Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1378330
>> P enn State has produced multiple first-round choices nine times in the history of the NFL Draft, including the most recent edition, in which Micah Parsons and Jayson (now Odafe) Oweh were chosen among the first 31 picks. But only one of the 21 players selected in those nine first rounds is in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Mike Munchak went as the eighth over- all pick in 1982, and the offensive tackle spent his entire 12-year career with the Houston Oilers. He played in nine Pro Bowls, including the one in his last sea- son. Just about the only thing he missed was a Super Bowl. Many Penn State fans remember the 1995 draft better than any other. That's when running back Ki-Jana Carter was taken by Cincinnati with the first pick of the draft, with quarterback Kerry Collins chosen four spots later by Carolina and tight end Kyle Brady following in the ninth spot when he was taken by the New York Jets. Longtime Nittany Lion fans are still upset that the players from that high- scoring, undefeated 1994 team were de- nied a chance to play for the national championship. Still, they won the school's first Big Ten title and finished No. 2 in the polls. In 1996, two more members of that team went in the first round, as offensive guard Jeff Hartings was the 23rd overall selection by Detroit and offensive tackle Andre Johnson went 30th to Washington. Except for Johnson, all had been first-team All-Americans. Collins, Brady and Hartings had very good NFL careers of 11 years or more. That's far better than the average career of 3.3 years as defined by the NFL Players Association. Johnson was waived after just one season, and Carter's career was ruined by a devastating ACL injury in his first NFL exhibition game at Detroit. He started the 1996 season, but injuries plagued him the rest of his time in the NFL, which amounted to four more years in Cincinnati, one year with Washington and two with New Orleans. His role was limited, and by 2004 he was out of the league. Collins is tied with kicker Matt Bahr as the Penn State player with the longest NFL tenure, as both played for 17 seasons. Kicker Robbie Gould will join them in the 2021 season. Collins was a starter with Carolina, the New York Giants and Oak- land during most of his tenure and in one of his five seasons in Tennessee, retiring after spending the 2011 season as a backup in Indianapolis. Collins started in seven playoff games, including the Super Bowl following the 2000 season when his Giants lost to Baltimore. Brady and Hartings also made it to the Super Bowl, Brady on the losing side with the Patriots in 2007, his last NFL season, | THE MORE THE MERRIER This year is hardly the first in which PSU has had more than one first-round NFL draftee