Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1378330
said. "He'll see plenty of tape of players
that I've coached at different spots, but I
think it's important for a player to de-
velop their own identity and their own
unique stuff. I want Micah's identity to
be Micah."
Parsons arrives in Dallas just as an-
other Penn State great is leaving. Sean
Lee, an 11-year NFL veteran and two-
time Pro Bowler, announced his retire-
ment on April 26. Lee played his entire
pro career with the Cowboys, having
been selected in the second round in
2010. Just as he was part of the Line-
backer U lore that Parsons grew to ap-
preciate at Penn State, he's also part of a
tradition at Dallas that the NFL new-
comer will be looking to uphold in the
years to come. Said Parsons, "I know
what Sean represents. Hopefully one day
we can link up in Dallas and I can use
him as a great mentor."
Joining Parsons in this year's draft
were five other Penn Staters. Defensive
end Jayson Oweh went to Baltimore with
the next-to-last pick of the first round,
while tight end Pat Freiermuth was
taken by Pittsburgh in the second round
with the 55th overall pick. In addition,
three Penn Staters went in quick succes-
sion in the seventh round, as defensive
end Shaka Toney was chosen by Wash-
ington with the 246th pick, center
Michal Menet by Arizona with the 247th
and guard/tackle Will Fries by Indi-
anapolis with the 248th.
Oweh's selection 19 spots below Par-
sons made this the first draft since 2003
in which two Penn State players were
chosen in the first round. The Ravens
had been high on Oweh since seeing him
post a 4.36-second 40-yard dash and
39.5-inch vertical leap at Penn State's
Pro Day in March. Defensive coordinator
Don Martindale had sent outside line-
backers coach Drew Wilkins to the event
at Holuba Hall, and Wilkins came back
raving.
"He had two things he wanted to tell
me," Martindale recalled. "Drew said
that it was the best workout that he's
ever seen live – ever. ... And he said
there's a place up there that has the best
ice cream ever, so those are the two
things he got coming back from Penn
State."
The Berkey Creamery might have been
an enjoyable diversion, but Oweh was
the main draw. As was the case with
Parsons, the versatility that the young
defensive end displayed was a major fac-
tor in his first-round selection. "This is
a positionless defense," Martindale said,
"so we have guys playing all over the
place. And with his athleticism… he can
play a bunch of different spots. We'll
When I interviewed Rasheed Walker
on April 29 for a story in an upcoming
edition of Blue White Illustrated, I asked
him whether he planned on watching
the NFL Dra= that night and, if so,
whether he would be thinking about his
own professional future as Roger Good-
ell stepped to the podium to welcome all
those dra=ees.
Walker said that he would de;nitely be
watching, and he would de;nitely be en-
visioning himself on that stage next
April. Truth is, Walker is always thinking
about what comes next.
"I do that all the time," he said. "When
I was in high school, I remember watch-
ing the Nike Opening on TV. I was like,
'Yeah, I'm going to get there, that's
going to be me next year.' And I made it
to The Opening. Same thing with the
Army All-American game. I feel like [vi-
sualization] is true. So that's just going
to motivate me to go harder, watching
the dra= tonight. Around this time next
year, I'm going to be up there. I truly be-
lieve that."
By all accounts, Walker has good rea-
son to be optimistic. As he preps for his
third season as a starter at Penn State,
he's viewed as one of the top o