TodayPenn State Football: Lions' grooming young talent
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UNIVERSITY PARK -- It's a grooming process that dates back to the days of Jack Ham and Dennis Onkotz all the way up through the time of Brandon Short and LaVar Arrington.
Now it's the new generation of ‘Lineback U.' and the latest to add their names to the legacy that is Penn State's most storied tradition.
Paul Posluszny breathed new life into the linebacker spot at Penn State. A year after he arrived, Dan Connor molded his game under Posluszny, then Sean Lee entered the fray and learned the game under Posluszny and Connor. Now Navarro Bowman enters the mix, who as a redshirt freshman, he's hoping to make the kind of impact and a young age that Connor and Lee did.
Only this time he won't wait until mid-season or during a bowl game to make his name known.
Bowman is one of three linebackers competing for the outside starting spot opposite of Lee. Connor has been moved to the inside this off season to replace Posluszny. Bowman is currently locked in a battle with junior eligible Tyrell Sales and fellow redshirt Bani Gbadyu.
But just ask Bowman, it's him and everybody else.
“My spot to lose?” Bowman asked rhetorically during Friday's fifth annual Lift for Life event, “I'd say it's my spot to keep. I think I earned the position in the spring game and now I'm going into the off season and plan on keep working hard and hopefully be the starter like I said.”
Is Bowman, a freakish athlete from District Heights, Md. ready for primetime?
“Navarro's a great player,” said Connor, “he fits that mold.”
Connor would know a thing or two about linebackers. He played with one of the best in school history, he has a chance himself to go down as one of the best in school history at the end of the 2007 season.
“Great athlete, hard worker,” Lee added. “And you know what? He gets to the ball. He's got that certain talent where he just finds the ball. He understands the game and he picks up things quickly and I'm excited to see how he's going to do this year.”
To show exactly how good he can be, Bowman will have to beat out the more experienced Sales and Gbadyu who was part of the same recruiting class as Bowman.
“Bani he came in the same class as me,” Bowman said. “It's always somebody trying to take your spot, no matter who they are. Tyrell, he knows the most and I'd say he's the one most threatening.”
But Bowman isn't so much worried about who's behind him or who he has to catch. He's studied Lee and Connor and has a better feel for how the college game is played after a year on the foreign team.
“Behind those great players, watching them has helped me a lot,” Bowman said. “Everybody in this linebacker corps works really hard and everybody is (performing) exceptionally well and everybody competes.”
“The one thing about this University, everybody works hard. I hope to be a leader and that's exactly what those three are and I'm going to follow in their footsteps,” Bowman said.
In the spring Blue White game, Bowman led the Blue team with four tackles including one for loss. Connor thinks he has potential to become a star right off the bat and after he's long gone Connor also believes the future of the position is in good hands led by Lee and eventually Bowman.
“In a year or two you'll be talking to Sean about the younger guys like (Chris) Colasanti and (Andrew) Dailey,” Connor said. “This keeps going on,” Connor added. “It starts with coach Vanderlinden he kind of sets the mold and everyone falls into it. You become a good player if you follow it.”
Notes: The Lift for Life event is held annually to raise money for the Kidney Cancer Association and according to Penn State associate athletic director Jeff Nelson, raised a record $75,000 on Friday and has generated $225,000 since 2003.......Cornerback Justin King did not participate in the event due to a scheduling conflict.
