Author Archives: Ryan Jones

03.19.15
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The Marshall Plan

Leaving Hershey

For Marshall Lefferts, cancer is a detour, not a roadblock. The story of the Nittany Lion football player you never got a chance to know.

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Five days a week, Marshall Lefferts repeats an offseason routine that is unique among college football players. He starts each day with a strenuous morning workout. In the afternoon, he goes for chemotherapy.

The workouts are voluntary, a statement of resilience from a young man refusing to see his dream derailed. As for the chemo, well, he doesn’t have much choice.

Lefferts is the sort of player Penn State fans would love to root for, if only they’d had the chance. Continue reading →

02.25.15
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Getting Back in the Game

DSC_0316

In his recovery from a freak injury and a harrowing hospital stay, former Nittany Lion captain Ryan Keiser is buoyed by faith and family as he slowly works his way back to normal.

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They’re working on basketball fundamentals this week at Easterly Parkway Elementary. As soon as the fourth graders file into the all-purpose room, they grab a ball, spread out, and start dribbling. The phys-ed teacher is a young, rangy guy in head-to-toe Penn State blue; he’s not loud, but he commands the room, making the rounds, focused on the kids. Mostly, he looks comfortable, an appearance that belies his inexperience: Ryan Keiser is a 23-year-old student-teacher working toward his state certification. It’s his second week on the job. Continue reading →

02.04.15
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Snapshots From Signing Day

FaceTimeCJF

It’s all a bit meta, this Signing Day business.

That’s James Franklin, above, seen in the reflection of a computer monitor while dialing up a FaceTime call on his phone. On the other end of the line was Garrett Taylor (seen below on Franklin’s iPhone), one of the 25 future Nittany Lions who made their college choice official on Wednesday morning. Continue reading →

01.28.15
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A Determined Duo Takes on ALS

Best Man Tim

When we caught up with Tim Shaw in December, he was in Boston to fulfill a specific—and rather unusual—task.

“I’m giving them my skin cells,” Shaw ’06 said. “I was at the ALS Therapy Development Institute, where they do this awesome ALS research. I’m taking part in a big project: They’re going to grow my cell, and it’ll be tested against 50,000 drugs.”

To hear the excitement in Shaw’s voice as he explained his role in the project was to hear a man enthused at the chance to make a difference. Continue reading →

01.21.15
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Spider Caldwell, Back Where He Belongs

Nittany Lions open training camp. Photo by Mark SeldersLast fall, he went to his first tailgate. Brad Caldwell was back in town for the Ohio State game, and there he was in the Medlar Field parking lot, soaking up the pregame scene. “Thirty-one years, my first tailgate!” Caldwell says now, the enthusiasm in his voice familiar to anyone who knows him.

Caldwell’s schedule for the previous 31 years didn’t allow much time for tailgating. Continue reading →

12.27.14
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At Yankee Stadium, These Lions Know The Score

DSC_0189We were making our way to our seats in the Yankee Stadium press box early Saturday afternoon when we ran into Steve Kuebler and Pete Gergely. Our friend and College of Comm alumni relations director Mike Poorman pointed out that these two stadium regulars are also Penn Staters who work in game-day operations — specifically the complex, high-tech scoreboard set-up in the new version of this classic ballpark. Continue reading →

12.19.14
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Classic Appeal

FOUR YANKEE SLUGGERS

Probably more than anyone, Sweeny Murti appreciates the parallels between the New York Yankees and Penn State.

In October, Murti ’92 finished his 14th season as the Yankees beat reporter for WFAN, the biggest sports radio station in the country. He was the perfect guy, in other words, to pen a chapter a few years ago for The Great Book of Penn State Sports Lists arguing why the Nittany Lions and Yankees have the best uniforms in sports. Needless to say, Continue reading →

09.19.14
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Another Phenomenal Fall

Beav & JeffIt’s another one of those perfect fall days in Happy Valley, the latest in a week full of them: a crisp, cool morning followed by a warm, sunny afternoon. Perfect autumn weather. Perfect football weather. On Saturday, of course, the (so-far) perfect Nittany Lions host UMass at Beaver Stadium, and they’re heavily favored to improve to a (still) perfect 4-0. Continue reading →