National Football
League
Two former FUMA
cadets won rings at the Super Bowl on February 3, 2008 as members of the world
champion New York Giants. Plaxico Burress made the game-winning touchdown catch
in the final moments of the game to complete the Giants' upset win over the New
England Patriots. Rookie receiver Brandon London spent the week as he has all
season as a member of the Giants practice squad, helping the starting team get ready
for the game. During Super Bowl week, London played the role of Randy Moss,
giving Giants defenders the preparation they needed to shut down the explosive
receiver during the Super Bowl game.
NCAA Division I
Freshman wide
receiver Ian Harding (6-1 / 196 ) was a member of the Division I National
Championship winning team, the Louisiana State University Tigers. The Tigers
defeated the Ohio State University Buckeyes in the national championship game
to become the first team to win multiple national titles since the advent of
the BCS National Championship.
Offensive lineman
Xan Thomas (6-2 / 270) was a freshman on the Appalachian State University
Mountaineers team that won the NCAA Division I-AA National Championship. The
Mountaineers season began in a memorable fashion with an upset victory over
Michigan, marking the first time a Division I-AA team had defeated a
nationally-ranked Division I-A school.
NCAA Division II
A senior at
Valdosta State University, Bo May (6-2 / 270) earned his D-II ring playing
defensive tackle on the Blazers team that beat Northwest Missouri State to claim the
NCAA Division II National Championship.
College All-American Freshman Teams
Anthony Castonzo
and Kareem Jackson were both named to All-American Freshman Teams following the
2007 season. Castonzo (6-7 / 262) started at right offensive tackle for
Boston College in 2007 and was named to the Sporting News All-American Freshman
First Team. Kareem Jackson (5-11 / 185) started at cornerback for
Alabama's Crimson Tide in 2007, and was named to the Sporting News All-American
Freshman Second Team.
ACC All-Academic Team
Anthony Castonzo
was also honored as a member of the ACC All-Academic Team in 2007. Players
selected to the team must have earned a 3.00 grade point average for the
previous semester and maintained a 3.00 cumulative average during his academic
career. Castonzo is a biochemistry major at Boston College.
NFL Draft
The 2007 NFL
season got underway with the selection of FUMA alumnus Gaines Adams as the 4th
overall pick in the draft. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers selected the defensive end
out of Clemson, making him the 10th FUMA alumnus to be selected in the first
round of the NFL draft.
The 2008 NFL
Draft is expected to feature another FUMA alumnus as a potential first round
draft selection. Defensive end Philip Merling, currently a junior at Clemson, is
projected by Mel Kiper as a top ten first round pick.
Joining Merling
at the upcoming NFL Combine will be FUMA alums Dorien Bryant of Purdue
University and Josh Morgan of Virginia Tech, both wide receivers. Bryant is
speedy, with a 4.36 time in the 40. Morgan is touted by Coach John Shuman as
"a beast" who should really pick up attention at the Combine. Both
are currently projected as mid-round picks, but Shuman believes they can rise
in the rankings.