Carolina Panthers select Penn State's Yetur Gross-Matos in the second round

Penn State defensive end Yetur Gross-Matos slipped into the second round of the NFL Draft, but he didn’t have to wait long Friday night before he was selected 38th overall by the Carolina Panthers.

Gross-Matos (6-foot-5, 266 pounds) was the second defensive end picked, following Ohio State’s Chase Young, the second overall selection in the first round Thursday. He is the 13th Penn State defensive lineman drafted since 2006 and the Nittany Lions’ highest drafted defensive player since Jared Odrick was a first-round pick in 2010.

NFL teams place a high premium on disrupting quarterbacks, and Gross-Matos fit that profile for the Nittany Lions the past two seasons.

He totaled 35 tackles for a loss and 17 ½ sacks over the past two seasons, earning third-team and first-team All-Big Ten honors as a sophomore and junior.

When he was asked if he wants to sack anyone in particular this season, he had an answer ready.

“I think probably everybody would say the GOAT, Tom Brady (Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback),” he said. “I want to sack Tom Brady. There’s no one else you’d really want more than Tom Brady.

“My mentality is to show up and work. To show up and give my hardest each and every day. Try to be great. I know they’re going to get everything out of me. At the end of the day, I have no lack of confidence in what that’s going to be.”

Throughout his life, Gross-Matos, 22, has been motivated by tragedy. He was 2 when his father drowned while saving Gross-Matos, who had fallen off a boat. His brother was struck and killed by lightning nine years later.

“I take those things and they have put the rest of my life into perspective,” he said. “It’s just about taking advantage of another opportunity, every second of every day.

“We have all leaned on each other a lot. Celebrating us still being here and being in this moment means everything to us. I know I am freaking excited and I know my family is probably even more excited

“Give your best and love the people around you. Me and my family are a very close group. That’s how it’s affected me on and off the field and I’m just happy to be here in this moment with these people and I can’t wait to celebrate.”

Panthers coach Matt Rhule has known about Gross-Matos for a long time. When Rhule was head coach at Temple, he recruited Gross-Matos at Chancellor High School in Spotsylvania, Va. And Gross-Matos didn’t know it.

“I’ve never spoken to Matt Rhule before,” he said. “Not during my recruiting process or anything like that. My dad just told me he offered me when he was the head coach at Temple and I didn’t even know. I guess he’s had his eye on me for awhile.

“Probably should’ve committed.”