Penn State isn't just about watching a football game and the Nittany Lion doing one-armed push-ups, it’s about the family we’ve made. The wins, the losses, the championships, all of it. But it’s not just the players and the coaches that make up this team; it’s also about the fans and how they support us. Fans are what keep the players going, and with Penn State, the fans stay the whole game. Even if it’s a loss.
The Penn State “White Out” is the most popular game of the season. All you can see from the crowd is white. But the crowd isn’t there just because we won the game before this one. They go to the White Out because they know that the players will play a good game no matter what.
But how did this team become a family, you ask? Some of the good stuff happened with the head coach who was at Penn State for 40 years, and that is Joe Paterno. Joe was the best coach in the history of college football. Between 1966 and 2011, Paterno led his team, the Penn State Nittany Lions, to 37 bowl games with 24 wins. Joe broke the all-time Division 1 wins record when his team beat Illinois in 2011. The new record that Joe holds for Division 1 wins is 409.
Two weeks later, Joe was fired from Penn State. William James O'Brien was the replacement for Paterno. But he didn’t last that long. After 2012, he decided to go back to the National Football League, the NFL for short. So there isn't much history about him.
From 2014 to the present day, the head coach has been James Franklin. So far, James has won 4 Bowl games and lost 4 bowl games. When Franklin played quarterback at East Stroudsburg University, he met a lot of people who work with him now. In the early years of his coaching career, he was the first African American to be the head coach at Vanderbilt. And now, he works at Penn State.
James has a beautiful family with Fumi Franklin, his wife and mother of his two daughters. Fumi was a diehard fan of Washington State. and now she’s a diehard fan for PSU. Shola (Ava) Franklin is James’ oldest daughter. Shola has always been a football girl, and soon she will be playing tackle at PFMS. “I want to be one of the first African American women to play in the NFL,” Shola says.
Addison (Addy) Franklin is James’ youngest daughter, who has sickle cell anemia. Addy was lucky not to need a bone marrow transplant, but if she did need one, James was her only match and he was willing to do it. Luckily, he didn’t need to. These are some of the reasons why Penn State does THON and “BE THE MATCH”, for the kids who need it. The Franklins also have their dog, Spot. Spot is a crazy dog who hates other dogs, but loves humans.
The girls have a lot of fun hanging out with the players. Addy and Shola both have a favorite player from Penn State, and has since gone to the NFL. Shola’s favorite is Marcus Allen (Pittsburgh Steelers), and Addy’s favorite is Nick Scott (LA Rams). This family may seem lucky and different from other humans because of James’ job, but these people (and a dog) are humans (and a dog). They may not seem like it, but they’re just like you and me. So take some time to remember this, and also remember, WE ARE!