Here’s some facts: NFL first-round linebacker picks: Ohio State: 8 (Middleton, Gradishar, Brudzinski, Cousineau, Powell, Katzenmoyer, Hawk, Carpenter); Penn State: 3 (O'Neil, Conlan, Arrington).
First player-(linebacker) taken in the NFL draft: Ohio State: 1 (Tom Cousineau 1979); Penn State: 0.
First team college All-Americans: Ohio State: 18 (Kelly-2, Gradishar-2, Cousineau-2, Marek, Johnson, Speilman-2, Tovar-2, Katzenmoyer, Diggs, Wilhelm, Hawk-2, Lauriniatis); Penn State: 17 (Onkatz-2, Ham, Zupiec, Skorupan, O'Neil, Buttle, Allerman, Conlan-2, Collins, Arrington-2, Short, Pusluzny-2, Conner).
And finally, First team All-Big Ten linebacker selections since 1993 (when Penn State joined the Big Ten Conference): Ohio State: 12 (Styles-2, Katzenmoyer-3, Diggs, Cooper, Wilhelm, Hawk-3, Laurinaitis); Penn State-6 (Gelzheiser, Short-2, Arrington, Posluzny-2).
So, according to the real facts, Ohio State University is more deserving of, and far more representative of the title of "Linebacker U."
Oh, and one more thing that happened since Uncle Buck penned his screed to me: Laurinaitis won the Butkus Award two weeks ago – the country’s best linebacker. Connor, from Penn State, was second…
