A former Penn State player has been signed by the Arizona Cardinals.
PJ Mustipher, who played at Penn State from 2018-22, has been signed to Arizona’s practice squad, per NFL insider Aaron Wilson.
#Cardinals sign Jordan Murray, P.J. Mustipher, Luke Tenuta to practice squad, signed Krys Barnes to active roster from practice squad, placed Elijah Jones on IR
— Aaron Wilson (@AaronWilson_NFL) August 29, 2024
Mustipher’s pro career started in 2023, when the Broncos signed him as an un-drafted free agent.
He spent most of last season on Denver’s practice squad before the Saints signed him in December. He appeared in the team’s last four games. Mustipher had a brief return to Pennsylvania when the Eagles signed him over the spring but he didn’t make the team out of camp, being cut this past Tuesday on the deadline.
Now, Mustipher is headed out west.
Mustipher had a difficult but, ultimately rewarding, career at Penn State. The low-point of it was probably in October 2021 when he suffered a season-ending injury on the turf of Iowa’s Kinnick Stadium. The high-point was perhaps his last college game, when Penn State beat Utah to win the Rose Bowl and finish in the top ten.
At Penn State, Mustipher developed into one of the team’s emotional leaders. Another thing he was really good at was soaking up hasn’t quite shown up in the box score. In fact, it goes largely unnoticed unless you watch the film.
“He may not show up dramatically on the stat sheet,” coach James Franklin told reporters after a Wednesday practice, “but as a football program, as coaches and players, and I think when you talk to NFL people and truly study the game and understand how highly he’s playing and doing his job, there’s a ton of value in it.”
“Guys like PJ that as coaches, as players … you have a ton of confidence in this guy’s’ going to do his job day in and day out,” Franklin said.
