Jaguars defense. Posluszny officially retired from the NFL following the 2017 season.

When inducted, Posluszny will be Penn State’s 27th member of the College Football Hall of Fame. He will join some of Penn State’s best all-time players including LaVar Arrington, Kerry Collins, John Cappelletti, Shane Conlan, Jack Ham, Lydell Mitchell, and, of course, Joe Paterno. Arrington is Penn State’s most recent inductee into the hall of fame prior to Posluszny. Arrington was inducted in 2022. Posluszny and Arrington were each on the ballot in 2021, so now Posluszny can finally join Arrington where he belongs.

Posluszny will be part of a hall of fame class that includes Randy Moss (Marshall), Larry Fitzgerald (Pitt), Julius Peppers (North Carolina), Warrick Dunn (Florida State), and Justin Blackmon (Oklahoma State).

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Curtis Jacobs named Butkus Award semifinalist

Penn State linebacker Curtis Jacobs is one of 12 semifinalists for this national linebacker award.

Penn State linebacker [autotag]Curtis Jacobs[/autotag] is one of 12 semifinalists for this season’s Collegiate Butkus Award, honoring the top linebacker in college football. The Butkus Award released its list of semifinalists on Monday.

Through 9 games this season, Jacobs has 36 total tackles, 25 solo tackles, 5 tackles for a loss and 1 sack. His 36 total tackles leads the team, with two more than fellow star linebacker [autotag]Abdul Carter[/autotag]. Jacobs always seems to be around the football and is one of the most consistent players on what has been a tremendous defense for the Nittany Lions all year.

Jacobs is now looking to become the third player in Penn State history to win the Butkus Award. The only two players to previously win the award while wearing a Penn State uniform are [autotag]LaVar Arrington[/autotag] in 1999 and [autotag]Paul Posluszny[/autotag] in 2005.

Last year’s Butkus Award winner was Jack Campbell of Iowa, who is also the most recent Big Ten player to take home the award.

Here is the full list of semifinalists for this year’s Butkus Award.

2023 Collegiate Butkus Award Semifinalists

The winner of this year’s award will be named on or before Dec. 7.

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10 former Jaguars on 2024 College Football Hall of Fame ballot

Paul Posluszny, Kevin Hardy, and eight other former Jaguars players are among the nominees for the College Football Hall of Fame.

The College Football Hall of Fame released its list of candidates for the Class of 2024 and the Jacksonville Jaguars are well-represented on the ballot.

Ten players who spent time with Jacksonville during their respective NFL careers are among the list of nominees (years with Jaguars):

  • Aaron Beasley, cornerback, West Virginia (1996-2001)
  • Justin Blackmon, wide receiver, Oklahoma State (2012-2013)
  • Marco Coleman, defensive end, Georgia Tech (2002)
  • Jarett Dillard, wide receiver, Rice (2009-2011)
  • Vaughn Dunbar, running back, Indiana (1995)
  • Deon Figures, cornerback, Colorado (1997-1998)
  • Toby Gerhart, running back, Stanford (2014-2015)
  • Kevin Hardy, linebacker, Illinois (1996-2001)
  • John Jurkovic, defensive end, Eastern Illinois (1996-1998)
  • Paul Posluszny, linebacker, Penn State (2011-2017)

The 18 players inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame last year included Tim Tebow, a former Denver Broncos and New York Jets quarterback who spent one offseason at tight end with the Jaguars.

Beasley, Blackmon, Dillard, and Hardy were all drafted by the Jaguars. Posluszny stands as the franchise’s all-time leading tackler and Beasley is second in team history in interceptions.

Voting for the Class of 2024 will happen through the remainder of June, but the inductees won’t be announced until January of next year.

Trio of Penn State players on 2024 College Football Hall of Fame ballot

These three former Penn State football greats are on the College Football Hall of Fame ballot for 2024.

For the second striaght year, Penn State has three players on the ballot for the College Football Hall of Fame. Former linebacker [autotag]Paul Posluszny[/autotag] and former running backs [autotag]Ki-Jana Carter[/autotag] and [autotag]D.J. Dozier[/autotag] were among the names on the ballot for this year’s College Football Hall of Fame ballot, which was officially revealed on Monday by the National Football Foundation and College Football Hall of Fame. All three players appeared on the ballot last year as well.

This is Carter’s second appearance on the College Football Hall of Fame ballot, and he has a chance to join former teammate Kerry Collins, who was inducted into the hall of fame in 2018. Carter was a first-team All-American during Penn State’s undefeated 1994 season and ended his Penn State career as one of the best backs to ever come through the program. Carter was a runner-up to 1994 Heisman Trophy winner Rashaan Salaam of Colorado and a finalist for the Maxwell Award, which was won by Collins. Carter ended his career earning co-MVP honors in the 1995 Rose Bowl victory over Oregon with 156 rushing yards, highlighted by a memorable 83-yard touchdown on Penn State’s first offensive play of the game.

Carter went on to be the No. 1 overall pick in the 1995 NFL draft of the Cincinnati Bengals. He spent a total of 10 years in the NFL.

Dozier was also a first-team All-American for Penn State in 1986. He is the only player in school history to lead the Nittany Lions in rushing for four consecutive seasons and he was a key offensive piece of Penn State’s 1986 national championship run. It was Dozier who scored the game-winning touchdown for Penn State in its upset victory over No. 1 Miami in the 1987 Fiesta Bowl.

Posluszny was a two-time First Team All-American, including as a consensus pick in 2005, and he is one of two players to win the Chuck Bednarik Award twice (Northwestern’s Pat Fitzgerald is the other, doing so in 1995 and 1996). Posluzny also owns a Butkus Award and was a two-time First Team All-Big Ten player. Posluszny was also a National Football Foundation scholar-athlete in 2006.

Penn State currently has 20 inductees in the College Football Hall of Fame. The most recent inductee is former linebacker LaVar Arrington, who was officially enshrined in 2022.

Every College Football Hall of Fame member from Penn State

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ChatGPT ranks Penn State football’s top 10 players of all-time

ChatGPT ranks the top 10 players in Penn State history. Did it get it right?

The storied history of Penn State football is full of all-time great players not just in program history, but in the history of the sport of football. Coming up with a list of the top 10 players of all time is always an interesting exercise because the opinions you have on the subject may change by the day. Do you lean more toward the defensive standouts or give preference to some of the top offensive players of all time?

In an ever-evolving world of artificial intelligence and analytical analysis, what if you just let a computer do the ranking for you? It may not be a perfect science, but out of curiosity, I turned to ChatGPT, a language model trained by OpenAI, and asked the AI interface to rank the top 10 players in Penn State football history for me.

The results were not too bad, although I do have some different opinions on the ranking. But let’s take a look at how ChatGPT ranked the top 10 players in Penn State’s football history.

Penn State football recruiting profile: LB Kaveion Keys

Penn State football Class of 2023 profile: LB Kaveion Keys

Penn State has a long history of award-winning and successful NFL players all hailing from the linebacker position. [autotag]Jack Ham[/autotag], [autotag]Paul Posluszny[/autotag], and [autotag]Micah Parsons[/autotag] are just a couple of linebackers who have been difference-makers at Penn State and the NFL.

Defensive coordinator Manny Diaz and his new aggressive defense need linebackers to be successful and in comes [autotag]Kaveion Keys[/autotag]. The four-star linebacker from Virginia won’t have a far trip north but a long journey will begin next year with Diaz making him the linebacker he needs in his defense.

Here is a snapshot look at one of the final pieces in Penn State’s Class of 2023 recruiting class.

Joey Porter Jr. receives national weekly honor after Week 1

Joey Porter Jr. received a national weekly honor for his performance against Purdue in Week 1.

Penn State cornerback [autotag]Joey Porter Jr.[/autotag] had an active season debut against Purdue, and he is being recognized for his performance against the Boilermakers. Porter Jr. was named the National Player of the Week by the Bednarik Award on Tuesday.

Porter Jr. had eight tackles, recovered a fumble, and broke up six passes during Penn State’s Week 1 win at Purdue. He also came close to hauling in his first interception of the year and returning it for a touchdown, but he couldn’t quite finish making the play.

Penn State is home to the most Bednarik Award winners in the history of the award. [autotag]Paul Posluszny[/autotag] is a two-time winner. Other Nittany Lions to win the award include [autotag]Dan Connor[/autotag] and [autotag]LaVar Arrington[/autotag].

Last year’s recipient of the Bednarik Award was Georgia defensive tackle Jordan Davis. The last Big Ten player to win the award was Chase Young of Ohio State in 2019.

Porter Jr. and Penn State safety [autotag]Ji’Ayir Brown[/autotag] are the two Nittany Lions on the watch list for this year’s Bednarik Award.

Penn State quarterback [autotag]Sean Clifford[/autotag] was named the Big Ten’s co-offensive player of the week.

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Bednarik Award watch list includes key pair of Nittany Lions

Penn State has more Chuck Bednarik Awards than any other school. Will either of these two players add another to the list?

As Penn State opened training camp to prepare for the 2022 college football season, a handful of players were recognized on watch lists for some individual honors in 2022. The Maxwell Football Club unveiled its watch list for the Chuck Bednarik Award, and two players from Penn State appeared on the watch list.

Senior safety [autotag]Ji’Ayir Brown[/autotag] and redshirt junior cornerback [autotag]Joey Porter Jr.[/autotag] were recognized on the Bednarik Award watch list.

[autotag]Dan Connor[/autotag] is the most recent Penn State player to take home the Bednarik Award. He did so in 2007 to make it three consecutive seasons a Penn State player won the award. [autotag]Paul Posluszny[/autotag] won the award in 2005 and 2006 and is one of two all-time winners to win the award multiple times. Current Northwestern head coach Pat Fitzgerald is the only other player to win multiple Bednarik Awards. He did so in 1995 and 1996, the first two seasons the award was presented.

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In addition to Posluszny and Connor, Penn State also saw [autotag]LaVar Arrington[/autotag] win the award in 1999 to boost Penn State’s total to four Bednarik Awards. No other school has more than two Bednarik Award winners (Northwestern, Georgia, LSU, and Alabama each have two Bednarik award winners).

Last year’s recipient of the Bednarik Award was Georgia defensive tackle Jordan Davis. The last Big Ten player to win the award was Chase Young of Ohio State in 2019.

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AWARD TRACKER: Every Penn State Player on a preseason award watch list

What Penn State players are on college football watch lists in 2022?

Penn State has always been a program with rich history and with plenty of awards in the program’s history. Players like [autotag]Paul Posluszny[/autotag], [autotag]Saquon Barkley[/autotag], and [autotag]Carl Nassib[/autotag] are all recent players with awards given out by different establishments.

This year we are seeing a ton of Penn State players named to preseason watch lists. Both sides of the ball are well represented headlined by players [autotag]Sean Clifford [/autotag]and [autotag]Joey Porter Jr.[/autotag]. Both players are up for offensive and defensive player of the year awards but there is more hardware the Nittany Lions could bring home.

Now, being on award watch lists are a great thing but the season still needs to be played out. For the time being though with fall camps just around the corner, they do give Penn State fans a lot of optimism as they head into a critical year in the program’s history.

PHOTOS: Penn State’s College Football Hall of Fame candidates in 2023

Penn State football photo archive: Class of 2023 College Football Hall of Fame candidates

Penn State football is one of the best programs in the history of the game and with that comes some serious talent. The team already has several College Football Hall of Famers but now it has a chance to add to that large group in 2023.

This year there are three players on the ballot; [autotag]Paul Posluszny[/autotag], [autotag]Ki-Jana Carter[/autotag], and [autotag]D.J. Dozier[/autotag]. Two all-around running backs and one of the best linebackers in the history of the sport. Not a bad group!

All three men are more than deserving to be in the sport’s forever home but odds aren’t in favor of all three making it. Still, it is worth looking back at the careers these men had as they stand at the doorsteps of immortality.