LOS ANGELES -- When Penn State defensive end Aaron Maybin arrived at the team's Rose Bowl Media Day in a giant ballroom at the Downtown Marriott here Tuesday, he was immediately swarmed by reporters.
It was the first chance the press had to talk to the redshirt sophomore All-American since the team arrived in California, and there were a couple of pressing issues to tackle.
The first was the fact that Maybin had been knocked down to the second team for Saturday and Sunday practices before being moved back to the first team Monday.
Maybin said he was demoted by head coach Joe Paterno because he was late for a meeting.
“It was just Joe's was of making sure everybody stays on top of things,” Maybin said. “Everything is back to normal now.”
He also took full blame for the issue.
“It was my fault, so I had to accept responsibility for that,” Maybin said. “As somebody who is one of the older guys on the team, and somebody who has been to a few bowl games, I put myself in that position. I had to deal with it. But now, since everything is back to normal, the focus is on [Rose Bowl opponent] USC.”
And with that in mind, Maybin did his best to brush aside questions of whether he would leave Penn State early to enter the 2009 NFL Draft. He has previously said he petitioned the NFL for an evaluation of where he might be taken.
Asked if he had heard back from the advisory committee, Maybin said, “I'm not thinking about the draft now. Everything is focused on USC. I don't want to talk to the advisory board when I'm out here [in Los Angeles].”
Asked directly if his intention now is to return to PSU in 2009, Maybin said, “I'm not thinking about next year at all at this point. Right now I'm focusing on the Rose Bowl.”
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