Abdul Carter (wearing an interesting necklace), Drew Allar, Nick Singleton and the Nittany Lions made their annual trek to Hershey to spend time and have fun with hospitalized kids and their families.
Mark Brennan
HERSHEY, Pa. — The Penn State football team made its annual trip to the PSU Health Children's Hospital here Wednesday afternoon, spending time and having fun with hospitalized kids and their families. As usual, the annual tradition meant as much to the Nittany Lions as it did to the young fans.
Penn State veteran defensive end Dvon Ellies has made multiple trips to this facility with his teammates through the years, and understood the impact it would have. He viewed it as a great learning experience for the new faces in the program, some of whom arrived in Happy Valley this year — and even this month.
"I think it's immensely important," Ellies said. "It offers a lot of perspective for a lot of players, coming into a place like this and just seeing how families operate under duress or just in moments of uncertainty. Hospitals, you never know what's going on, you never know what a family's going through. So it's just give them that peace of mind and that sense of ease, even if it's only for a moment. To have people smiling in the room, you know, that's an incredible feeling."
Senior center Nick Dawkins said players are never too old to learn from the hospital visits. What did he take from his most recent trip to Hershey?
"To be appreciative," he explained. "To find optimism in situations where you might not (easily) find it. When you focus on negative things and negative situations, you tend to (feel) negative. But when we talk to these kids, it's all smiles, all optimistic energy and all positivity. If they can endure and process it, and have a smile on their face, why as a football player can't I be happy and optimistic about the situation I'm in and (realize) how fortunate I am to be where I'm at and always have a smile on my face?"
An estimated 90 PSU players joined head coach James Franklin on the visit, ranging from well-known stars like Drew Allar, Nick Singleton andAbdul Carter, to walks-ons, to May enrollees Peter Gonzalez and Caleb Brewer. (You might want to take a close look at what Carter is wearing around his neck.)
You can see photos of many of the players and their young friends in the gallery below. Meanwhile, there is a video showing clips of the visits above. The images and videos we took were in an open area of the hospital called the Tree House Café, and all families there agreed to be photographed and recorded. Other parts of the visits by players and Franklin — when they stopped by the rooms of kids who may not have been feeling very well — were very understandably not open to the media.
We mention that because while the media access is nice, these visits are obviously about so much more than that.
"I'd say it's really turned into one of our best days of the year, being able to come here and make an impact off the field," Franklin said. "First of all, I hope we make a difference (for) the young people that are in the hospital and their families, bringing some normalcy to their life and maybe a distraction with whatever they're going through. And then obviously, the other thing that happens, I think it's really good perspective for our players, when they think they're having a tough day — running in the summer or with class or whatever the demands may be — it is pretty good perspective for them that there's people that have real challenges and real battles. So I hope it's a win-win for everybody."
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Penn State head coach James Franklin arrives at the hospital.Photo by Grace Brennan, Lions247 With Fight On State.
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Penn State's new director of life skills Jordan Hill walks into the hospital.Photo by Grace Brennan, Lions247 With Fight On State.
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Penn State wide receiver and May enrollee Peter Gonzalez walks into the hospital.Photo by Grace Brennan, Lions247 With Fight On State.
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Penn State defensive end Mason Robinson draws with a kid.Photo by Grace Brennan, Lions247 With Fight On State.
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Penn State offensive lineman Cooper Cousins teaches a kid his signature pose.Photo by Grace Brennan, Lions247 With Fight On State.
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Penn State offensive lineman Cooper Cousins draws with a patient.Photo by Grace Brennan, Lions247 With Fight On State.
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Penn State wide receiver and May enrollee Peter Gonzalez plays catch with the kids, who ensured he got some good practice in.Photo by Grace Brennan, Lions247 With Fight On State.
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Penn State defensive tackle Xavier Gilliam gifts a kid a mini Nittany Lion.Photo by Grace Brennan, Lions247 With Fight On State.
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Penn State cornerback Antoine Belgrave-Shorter hands a kid a stuffed Nittany Lion.Photo by Grace Brennan, Lions247 With Fight On State.
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Penn State quarterback Drew Allar poses for a photo with a fan.Photo by Grace Brennan, Lions247 With Fight On State.
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The Penn State Nittany Lion hugs a young fan.Photo by Grace Brennan, Lions247 With Fight On State.
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Penn State quarterback Ethan Grunkemeyer, offensive lineman Cooper Cousins and linebacker Kari Jackson pose for a photo with a kid and the Nittany Lion.Photo by Grace Brennan, Lions247 With Fight On State.
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Penn State offensive lineman Garrett Sexton high-fives a kid after a good throw.Photo by Grace Brennan, Lions247 With Fight On State.
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Penn State offensive lineman Alex Birchmeier draws with a kid.Photo by Grace Brennan, Lions247 With Fight On State.
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Penn State quarterback Ethan Grunkemeyer watches a young artist in action.Photo by Grace Brennan, Lions247 With Fight On State.
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Penn State cornerback Jon Mitchell and defensive end Joseph Mupoyi draw with a kid.Photo by Grace Brennan, Lions247 With Fight On State.
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Penn State offensive lineman and May enrollee Caleb Brewer signs a poster.Photo by Grace Brennan, Lions247 With Fight On State.
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Penn State wide receiver Josiah Brown, safety Vaboue Toure and running back Quinton Martin smile for a photo.Photo by Grace Brennan, Lions247 With Fight On State.
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Penn State safety Vaboue Toure contemplates his next move.Photo by Grace Brennan, Lions247 With Fight On State.
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Penn State defensive tackle Xavier Gilliam discusses the next move with his teammate.Photo by Grace Brennan, Lions247 With Fight On State.
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Penn State head coach James Franklin poses for a photo with a kid.Photo by Grace Brennan, Lions247 With Fight On State.
JUNE RECRUITING CRUSH SPECIAL: 60% OFF AN ANNUAL VIP PASS
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Penn State head coach James Franklin high-fives a kid.Photo by Grace Brennan, Lions247 With Fight On State.
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Penn State offensive lineman Cooper Cousins shows off a drawing that one of the kids made for him.Photo by Grace Brennan, Lions247 With Fight On State.
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Penn State linebacker Keon Wylie and wide receivers Josiah Brown, Anthony Ivey and Omari Evans pose together for a photo.Photo by Grace Brennan, Lions247 With Fight On State.
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Penn State safety Zakee Wheatley and cornerback Audavion Collins draw.Photo by Grace Brennan, Lions247 With Fight On State.
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Penn State tight end Andrew Rappleyea uses running back Nick Singleton's back to sign an autograph.Photo by Grace Brennan, Lions247 With Fight On State.
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Penn State defensive end Abdul Carter and defensive tackle Zane Durant pose for a photo.Photo by Grace Brennan, Lions247 With Fight On State.
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Penn State defensive end Abdul Carter poses for a photo with a kid. That sure looks like a "Linebacker U" necklace the 2023 All-Big Ten linebacker who moved to DE in the spring is wearing.Photo by Grace Brennan, Lions247 With Fight On State.
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Penn State cornerback A.J. Harris poses for a photo with defensive tackle Dvon Ellies.Photo by Grace Brennan, Lions247 With Fight On State.
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Penn State running back Nick Singleton tries to escape a group photo, but defensive tackle Dvon Ellies and defensive end Smith Vilbert catch him.Photo by Grace Brennan, Lions247 With Fight On State.
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Penn State defensive tackle Dvon Ellies and defensive end Smith Vilbert hold running back Nick Singleton in place for a photo.Photo by Grace Brennan, Lions247 With Fight On State.
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Penn State defensive tackle Dvon Ellies gets one more photo with running back Nick Singleton in before Singleton finally slips away.Photo by Grace Brennan, Lions247 With Fight On State.
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Penn State defensive tackle Dvon Ellies holds a sleeping baby as they set up for group photos.Photo by Grace Brennan, Lions247 With Fight On State.
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The Penn State Nittany Lions hold up the THON "Four Diamonds" symbol with kids, service dogs and staff.Photo by Grace Brennan, Lions247 With Fight On State.
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Penn State safety DaKaari Nelson poses for a photo.Photo by Grace Brennan, Lions247 With Fight On State.
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Penn State wide receiver Kaden Saunders poses for a photo.Photo by Grace Brennan, Lions247 With Fight On State.
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Penn State safety Patrick Williams smiles for a photo.Photo by Grace Brennan, Lions247 With Fight On State.
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Penn State safety Zakee Wheatley poses for a photo.Photo by Grace Brennan, Lions247 With Fight On State.
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Penn State cornerback Elliot Washington poses for a photo.Photo by Grace Brennan, Lions247 With Fight On State.
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Penn State wide receiver and May enrollee Peter Gonzalez poses for a photo.Photo by Grace Brennan, Lions247 With Fight On State.
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Penn State safety Jaylen Reed poses for a photo.Photo by Grace Brennan, Lions247 With Fight On State.
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Penn State wide receiver Julian Fleming waves goodbye as he leaves the hospital.Photo by Grace Brennan, Lions247 With Fight On State.
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Penn State corner back A.J. Harris leaves the hospital.Photo by Grace Brennan, Lions247 With Fight On State.
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Penn State wide receiver Josiah Brown and cornerback Zion Tracy pose for a photo.Photo by Grace Brennan, Lions247 With Fight On State.
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Penn State linebackerTyrece Mills poses for a photo.Photo by Grace Brennan, Lions247 With Fight On State.
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Penn State linebacker Kari Jackson smiles for a photo.Photo by Grace Brennan, Lions247 With Fight On State.
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Penn State quarterback Drew Allar leaves the hospital.Photo by Grace Brennan, Lions247 With Fight On State.
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Penn State's new director of life skills Jordan Hill leaves the hospital.Photo by Grace Brennan, Lions247 With Fight On State.
