Stop me if you've heard this one before:
Three Canadians, a German, and an Englishman will walk into rookie minicamps this year.
You haven't? Neither has the International Federation of American Football as a record-five foreign football players were drafted this year. The Giants contributed to that benchmark with their selection of defensive tackle Markus Kuhn – the German – out of North Carolina State.
The seventh-round pick from Weinheim, the western German town of 40,000 people near the border of France, will travel to East Rutherford Thursday afternoon to get his first taste of the NFL along with the rest of the rookies.
Kuhn, who began playing football at the age of 15 (the youngest age kids can play in Germany) with the Weinheim Longhorns, was 21 when he began his freshman campaign at NC State.
"If you think about what's happened since I came here, I've come a long way from 2006 when my dad and I just walked into NC State and showed my highlights DVD," he recalled, according to TheWolfpacker.com. "They offered me a scholarship, I played for four years and was here for five years, and now getting drafted by the New York Giants, I couldn't be happier."
Kuhn went on to say he doesn't set too many long-term goals and is simply focused on working hard to make the 53-man roster. As for the area, Kuhn says he's been to New York twice before and that it's "very international," which will benefit him.
"The New York Giants are still far away from home, but it's the closest team to Germany and to Europe," he said. "Also, the Giants aren't known only in America, they are known all over the world, so everybody in Germany knows about them. For everybody to see that I got drafted by them, my family and friends were really, really excited."
QUICK HITS>> Former Giants receiver Stacy Robinson dead at 50. [USA TODAY]
*"We are deeply saddened by the passing of Stacy Robinson," Giants co-owner John Mara said in a statement. "He was a good man who was loved and respected by his teammates and everyone in this organization. His work on behalf of the Players Association was of great benefit to many players. He will be missed. His family is in our thoughts and prayers."
*>> Numbers 71-80 will be revealed tonight on NFL Network's Top 100 Players of 2012. The first Giant off the board was WR Hakeem Nicks, who came in at No. 90 in last week's installment.
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