W R A P
FIVE ON FIVE
Wartman pulls
down James
Crawford in a
game at Illinois
last season.
Photo by Steve
Manuel
N
yeem Wartman had grown so com-
fortable watching Penn State's suc-
cession of great linebackers, it hadn't oc-
curred to him to consider his own place
in that lineage. Playing alongside the likes
of Michael Mauti, Gerald Hodges, Glenn
Carson and Mike Hull can do that.
But with that procession of Linebacker
U graduates having marched o5 to the
NFL, Wartman can no longer look to the
le6 or right and see a big man on campus
in his position room.
This spring, he needs only to look into a
mirror.
"I didn't really notice the importance
of it until I got to this point right now,"
Wartman said several days into the Nittany
Lions' spring practice sessions. "I was so
used to being the guy who was watching
them do the job."
Moved from the "Sam" strong-side line-
backer spot to the inside "Mike" position
this spring, Wartman now owns that job,
and the redshirt junior is taking the re-
|
IRON 'MIKE'
Nyeem Wartman aims high in first season at MLB spot
