S P R I N G P R A C T I C E R E P O R T
rowing up, Phil Trautwein had always
thought of himself as a Penn State guy.
He watched the Nittany Lions on TV
every Saturday and attended the same high
school – Eastern Regional in Voorhees, N.J. – as
Adam Taliaferro, one of the best-known and
most inspirational figures in PSU's long football
history. Trautwein still remembers the prayer
that he and his teammates offered after Talia-
ferro
suffered a serious neck injury during the
Lions'
visit to Ohio State in 2000.
As his high school career continued and his
college options began to take shape,
Trautwein's interest in Penn State intensified.
He attended the Blue-White Game during the
spring of his junior year and returned a few
months later for a summer camp. His short
list was short indeed. Trautwein was barely
aware of Rutgers, which had yet to turn itself
around under Greg Schiano, and none of the
other major Northeastern schools interested
him. "For me, it wasn't Boston College, it
wasn't Syracuse, it wasn't Maryland," he said.
"It was Penn State. Penn State was the school
G
ANCHORMAN
Led by fifth-year
senior center Michal
Menet (62), Penn
State will return five
offensive linemen
with starting experi-
ence in 2020. The
Lions are coming off
a season in which
they finished fourth
in the Big Ten in
rushing offense.
Photo by Steve
Manuel
