I am so joyed and happy to here this. Malik's parents & brother sat in my section for many years and Elijah & I had a lot of fun and laughs. Three years ago, younger brother **Elijah was going through a terrible time. He's a very thin young kid and needed spinal surgery to correct many health issues. There were severe complications following the surgery & and a very possibility he could die. I believe this happened during Mailk's junior year. His mother Diane told me during that year that young Elijah was fighting hard and said he would be back to see Malik in the last season. Young Elijah made it to the last season.
**https://www.ydr.com/story/sports/co...toughness-from-his-family-rose-bowl/95535396/
LINK: http://www.statecollege.com/news/co...golden-opportunity-with-the-steelers,1477336/
Penn State Football: Malik’s Golden Opportunity with the Steelers
by Mike Poorman on August 01, 2018 8:00 PM
Malik Golden at the Pittsburgh Steelers’ training camp in Latrobe on Monday.
Click photo for gallery
LATROBE — Malik Golden has taken a circuitous path here, the home of the Pittsburgh Steelers’ training camp at Saint Vincent College, a 112-mile drive west of Beaver Stadium.
And on Monday afternoon, while playing safety against the explosive Steelers’ offense during live drills, he certainly looked at home.
Golden was all veteran-like smoothness and maturity — calling signals, defending passes, chatting up the secondary, taking direction from the Steelers’ secondary coach (and former Nittany Lion defensive coordinator) Tom Bradley.
His former Penn State and now Steelers’ teammate Marcus Allen, a fifth-round selection by Pittsburgh in the 2018 NFL Draft, has noticed a change in his fellow safety. Allen, who played with Golden at Penn State in 2014-16, is fighting to make Pittsburgh’s roster, as is Golden.
“Man,” Allen said to Golden, “you’re just different. You’re different.”
In a good way.
Golden, talking after a morning walk-through in light rain on Monday morning, agreed: “Marcus is right. I finally got a little consistency. I finally comfortable and within myself.”
THE JOURNEY
For Golden, who is 25, it’s been quite the journey since Cheshire Academy in Connecticut, where he was two-time All-New England and a team captain of a league champion his senior year as Rivals.com’s No. 2 high school prospect.
From being the last recruit to verbally commit to Joe Paterno — on Aug. 25, 2011 — after being recruited by Bradley and Kermit Buggs to re-committing to Bill O’Brien five months later. From playing for four positions coaches — John Butler, Anthony Midget, Bob Shoop and Tim Banks — to suffering the doldrums of consecutive 706 seasons.
“With four position coaches, we were always changing techniques and mechanics,” he says now. “And mentally, it messed me up a little bit. Now that I know what to expect and in control of myself, it’s helped me a lot.”
From redshirting as a wide receiver his freshman season at PSU, suffering through a series of seven-win seasons accompanied by even more coaching changes to being the wise and mature anchor at starting safety for a Big Ten championship team as a fifth-year senior.
“I remember meeting with James Franklin, the coaches and some of the leaders,” Golden says. “And we all said, ‘At the end of the day, we all have one goal, and that’s to win a Big Ten championship. We can be the catalyst and make this program and bring it back to what it used to be.’ And everyone agreed on that.”
Then, from signing with the San Francisco 49ers as an undrafted free agent in May 2017, to getting cut and catching on with Pittsburgh and making good impression in the Steelers’ training camp here last summer. Then…
“I came in last year and had a good preseason,” he recalls. “In the last preseason game I tore a tendon in my groin. I was out for the whole season and now I’m back. Every day, I’m trying to build off of that and do a little bit better.”
Now, nearly a week into the Steelers’ 2018 camp here in Latrobe, he is making an impression and has never felt better about his football skills and acumen.
“I’m 100%. I feel good,” Golden says. “It’s Year 2, so I know what to expect. Now I just have to make a run for it. This is one of the toughest training camps in the league. It’s really physical and physically demanding. I expected that. You have to take care of your body. And mentally, I know the mindset. And”
In an ironic twist, Bradley is his now his position coach with the Black & Yellow — nearly seven years after Golden first committed to a Blue & White program that featured Paterno and Bradley.
“It was good to reconnect,” Golden says. “There is a lot of respect there. We both were familiar with each other. It’s his first time in the NFL — I’m learning, we’re learning. It’s going well.”
Bradley concurs: “I knew Malik a bit from the recruiting days. I had been around him a bit and have known of his abilities and character all the way back to his high school days in Connecticut.”
PENN STATE TO PITTSBURGH
Pittsburgh’s Penn State contingent is the biggest in the NFL. In addition to the three men working in the secondary, other Penn Staters in the Steelers’ camp are fourth-year tight end Jesse James, rookie defensive tackle Parker Cothren, offensive line coach Mike Munchak, veteran head athletic trainer John Norwig, Dr. Jim Bradley, the team’s longtime orthopedist (and Tom’s brother) and social media intern Meghan Loder.
“It’s like we’re Penn State West,” says Golden, who maintains close ties with his former Nittany Lion teammates not only in Latrobe, but others like former roommate and still-best friend Nyeem Wartman-White, a defensive grad assistant at Mississippi State, working for Joe Moorhead.
Golden, who earned degrees in telecommunications and journalism as a hard-working undergraduate at Penn State, is proud of his contributions on and off the field.
“We had some rocky roads to begin with,” he admits. “Something happened. We turned it on, the offense clicked, the defense clocked and from there we just took off. Two years later, they’re still going, so I was glad I was able to help with that.”
What was that something? I asked him.
“Joe Moorhead is a genius,” he laughed. “And Mississippi State got a damn savant.”
Golden, too, is a student of the game. It showed on Monday, in drills that he ran with precision, and live scrimmages where he always seemed to be in the right position. He fits.
“It’s super-competitive. Everyone is good. There are no scrubs,” he says. “My career is football right now and I am totally dedicated to it and my family.
“Now,” Golden concludes, “it is strictly football.”
**https://www.ydr.com/story/sports/co...toughness-from-his-family-rose-bowl/95535396/
LINK: http://www.statecollege.com/news/co...golden-opportunity-with-the-steelers,1477336/
Penn State Football: Malik’s Golden Opportunity with the Steelers
by Mike Poorman on August 01, 2018 8:00 PM
Malik Golden at the Pittsburgh Steelers’ training camp in Latrobe on Monday.
Click photo for gallery
LATROBE — Malik Golden has taken a circuitous path here, the home of the Pittsburgh Steelers’ training camp at Saint Vincent College, a 112-mile drive west of Beaver Stadium.
And on Monday afternoon, while playing safety against the explosive Steelers’ offense during live drills, he certainly looked at home.
Golden was all veteran-like smoothness and maturity — calling signals, defending passes, chatting up the secondary, taking direction from the Steelers’ secondary coach (and former Nittany Lion defensive coordinator) Tom Bradley.
His former Penn State and now Steelers’ teammate Marcus Allen, a fifth-round selection by Pittsburgh in the 2018 NFL Draft, has noticed a change in his fellow safety. Allen, who played with Golden at Penn State in 2014-16, is fighting to make Pittsburgh’s roster, as is Golden.
“Man,” Allen said to Golden, “you’re just different. You’re different.”
In a good way.
Golden, talking after a morning walk-through in light rain on Monday morning, agreed: “Marcus is right. I finally got a little consistency. I finally comfortable and within myself.”
THE JOURNEY
For Golden, who is 25, it’s been quite the journey since Cheshire Academy in Connecticut, where he was two-time All-New England and a team captain of a league champion his senior year as Rivals.com’s No. 2 high school prospect.
From being the last recruit to verbally commit to Joe Paterno — on Aug. 25, 2011 — after being recruited by Bradley and Kermit Buggs to re-committing to Bill O’Brien five months later. From playing for four positions coaches — John Butler, Anthony Midget, Bob Shoop and Tim Banks — to suffering the doldrums of consecutive 706 seasons.
“With four position coaches, we were always changing techniques and mechanics,” he says now. “And mentally, it messed me up a little bit. Now that I know what to expect and in control of myself, it’s helped me a lot.”
From redshirting as a wide receiver his freshman season at PSU, suffering through a series of seven-win seasons accompanied by even more coaching changes to being the wise and mature anchor at starting safety for a Big Ten championship team as a fifth-year senior.
“I remember meeting with James Franklin, the coaches and some of the leaders,” Golden says. “And we all said, ‘At the end of the day, we all have one goal, and that’s to win a Big Ten championship. We can be the catalyst and make this program and bring it back to what it used to be.’ And everyone agreed on that.”
Then, from signing with the San Francisco 49ers as an undrafted free agent in May 2017, to getting cut and catching on with Pittsburgh and making good impression in the Steelers’ training camp here last summer. Then…
“I came in last year and had a good preseason,” he recalls. “In the last preseason game I tore a tendon in my groin. I was out for the whole season and now I’m back. Every day, I’m trying to build off of that and do a little bit better.”
Now, nearly a week into the Steelers’ 2018 camp here in Latrobe, he is making an impression and has never felt better about his football skills and acumen.
“I’m 100%. I feel good,” Golden says. “It’s Year 2, so I know what to expect. Now I just have to make a run for it. This is one of the toughest training camps in the league. It’s really physical and physically demanding. I expected that. You have to take care of your body. And mentally, I know the mindset. And”
In an ironic twist, Bradley is his now his position coach with the Black & Yellow — nearly seven years after Golden first committed to a Blue & White program that featured Paterno and Bradley.
“It was good to reconnect,” Golden says. “There is a lot of respect there. We both were familiar with each other. It’s his first time in the NFL — I’m learning, we’re learning. It’s going well.”
Bradley concurs: “I knew Malik a bit from the recruiting days. I had been around him a bit and have known of his abilities and character all the way back to his high school days in Connecticut.”
PENN STATE TO PITTSBURGH
Pittsburgh’s Penn State contingent is the biggest in the NFL. In addition to the three men working in the secondary, other Penn Staters in the Steelers’ camp are fourth-year tight end Jesse James, rookie defensive tackle Parker Cothren, offensive line coach Mike Munchak, veteran head athletic trainer John Norwig, Dr. Jim Bradley, the team’s longtime orthopedist (and Tom’s brother) and social media intern Meghan Loder.
“It’s like we’re Penn State West,” says Golden, who maintains close ties with his former Nittany Lion teammates not only in Latrobe, but others like former roommate and still-best friend Nyeem Wartman-White, a defensive grad assistant at Mississippi State, working for Joe Moorhead.
Golden, who earned degrees in telecommunications and journalism as a hard-working undergraduate at Penn State, is proud of his contributions on and off the field.
“We had some rocky roads to begin with,” he admits. “Something happened. We turned it on, the offense clicked, the defense clocked and from there we just took off. Two years later, they’re still going, so I was glad I was able to help with that.”
What was that something? I asked him.
“Joe Moorhead is a genius,” he laughed. “And Mississippi State got a damn savant.”
Golden, too, is a student of the game. It showed on Monday, in drills that he ran with precision, and live scrimmages where he always seemed to be in the right position. He fits.
“It’s super-competitive. Everyone is good. There are no scrubs,” he says. “My career is football right now and I am totally dedicated to it and my family.
“Now,” Golden concludes, “it is strictly football.”
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