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STATE COLLEGE — He had won the Old Shoe Game at Dallas. He had broken records at Shippensburg. But for Ryan Zapoticky, nothing quite compared to what he went through on Tuesday.
With Penn State needing a quarterback to throw to its handful of NFL hopefuls on offense, Zapoticky landed the invitation. And after a week of working with them, the former Mountaineers standout was front and center at the Nittany Lions’ Holuba Hall facility, throwing in front of representatives of all 32 NFL teams, including a few general managers.
“It was crazy,” said Zapoticky, who threw nearly 100 passes during the event. “More than I expected coming in. I had about 12 minutes of work, but it felt like an hour. Lot of footballs, a lot of work and it was good work today. Just happy to be here.”
And no better situation to try and extend a playing career that saw him start two years under center at Dallas and three years in college for the Red Raiders.
The former Times Leader all-star threw for more than 3,000 yards for the Mounts and finished second on Shippensburg’s career passing list with 7,102 yards to go with a school record for quarterbacks with 1,259 rushing yards.
Tuesday provided the biggest stage yet. And Zapoticky wasn’t going to miss out on the opportunity.
”I knew Penn State didn’t have a quarterback for today, so I reached out and just asked if they had anybody,” Zapoticky said. “Sent a nice email with my highlight film and everything, and the coaches got back to me.
Zapoticky knew he had the job “about two-and-a-half, three weeks ago” when Lions strength coach Dwight Galt gave him the word. He spent parts of the past week at Penn State to work on some timing and routes so they wouldn’t be heading in cold.
Among his new teammates, however briefly, were Mike Gesicki — one of the top tight ends in the draft — and DaeSean Hamilton, whose stock has steadily risen in 2018.
“They were a huge help,” Zapoticky said. “Down-to-earth guys, they’re not egotistic or anything. They were here to work all week long, and I respect that. That’s going to get them big places, too.”
While the scouts were there to see the Lions players, Zapoticky said he was approached by a few teams himself with the hope that he left enough of an impression to end up in a camp down the road.
At the end of the workouts, New Orleans Saints assistant Peter Giunta made a point to stop by and offer some encouragement, saying that his work hadn’t gone unnoticed.
Regardless of what happens next for Zaptoticky, it was a day that won’t be forgotten.
“It was huge,” Zapoticky said. “Penn State, growing up, that’s the school you want to go to as a Pennsylvania kid. It didn’t work out that way, but to be able to come here and help their guys out on pro day and them help me out, it was great.”
A familiar face
More than six years after he last set foot inside the facility, Tom Bradley was back in Holuba Hall on Tuesday.
The long-time Penn State assistant had spent countless hours of his life in the building, including as the Lions’ interim head coach following the ousting of Joe Paterno toward the end of the 2011 season.
This time, he needed a credential to enter as the newest member of the Pittsburgh Steelers coaching staff. Bradley is the Steelers’ defensive backs coach after three seasons as UCLA’s defensive coordinator.
Bradley was part of a large Steelers contingent at the event, led by general manager Kevin Colbert. Team policy from Colbert on down is to not do any interviews at pro days.
Another reunion coming
A certain Houston Texans head coach was not in attendance for pro day, but Bill O’Brien is expected to back in Happy Valley in the near future.
Lions coach James Franklin confirmed Monday that O’Brien would be part of Penn State’s annual coaches clinic. Statecollege.com reported that O’Brien was set to be the keynote speaker.
Apart from being the two coaches to succeed Paterno as the program’s next full-time head coaches, Franklin and O’Brien worked together on Ralph Friedgen’s staff at Maryland in 2003-04.
