This year, the Steelers had two picks in round five, the first one used on CB Joe Burnett, a 5'9", 192-pounder from Central Florida who was a first-team All-American last season. In fact, Burnett has a lengthy list of college accolades, including:
- First-team ESPN All-American (2008)
- First-team Sports Illustrated All-American (2008)
- First-team Conference USA All-Freshman (2005)
- 3x First-team All-Conference USA (2005-2007)
- First-team CollegeFootballNews.com Freshman All-American (2005)
- First-team FWAA Freshman All-American (2005)
- First-team Rivals.com Freshman All-American (2005)
- Third-team Sporting News Freshman All-America
And if there's one team whose attention Summers caught more than anyone's as a fullback, it was the reigning Super Bowl champion Pittsburgh Steelers, who had two scouts on-hand alongside running backs coach Kirby Wilson.Junior Bus? Frank the Tank? This guy's got more nicknames than any other Steeler drafted ahead of him this year. Write it down: you will hear a lot more about Summers in the near future.The Steelers' staffers in attendance, after all of the players' running tests were completed, held Summers behind on the field to have him run a series of cone drills and pass-catching sets.
They wanted to see first-hand the soft and sure mitts that hauled in 36 passes during Summers' two seasons as a Rebel, which were a nice supplement to his 1,668 rushing yards.
After his first grab, a pass to the flat, he turned, grunted and sprinted downfield.
Wilson told him upon returning to the formation that he didn't have to worry about finishing each route after the catch.
Summers paid it no mind, running at least 20 yards, full speed, following each snag. He caught every catchable ball thrown his way.
At one point, one scout said, under his breathe, 'He's a junior Bus', referring to sure-fire Hall of Famer Jerome Bettis, who helped carry the Steelers to a win in Super Bowl XL over Seattle in 2006 to cap his brilliant 13-year career.
4 comments:
Frank the Tank shirts will be flying off the shelves in the Strip District as quickly as they can print them.
I am a UCF alumni and had the pleasure of watching Joe Burnett. I will tell you he was the main reason that UCF was close in any games till the end, Ask every Miami player on offense and Special teams who rocked there world in the game last year. The Miami coach even said stay away from him. He may not "mesure" fast, but either did Rice or another famous CB from UCF, Asante Samuel, and Joe beat Asante's records. I was rooting for us to get him, give him 2 years and watch this pick.
"Junior Bus"? This seems destined to end up as the Short Bus.
I really like Frank the Tank, but could live with MiniBus.
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