FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Noah Sharfman Orange Bowl Committee [email protected] April 30, 2012 305-341-4737

THIRTY FOUR PLAYERS HOSTED BY THE ORANGE BOWL SELECTED IN THE 2012 NFL DRAFT

Miami Lakes, FL (www.orangebowl.org) – Highlighted by first overall selection , 34 players who were hosted by the Orange Bowl were selected in the 2012 NFL Draft. Including the five first round draftees in 2012, the Orange Bowl has now hosted 257 players who were later selected in the first round of the NFL Draft. The 2012 NFL Draft was held April 26-28 at in City.

The made Luck, the Most Outstanding Player of the 2011 Discover Orange Bowl, the 15th player hosted by the Orange Bowl to be selected with the first overall pick in the NFL Draft. In addition to Luck, West Virginia’s (2012 Orange Bowl) was selected 15th by Seattle, Iowa’s (2010 OB) was picked 23rd by Detroit, Stanford’s David DeCastro (2011 OB) was selected 24th by Pittsburgh and Virginia Tech’s David Wilson was selected with the final pick in the first round, 32nd, by the .

Luck and DeCastro were two of the four Stanford Cardinals drafted this year. The Colts also selected with the 34th pick. Jonathan Martin will return to Sun Life Stadium, the site of Stanford’s 40-12 victory over Virginia Tech in the 2011 Discover Orange Bowl, after being drafted by the Miami Dolphins with the 42nd pick.

Virginia Tech, Stanford’s opponent in the 2011 Discover Orange Bowl, had three players drafted, including New York’s first round pick, Wilson. will join Wilson on the Giants after being selected 94th.

Including West Virginia’s Irvin, seven players from the 2012 Discover Orange Bowl heard their names called during the 2012 NFL Draft. Irvin was the first of three Mountaineers drafted while Clemson boasted four draft picks. Clemson’s , the 2012 Mackey Award winner, joins Luck and Fleener in Indianapolis after being selected 64th by the Colts.

Seven players hosted during the 2010 Orange Bowl between Iowa and Georgia Tech were selected, highlighted by Reiff’s selection in the first round. Including Reiff, the Hawkeyes had six players drafted while Stephen Hill was Georgia Tech’s only draftee. Hill was picked 43rd by the New York Jets.

Nine players hosted by the Orange Bowl during the 2009 BCS National Championship Game were selected. Oklahoma had six players selected, including a pair by the Detroit Lions (the Lions also selected OU’s , but Lewis was not a member of OU’s 2009 team). Three members of Florida’s National Championship team were drafted, including who transferred to North Alabama following the 2010 season. Additionally, four players from the Cincinnati Bearcats team that played in the 2009 Orange Bowl were drafted in 2012.

The Orange Bowl’s partner, the Atlantic Coast Conference, had 15 of the first 100 players taken, and tied with the PAC-12 Conference for the second-highest total among all conferences in the top 100, behind only the (17). The SEC led all conferences in overall selections with 42 players chosen in the draft, followed by the Big Ten with 41 and the ACC with 31.

The 2013 Discover Orange Bowl will be played on January 1, 2013 and the 2013 Discover BCS National Championship Game will be played on January 7, 2013. Both games will be played at Sun Life Stadium in Miami Gardens, FL. For ticket information for the Discover Orange Bowl, BCS National Championship Game and all Orange Bowl Festival events, please contact 305-341-4701 or log on to www.orangebowl.org.

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THIS IS ORANGE.

Orange Bowl Committee 14360 NW 77th Ct., Miami Lakes, Florida 33016 Tel 305.341.4700 Fax 305.341.4750 www.orangebowl.org

About the Orange Bowl The Orange Bowl is a 352-member, primarily-volunteer non-profit sports organization that promotes and serves the South Florida community. The Orange Bowl Festival features a year-round schedule of events culminating with the Discover Orange Bowl on January 1, 2013 and the Discover BCS National Championship on January 7, 2013. Other Orange Bowl core events include the MetroPCS Orange Bowl Basketball Classic, Orange Bowl Youth Football Alliance presented by Sports Authority, Orange Bowl International Tennis Championships, Orange Bowl Sailing Regatta Series and Orange Bowl Paddle Championships. For more information on the 2012-13 Orange Bowl Festival and its events, including promotional and volunteer opportunities through the Ambassador Program, log on to www.orangebowl.org.

The complete list of players hosted by the Orange Bowl in the 2012 NFL Draft:

CLEMSON - 2012 Orange Bowl DRAFT DRAFT TEAM PLAYER POSITION ROUND PICK DRAFTED BY DE 2 38 Jacksonville Dwayne Allen TE 3 64 Indianapolis Brandon Thompson DT 3 93 Cincinnati CB 4 115 Tennessee WEST VIRGINIA - 2012 Orange Bowl Bruce Irvin OLB 1 15 Seattle ILB 5 140 Tampa Bay CB 6 174 Tampa Bay STANFORD - 2011 Orange Bowl Andrew Luck QB 1 1 Indianapolis David DeCastro OG 1 24 Pittsburgh Coby Fleener TE 2 34 Indianapolis Jonathan Martin OT 2 42 Miami VIRGINIA TECH - 2011 Orange Bowl David Wilson RB 1 32 NY Giants Jayron Hosley CB 3 94 NY Giants WR 5 152 Dallas GEORGIA TECH - 2010 Orange Bowl Stephen Hill WR 2 43 NY Jets IOWA - 2010 Orange Bowl Riley Reiff OT 1 23 Detroit Mike Daniels DT 4 132 Green Bay OG 5 141 Washington CB 5 156 Cincinnati Marvin McNutt WR 6 194 Philadelphia Jordan Bernstine DB 7 217 Washington FLORIDA - 2009 BCS National Championship Game Janoris Jenkins (North Alabama) CB 2 39 St. Louis DT 4 114 Seattle RB 5 159 Pittsburgh OKLAHOMA - 2009 BCS National Championship Game WR 2 54 Detroit OT 3 74 Kansas City CB 3 80 Arizona Frank Alexander DE 4 103 Carolina TE 6 186 Dallas OLB 7 223 Detroit CINCINNATI - 2009 Orange Bowl DT 2 36 Denver RB 2 50 St. Louis John Hughes DT 3 87 Cleveland TE 4 127 NY Giants

THIS IS ORANGE.

Orange Bowl Committee 14360 NW 77th Ct., Miami Lakes, Florida 33016 Tel 305.341.4700 Fax 305.341.4750 www.orangebowl.org