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NEW YORK – Larry Webster (Hagerstown, MD/Elkton) became the sixth player in Bloomsburg University history to hear his name called on NFL Draft day after being selected by the Detroit Lions in the fourth round with the 136th overall pick on Saturday afternoon at Radio City Music Hall in New York City.
 
Webster becomes the second-highest NFL Draft selection in school history behind only Jahri Evans who was selected 108th overall by the New Orleans Saints in the 2006 fourth round.

The Lions invited Webster to Detroit in March for an in-person visit.

"I liked the facility and everything I saw," Webster said in a conference call with Detroit media Saturday. "I was kind of hoping that I would (be picked by the Lions)."
 
"We had a great visit with him. Actually, I was with the Buccaneers when his dad was with the Dolphins," Lions executive vice president of football operations and general manager Martin Mayhew said. "We used to scrimmage the Dolphins during two-a-days, so I played against his dad. Larry is just a really, really athletic guy, great combine numbers, great workout numbers."

Webster's selection in the NFL Draft comes after a meteoric rise on the gridiron, playing just two seasons of collegiate football with the Huskies. A former standout on the basketball court, earning all-conference honors and the 2012 PSAC East Defensive Player of the Year award while taking over the Bloomsburg career record for blocked shots, the 6-6, 250-pound Webster immediately made an impact after moving to the football field.
 
He set the school record for sacks in a season in 2012 with 13.5 during his first season playing football since high school. Webster continued his success in 2013, posting a PSAC-best 12.5 sacks while leading all of Division II in sack yardage during the regular season (102). He finished the season with 49 tackles, 16.0 tackles for loss, one forced fumble and two fumble recoveries.
 
Following the season Webster was tabbed as a national finalist for the Cliff Harris Award as the top small school defensive player in the country and racked up All-America honors from Daktronics, D2Football.com, Beyond Sports Network and Don Hansen Football Gazette.
 
After attracting the attention of NFL scouts throughout the 2013 season, Webster improved his draft stock over the off-season. He earned an invitation to the prestigious East-West Shrine Game in January, recording a sack and multiple quarterback hurries.
 
Webster followed the East-West Shrine Game by accepting an invitation to the NFL Combine where he made national headlines by posting the second-fastest 40-yard dash time among all defensive linemen. His time of 4.58 seconds was second only to top overall pick Jadeveon Clowney of South Carolina. He also was third overall in the broad jump with a leap of 10 feet, three inches and recorded a vertical leap of 36.5 inches.

"I did pretty well in all of the drills," he said. "I feel like that helped me out a lot."
 
From there, Webster continued to garner attention from representatives of teams throughout the NFL, taking part in visits and workouts over the course of the spring leading up to draft day. Webster's elite athletic ability has had scouts considering him at his natural defensive end as well as tight end and linebacker although the Lions are expected to utilize him at defensive end.

"He's going to be a defensive end for us," Mayhew said post-draft. "We like him as a pass-rusher on the open side. We're going to play a closed end and open end this year, as you guys may have heard already, so we have an end on the tight end side. He'll be on the closed side. He'll be a bigger, more-physical, Jason Jones-type of guy, you know? And then on the open side, we'll have Ziggy (Ansah) over there, and we think Larry has an opportunity to compete over there as well. So, we're really excited about him."

His father, Larry Sr., played defensive line in the NFL for 11 seasons and won a Super Bowl ring with the 2000 Baltimore Ravens.

Webster becomes the first Huskies player drafted since offensive lineman Evans was selected in the 2006 fourth round by the New Orleans Saints. Evans is a five-time All-Pro and was a key member of the Super Bowl XLIV champions.
 
Webster also is the first PSAC player to be selected in the NFL Draft since Eric Kush of California (PA) was picked in the sixth round (170th overall) by the Chiefs last year. Only six players in the history of the PSAC have been selected higher than Webster at No. 136.
 

Welcome to Detroit Larry Webster (Hagerstown, MD/Elkton)! #LionsDraft #OnePride pic.twitter.com/qRKXY91i2f

— Detroit Lions (@DetroitLionsNFL) May 10, 2014