Former Penn defensive lineman Joey Slackman declares for NFL Draft
Slackman, who won Ivy League defensive player of the year in 2023, played his final year of eligibility at Florida.
Former Penn defensive lineman Joey Slackman announced Thursday that he would be declaring for the NFL draft.
“I’m looking forward mostly just to proving that I belong and proving my worth,” Slackman said of the upcoming draft process.
“I know right now what I’m worth to a team in the locker room and on the field. [I am looking forward to] the step by step process of it all, enjoying each day, and stopping to smell the roses a little bit. … I look at it no different than I looked at anything else in my athletic career to this point, it’s just another challenge.”
Slackman wrestled at Penn as a freshman and walked onto the football team his second year. Through three seasons with the Quakers, he totaled 115 tackles, 25 tackles for loss, and 11 sacks. As a senior, he was awarded Ivy League defensive player of the year, after notching 12 tackles for loss, four sacks, and a blocked field goal.
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“No matter what Joey Slackman does, he does it at 100 miles an hour,” Penn head coach Ray Priore told The Inquirer last year.
The 6-foot-4, 300-pound lineman entered the transfer portal after the 2023 season and gathered 17 scholarship offers within 24 hours. At the time, he was ranked the No. 25 available player in the portal by 247 Sports. After a month of college visits, he decided to play his final season of eligibility at Florida.
Slackman was a major force for the Gators until he tore his left meniscus early in the season and was sidelined for multiple weeks. He then lost his starting spot upon his return. Through nine games, he recorded five tackles and one quarterback hurry.
“I’m all good now. I’ve had time to recover, [I am] preparing for the predraft process now, so I feel good,” Slackman said. “As far as getting back during the season, it was tough. I’ve had a lot of injuries at this point, but pretty much all my other injuries were at the end of the season. … This was kind of a newer experience for me, because it wasn’t season-ending, but it did impede how I wanted to perform the whole year. It was tough mentally, but I tried to make the most of it.”
Slackman would become the first Penn player to be drafted since Kansas City wideout Justin Watson in 2018. Watson, who was selected in the fifth round by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, has put together an impressive professional career, winning three Super Bowls between the Bucs and the Chiefs.
In his draft announcement post on Instagram, Slackman included a quote commonly attributed to Winston Churchill, saying, “Never give up on something you can’t go a day without thinking about.”
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While recovering from his meniscus surgery this past season, Slackman’s father would send him a different quote each day to inspire him. The saying from Churchill stuck with him.
“It’s kind of an ode to [my father], just because of the sacrifices that he and my mom have made for me to be able to succeed,” Slackman added. “Spending time with me at wrestling tournaments when I was in high school, driving me to different practices, and tournaments around the country.”