FanPost

Nittany Lions in the NFL #14 Matt McGloin of the Oakland Raiders

Since it's snowing here in North Carolina and school is sure to be closed for at least 2 days I thought I would get a start on a project I've been kicking around in my mind. I am going to write fan posts to update Penn State fans on how former Nittany Lions did in the NFL this season. We will kick it off with Mr. West Scranton himself, Matt McGloin.

The story of McGloin is pretty familiar to us all. He rose from unheralded walk on and former West Scranton Invader to starting quarterback at Penn State. Moxie beat out two recruits with numerous starz behind their names. Rob Bolden left for LSU and Paul Jones headed for Robert Morris rather the deal with competing with Moxie. He gave us fits and scared the crap out of us for a couple of years with Jay Paterno as his quarterback "coach." Then Bill O'Brien moved to Happy Valley and McGloin became awesome and a possibly legit NFL prospect. He continued to surprise and set all sorts of records for quarterbacks at Penn State and earned invitations to try out for numerous NFL teams after going undrafted.

He attended mini camps with the Washington Redskins and Carolina Panthers, but wasn't signed. Finally McGloin was invited to training camp with the Oakland Raiders. Moxie promptly started to turn heads and some say even began to win the locker room. McGloin beat out two rookies in training camp and entered the season as the Raiders third string quarterback behind Matt Flynn and Terrelle Pryor.

By week 11 Mr. McGloin was the starting quarterback for the Raiders. Flynn was released earlier in the year and Pryor was benched. McGloin's initial start came against the Houston Texans. This would be the only victory that McGloin was able to lead the largely hapless Raiders to over the course of the season. He finished the year with 8 touchdowns and 8 interceptions and threw for 1,547 yards. McGloin is somewhat of a cult hero in Oakland and is certainly in the mix to be the starting quarterback next season.

One thing I have learned is to never count him out. I don't expect he'll be a long-term franchise quarterback in the NFL, but hell. Who knows what he'll do?

You created a Fanpost! Good for you! Any content from a premium site will be deleted once we catch wind of it--as will any inappropriate content. If you simply want to share a link, quote, or video, please consider using Fanshots instead.