Former Penn State linebacker Josh Hull was signed by the St. Louis Rams on Monday after being selected in the seventh round of April's NFL draft and the Daily Collegian caught up with him for some reflections on his time at Penn State and his future in the NFL.
↵↵↵"Penn State did a great job preparing me for the NFL and I was lucky enough to get an opportunity to get drafted," he said. "And now I'll have the opportunity to contribute to the Rams."
↵After participating in Rams' rookie camp and organized team activities (OTAs), Hull said he is comfortable with the playbook, something he said is a lot of material to grasp.
↵"Now it's just a matter of me really settling in, knowing my responsibility on the defense and then just relying on my football abilities and to react," he said. "Anytime I can just step on the field and just play on pure reaction, that's when I play at my highest level."
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As Penn State faces a season in which it will replace all three linebackers from 2009 (Hull, Navarro Bowman and Sean Lee) the story of Hull's rise from walk-on, to maligned backup, to leading tackler his senior year at Penn State and ultimately the NFL should remind everyone precisely why Penn State really is Linebacker U.
↵The new corps is talented, albeit inexperienced, but with the guidance of the proven Nittany Lion coaching staff, it'd be pretty shocking if linebacker ends up as a weak spot for the 2010 team.
↵Hull certainly didn't have the natural talent of some of the others who've come through Happy Valley at his position in recent years like Paul Posluszny or Dan Conner among others, but he showed what hard work and the right attitude can produce, even against tough odds.
↵If Hull's former teammates follow his example, Penn State will be just fine at linebacker this season.