He has gone from a Gator to a Nittany Lion and now to a Ram.

Gateway graduate Justin King has seen a lot in the world of football since he first picked up a helmet and a pair of shoulder pads.

He ran around and through WPIAL defenders at Gateway and locked on the nation's top wide receivers in college.

In a few weeks, King begins his first NFL training camp and will have the chance to prove himself on football's grandest stage.

St. Louis drafted King in the fifth round of the NFL draft in late April. He spent most of May getting acclimated with the Rams and such stars as running back Stephen Jackson, veteran wide receiver Tory Holt and all-pro quarterback Marc Bulger.

Bulger also is a product of the WPIAL, having played his high school football at Pittsburgh Central Catholic before moving on to West Virginia University.

"The start with the Rams was great," King said. "I just went in and started playing football. You have to learn the playbook quick. The physical part was there. The mental part was the biggest difference."

King has been off for about a month and a half since mini camps and the optional training workouts ended.

Training camp begins on July 24. King, a cornerback, will begin camp with jersey No. 32.

After two weeks of training camp workouts, the Rams begin their exhibition schedule at Tennessee on Aug. 9.

Home games with San Diego (Aug. 16) and Baltimore (Aug. 23) and a road game at Kansas City round out the exhibition slate.

"I'm really confident and looking forward to camp. I just want to go in and show what I can do. I'm really excited for the opportunity."

King has been in the big-time spotlight for several years at Penn State but said being in the same locker room with some of the NFL's best players was an interesting feeling.

"I've played some of them on video games, and now I'm in the same locker room," King said.

"But you have to get over that (awestruck feeling) pretty quick."

King graduated as a junior from Penn State in December and declared himself for the NFL draft, despite having one more year of college eligibility.

In 29 starts at Penn State, King made 90 tackles and had three interceptions. He had 49 tackles and two picks as a junior in 2007.

He recorded five tackles in his final game -- Penn State's 24-17 Alamo Bowl victory over Texas A&M.

King made his mark at the NFL combine in Indianapolis in February.

He had the fastest 40-yard dash time for a cornerback at 4.31 seconds. That was the second-fastest 40 time overall.