According to Slippery Rock University Director of Athletic Communications is reporting that Rock senior defensive back Eddie Faulkner IV has been invited to participate in the Pittsburgh Steelers Rookie Minicamp May 9th-11th as a tryout player.
Faulkner, who graduated from The Rock after a stellar four-year career as a safety, earned the opportunity with the Steelers from a combination of his performance on the field over the last four seasons and an impressive performance at the University of Pittsburgh’s NFL pro day earlier this spring, where he put up testing numbers that rivaled some of the top defensive back performances at the NFL Combine.
Faulkner was a two-time All-PSAC honoree as a defensive back and also earned All-Region and All-America honors as a safety following the 2023 season. He started all 28 games over the last two years, helping The Rock to deep postseason runs with trips to the national quarterfinals in 2023 and the national semifinals in 2024.
According to Holtz: Over four seasons, Faulkner appeared in 52 career games with 36 starts. He tallied 160 total tackles, 15.0 tackles for loss, 7.0 sacks, five interceptions and 17 passes defended. He also forced seven career fumbles, recovered four fumbles, blocked one kick and scored one defensive touchdown.
He was named to the College Sports Communicators Academic All-America team following his junior season in 2023 and again as a senior in 2024 after graduating from SRU with a degree in sports management. He is currently enrolled in the Master of Business Administration (MBA) program at The Rock.
Faulkner becomes the 10th Slippery Rock player to receive at least an invite to an NFL Rookie Minicamp since 2015 as SRU continues to stand out at the Division II level. The Rock won the 2024 Super Region One title and finished the year ranked No. 3 in the final national polls after making a six straight trip to the national playoffs. SRU’s current playoff streak is the second longest active streak among all Division II teams in the country.