The New York Giants, winners in two of the last five Super Bowls, are known for their quality defensive line, so when former NC State defensive tackle Markus Kuhn heard his name called by Big Blue in the seventh round, he couldn't have been happier. Kuhn was selected with the 239th overall pick in the 2012 NFL Draft.

"It obviously was unbelievable," he said. "It was a long day and to finally get the call was extremely exciting, especially with it being the defending Super Bowl Champions. That made me even more excited about everything. They have a great defensive line and there are a lot of very good veterans that I can learn a lot from.

"It was very rewarding to be picked by the Giants. It's really a tremendous opportunity. I can't wait to get there and get to work."

Kuhn enjoyed a breakout campaign as a senior and led all defensive linemen with 50 tackles, in addition to nine tackles for loss and 4.5 sacks. The Weinheim, Germany native played as a true freshman defensive end and started sparingly in his first seasons off the edge. Then, he redshirted in 2009 and moved inside for his final two years on campus.

"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. "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's father, who now lives in Spain, flew over to watch the draft with his son, his son's girlfriend and graduate assistant Keith Willis, Jr., a former teammate.

"I watched the draft here in North Carolina at my apartment, the same place I lived when I was going to school," Kuhn said. "It was the four of us sitting here when the Giants called. I got a bunch of calls before from other teams who didn't know at the time if they would be able to draft me, but they wanted to talk to me. Then, the Giants called when they said they were handing in the pick, I saw my name go onto the screen and everybody started jumping around and going crazy."

Kuhn said that the Giants didn't get into specifics about his role when they talked on draft day, but he's willing to do whatever is asked of him. He'll fly up to join the team on May 10 and, from there, he'll be participating in rookie minicamps and the team's strength and conditioning program.

Needless to say, the big German is ready for the Big Apple.

"I've been to New York twice before," he said. "People say it's the greatest city in the world and I really agree with that. It's a great place to be and it's very international, which probably benefits me, too. I really like it up there. I'm ready to go to New York and be there for a while.

"I don't really set myself too many long-term goals, I always say if you work hard, good things are going to happen. As of right now, the next goal is to get there, be good in rookie minicamp and work hard during the strength and conditioning. Hopefully, I'll get a chance and make the 53-man roster."

The other advantage about being drafted by the Giants is that even his friends and family back in Germany are familiar with the franchise.

"Everybody was super excited when they heard," he said. "It couldn't be a better team for everybody. The New York Giants are still far away from home, but it's the closest team to Germany and to Europe. 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."

Although Kuhn will be leaving Raleigh shortly, he said his home for the last five years would always hold a special place in his heart, along with the people associated with the University.

"I had the time of my life at NC State in the last five years," he said. "Coming here to NC State, making this my home away from home while being so far away from my family, everybody really took me up at NC State and in Raleigh. That made me extremely happy and this place will always be really special to me."