Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1187122
P E N N S T A T E F O O T B A L L >> they've had great difficulty keeping him out. Of the 60 passes he had caught as of this writing, an impressive 25 percent (15) had been for touchdowns. That total in- cludes a career-best three touchdown catches in a 28-7 victory over Michigan State last month, one of his best games at Penn State. Freiermuth has been on an upswing since before he even got to University Park last year. The Merrimac, Mass., na- tive excelled at the Brooks School, lead- ing the team to an Independent School League championship as a junior. But while attending a summer Nike camp that also featured future Penn State teammate Micah Parsons, he discovered that he would need to redouble his com- mitment to the game if he were going to become a playmaker at the collegiate level. "I was kind of fat back in the day," he said. "And especially at that Nike camp, I ran slow. It was an eye-opening experi- ence, like, OK, well, I'm ranked this [highly], but I'm really not that good, so I had to continue to work hard. And obvi- ously, seeing Micah and what he could do, I was like, OK, if he's committed to Penn State and if I'm going to play [with] him in the Big Ten, I'm going to have to get right." He did. As a senior, Freiermuth caught 26 passes for 613 yards and seven touch- downs, rushed 20 times for 202 yards and five scores and also totaled three defen- sive TDs as a linebacker. The following year, he was one of Penn State's breakout freshmen, winning an honorable mention All-Big Ten nod after leading the team in touchdown catches with eight. The Lions' other tight ends saw it coming. Freiermuth was 19 years RECORD SETTER Gesicki caught 129 passes for 1,481 yards during his PSU career, both school records for a tight end. Freier- muth recently tied Gesicki's school record for most receiving TDs by a tight end (15). Photo by Steve Manuel