Penn State defensive tackle Judge Culpepper (left) will join with PJ Mustipher (center) next season as the Lions look to replace starter Robert Windsor (right).
                                 Joe Hermitt | AP file photo, The Patriot-News

Penn State defensive tackle Judge Culpepper (left) will join with PJ Mustipher (center) next season as the Lions look to replace starter Robert Windsor (right).

Joe Hermitt | AP file photo, The Patriot-News

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Returning to campus for Penn State players means swapping quarantine stories. Judge Culpepper may not have the hands-down best one to share, but it’s one that draws some of the most scrutiny.

The sophomore defensive tackle comes from a well-known family. Father Brad is a former NFL starter, and both parents, Brad and Monica, have appeared on multiple seasons of the reality show “Survivor.”

All of this is to say that the Culpeppers live in an affluent neighborhood in Tampa, where Brad played much of his career for the Buccaneers.

So when greeting a new next-door neighbor at the docks behind the house, sometimes you end up talking to Tom Brady.

“No one really believes me, and I’m OK with that,” Judge Culpepper said Tuesday on a video call with reporters. “They can come visit and see for themselves.”

For the Culpeppers, it wasn’t a surprise that a Hall of Fame quarterback was living next door. When Brady signed with the Bucs this offseason, he moved into the house owned by a Hall of Fame shortstop, Derek Jeter.

“It was honestly crazy the first couple of days,” Culpepper said. “There’s a million people driving by and news people, and we just kind of laid low and didn’t really want to impede on Tom Brady’s privacy.”

While Penn State was shut down for the spring, Culpepper said he and his dad spoke with Brady once and that he also got to meet Jeter, the former Yankees star, in the past.

Surrounded by fame back at home, Culpepper is hoping to have the opportunity to make a name for himself in Happy Valley, assuming the college football season is able to be played.

After redshirting in 2018, Culpepper played predominately on special teams last season, appearing in all 13 games for the Nittany Lions.

Penn State’s spring depth chart listed him on the second team along with Fred Hansard, behind presumptive starters Antonio Shelton and PJ Mustipher.

The 6-foot-4 Culpepper said his conditioning has improved as he looks to earn a regular spot in the defensive line rotation.

“Over the last two years, I’ve really worked on it a lot, and my body fat’s way lower and my muscle mass is much higher,” Culpepper said. “And I’ve kind of maintained that same 285 (pounds) since when I got here. But it’s just much better weight. It just feels better on me. And that’s a testament to (strength coach Dwight) Galt and his training program, honestly.”

Culpepper doesn’t have to look far for inspiration. He called his brother Rex, a quarterback at Syracuse who has overcome cancer, his “hero.”

And their father excelled at defensive tackle in college at Florida and in the NFL despite being only 6-foot-1. Aside from his football and stints on TV, Brad Culpepper is now a lawyer, a future Judge can see for himself.

“My dad played football and was really successful at pretty much every level,” Judge said. “I look at him and just aspire to be like him. He’s an incredibly hard worker. He puts 100% effort into everything that he’s invested in.

“Growing up and watching that, he’s kind of set the path for me and the path I want to follow.”

Lions lead ‘Freaks’ list

A rite of summer in college football, respected veteran reporter Bruce Feldman released his annual “Freaks list” on Tuesday, highlighting the top 50 pure athletes in the sport for The Athletic.

Former Lions star Saquon Barkley was a former No. 1 on the list, as were eventual No. 1 overall draft picks like Jadeveon Clowney and Myles Garrett.

In the 2020 edition, Penn State was the only school to put four players on the list, with three of them landing in the top 15 — sophomore defensive end Jayson Oweh (No. 4), junior linebacker Micah Parsons (No. 13), junior running back Journey Brown (No. 15) and senior safety Jaquan Brisker (No. 46).

The rankings are meant to “spotlight the guys who generate buzz inside their programs by displaying the type of rare physical abilities that wow even those folks who are used to observing gifted athletes every day,” according to Feldman.

Oweh is a prime example, as he hasn’t been a full-time starter for the Lions yet, but his measurables — he runs a 4.33 40 at 6-foot-5, 257 pounds, according to Penn State — can’t be ignored.

The top attribute for Oweh and Brown (4.29 in the 40 at 216 pounds) was listed as speed, with Brown developing from a high school career that saw him break a 30-year-old PIAA sprinting record.

All-American Parsons was noted for his agility (4.24 pro agility test to go with a 4.43 40 at 6-3, 245).

And the surprise on the list was Brisker, the former Lackawanna College standout in line to start this year at safety. His top attribute was listed as “explosiveness,” with standout numbers in the broad jump and triple jump while benching 355 pounds at 6-1, 205.

“As we’ve said before, you can scoff at some of these amazing numbers,” Feldman wrote, “but previous Penn State players (Saquon Barkley, Mike Gesicki, Troy Apke and John Reid, among others) have backed it up at the NFL combine.”

Honors for Parsons

As for more conventional recognitions, Parsons was named to his team-high fourth watchlist of the offseason on Tuesday. Parsons and defensive end Shaka Toney both landed on the list for the Nagurski Trophy, one of a handful national defensive player of the year awards.

Parsons has previously appeared on the watchlists for the Bednarik (top defensive player), Butkus (top linebacker) and Lott IMPACT (top defensive player in character and performance).