Always for the Glory: NFL Update Week 13

There are still 29 former Nittany Lions currently on NFL rosters, including a few who are making quite the impression on their teams.

From Aaron Maybin making a tackle (holy cow!) to Tamba Hali and Cameron Wake tearing up the AFC, and a few more pleasant surprises in between. It's all in this week's Always For The Glory update.

NFC North

Chicago Bears - Chicago Bears 31, Philadelphia Eagles 26

This week: Chicago @ Detroit, 1 p.m. Sunday on FOX.

Anthony Adams (1999-02), DT
Adams started at nose tackle for the Bears, forcing a Michael Vick fumble while recording a sack for a loss of nine yards in the third quarter.

Robbie Gould (2001-04), K
Gould was perfect on the day, going 1-for-1 on field goal attempts, making a key 23-yarder late in the third quarter, and 4-for-4 on PATs.

Always for the Glory: NFL Update Week 7

Kerry Collins (Photo: SI.com)

Well it was finally a good weekend for the current Nittany Lions after beating Minnesota, and the Penn State alums had a solid one as well. One of the great quarterbacks in the school's history got a chance to show he still has what it takes in his 16th season,a few defensive linemen wreaked havoc on opposing quarterbacks, and a couple graduates from Linebacker-U were paid homage to their school's namesake with solid days as well.

QB Kerry Collins, Panthers

Starting in place of the injured Vince Young, Collins completed 17 of 31 passes for 276 yards and three touchdown passes. He is the only current NFL quarterback to hail from Happy Valley and is continuing to succeed almost two decades after that magical 1994 season.

Always for the Glory: Week 2 NFL Update

Updated: 7:45 p.m.

Poz is hurt again... ugh!

It's not just the current group of Penn Staters that are down in the dumps after a tough weekend. A couple of Penn State's most prominent alums were forced to the sideline after just one week of NFL action. Jared Odrick will miss two weeks with a broken fibula, and Paul Posluszny will miss two to three weeks with a sprained right knee. And probably the worst news came just a few hours ago, that Josh Hull tore his ACL in practice today, and will be lost for the season.

It wasn't all bad though for PSU's most prominent alumni. Here are some highlights from your favorite former Nittany Lions after week one.

Paul Posluszny, LB, Bills: It ended on a low note for the former PSU captain, but Posluszny dominated the division rival Dolphins before getting hurt. He compiled eight total tackles, including sacking Miami quarterback Chad Henne, finally getting revenge for a certain 2005 game that will go unmentioned.

Dan Connor, LB, Panthers: Connor's been battling injury throughout his NFL career, but is now finally healthy, and starting at linebacker for the Panthers. He was a beast in his first start last week, with 13 total tackles, one sack, and three tackles for loss in the 31-18 loss to the New York Giants.

Linkbacker U is taking it to the Ice(r)

Varsity Bound?

It looks like it's a possibility. Cory Giger of the Altoona Mirror reports that the new softball field may not be the only new athletic facility on the horizon. No, they are not gracing us with a new football press box, but a new rink could be coming in the new future to accommodate the new varsity hockey team.

"We're close," a source close to the situation told the Mirror on Thursday. "It won't be long before we'll be able to potentially make some kind of announcement. But it's not a done deal yet."

The source spoke on the condition of anonymity, and when asked to define what "close" means said, "probably within the next two months" the wheels will be set in motion.

Gotta love the "sources close to the situation." Whoever that guy is, he really knows a lot. I think that's the same guy who told us Lebron was going to the Heat, and that Brett Favre was retiring, unretiring, retiring, unretiring, and retiring again.

Movin' On Up

Heath was supposed to make his return to State College this weekend to take on the short season Single A Spikes. Ben Heath is too big time for that now though, as he got promoted to the Single-A Lexington Legends. Heat was batting .248 with 6 homers and 21 RBIs in 37 games for the Tri-City ValleyCats. Projected over a 162 game season, that's 26 dingers and 92 RBIs. Not too shabby for the catcher.

Hodge, Former Teammates Making Big Impact on Big Stage

The USA women's volleyball team opened play in the FIVB Grand Pix this past Friday with a four set win over the Dominican Republic. Apparently, it's not just the USA that can't stop the PSU women's volleyball greats. Hodge racked up 12 kills, Nicole Fawcett had one, and Alisha Glass quarterbacked the offense as the team's setter. Not too shabby. Let's see who Russ Rose has up his sleeve to replace them.

Deon Butler continuing to shine

A couple weeks ago during mini-camp, I posted a tweet by Pete Carroll in which he called Deon Butler one of the most improved players of the off-season. As we inch closer and closer to the start of the season, Carroll's still singing his praises.

"He's probably been the most improved receiver, the most improved guy maybe even at his position other than maybe Red Bryant," Carroll said of Butler. "He's just made a lot of progress. He made another big play today. He's got terrific speed, but to make tough catches like that with guys going up, that's the stuff you like to see."

Ed keeps hitting Treys, grabs another recruit

Penn State basketball lost may have lost Trey Burke, but it just added Trey Lewis to its 2011 class. Full reaction coming in a post later today. Stay tuned.

Linkbacker U enjoyed being bigger while it lasted

The Bigger House... The official numbers came out this week, and it looks like Beaver Stadium's one-year reign as the biggest stadium in college football has come to an end. Michigan Stadium will reclaim the title this fall:

"The Big House is back.

When the Unviersity [sic] of Michigan football team takes the field this fall, it will once again be in front of the largest crowd in the nation.

That's because with new stadium renovations scheduled to be completed, the school announced that the stadium's capacity will be 109,901.

That number surpasses that of Penn State's Beaver Stadium.

MGoBlog's Tim has a nice write-up on today's open house, which he attended, and came away with some pretty good info on the future of Michigan Stadium expansion.

"The Athletic Department is already discussing further expansion of the stadium, but the scoreboards are going to be the next part of the stadium improved.

Brandon said he hopes that the existing architecture of the scoreboards can be maintained (speculation - so as to not waste money when stadium expansion forces them to move within a few years?), but it's time for them to be upgraded. The Athletic Department will explore all possible revenue streams to pay for that project, though there are currently no plans for in-stadium advertising."

You have to hand it to Michigan. Arrogant as all hell, at least they stick to their guns when it comes to maintaining tradition.

Quarless signs with Packers... In a bit of NFL news, former PSU tight end Andrew Quarless, drafted by the Green Bay Packers this past April, has been signed to a rookie contract. Part of the Packers.com series "Getting To Know A Draft Pick," Quarless really opened up about his football career, including this nugget about another former Nittany Lion:

Was there a football player you idolized growing up? Why him?

I wouldn't say I idolized a football player growing up. I think coming into college, Paul Posluszny (former linebacker for Penn State and current linebacker for the Buffalo Bills), watching the way he worked. He laid flat out. They used to call him a machine, like nothing fazed him. Whether it was running sprints, lifting weights, I really was amazed coming out of high school watching the way the older guys worked, especially him. It was amazing to me. That is another thing, I couldn't block him my freshman year. He was so elusive at the linebacker position I couldn't even touch him.

You really have to feel great for Quarless. For a while in the middle of his Penn State days, he was teetering on the edge. He had two options, two paths. He chose the right one.

The next Bobby Engram? It looks like Deon Butler, the walk-on defensive back turned all-time Penn State receptions leader, is doing just swell in Seattle. Don't believe me, ask head coach Pete Carroll:

Royster ready to roll... I'll admit, as a fan, I was disappointed to see Evan Royster standing on the sidelines during the Blue-White Game this past April. But also as a fan who also wants Penn State to win games this fall, I couldn't have been more pleased. But winning games won't be the only thing in the cards for Royster this fall. Just as quietly as he runs over, around, and through defenses, the rising redshirt senior tailback is only 481 yards from breaking Curt Warner's all-time Penn State rushing record. To Royster the focus isn't on the record, but getting himself prepared to be able to break that record this fall. The Collegian had the story:

"But, Royster's decision to return for his final season was never completely dictated by a chance to shatter records. It was about coming back, helping his team improve and preparing for his professional future, he said.

"What I've heard also is that the biggest day of my life is that combine," Royster said. "So it's something that I will train hard for, and actually after the season's done, I'll get right into it and try to make myself the best I can be for that."

Oh yeah, and how about Warner? Why, he's only going to be inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame this weekend.

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