Safety Ryan Mundy is proud to be a hometown guy who made good, having played at local Pittsburgh high school Woodland Hills.
That pride grew to a new level recently as Woodland Hills now has more players in the NFL than any other high school in the country.
* *
"We take a lot of pride in our community of Woodland Hills, not just in football but in the school district," said Mundy. "That's my home. I am always proud to represent where I am from. Everybody on the team knows where I went to high school. The guys who went to Woodland Hills are proud of where we came from and we like to represent where we are from."
Woodland Hills has six players in the NFL and Mundy credits Coach George Novak with building the school, which was formed in 1987, into a football powerhouse.
"He has done a great job from day one of building a program," said Mundy. "We have a great talent pool and he has done a great job of coaching them. The thing that he doesn't get a lot of credit for, while we have a lot of guys in the NFL, practically every senior is going to have the opportunity to go to college and get an education. It's great to have guys in the NFL. But coming from Woodland Hills you are going to have an opportunity to further your education."
Mundy goes back to his former school whenever he can and it's not just about football when he talks to the kids.
"Education is first and foremost," said Mundy. "Football is just a tool for me to get my message out about academics and living a good life and living life the right way. That is something I take advantage of and seize the opportunity every chance I get to talk to the kids."
Other Woodland Hills alumni in the NFL include Steve Breaston (Arizona); Rob Gronkowski (New England); Lousaka Polite (Miami); Shawntae Spencer (San Francisco); and Jason Taylor (New York Jets).* *
