Joey Julius was everyone’s favorite kickoff specialist last season. Sadly, he won’t be your favorite kickoff specialist in 2017.
At Big Ten media days on Monday, the Nittany Lions unveiled their 2017 roster and Julius was not on it.
Joey Julius is no longer with the Penn State football team. Julius, a Lower Dauphin grad, was the Lions' 2016 kickoff specialist.
— Bob Flounders (@BobbyFlo7) July 24, 2017
Listed at 5-foot-10, 258 pounds, Julius announced in May he would seek treatment for an eating disorder.
“I have been struggling over the last couple months with my eating disorder,” he announced at the time. “It got to the point where I had to return to St. Louis to seek further treatment at the McCallum place. Recovery is a wonderful and beautiful thing that I am working on returning too.”
Julius handled 93 kickoffs for the 2016 Big Ten champions, averaging 62.1 yards per kick with 45 touchbacks. His kickoff average ranked 47th nationally, and his 48.4 touchback percentage was 40th in FBS. Julius made 10-of-12 field goals and 20-of-24 extra points in 2015 before ceding the job to Tyler Davis last season.