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RISING CHALLENGE Jaquan Brisker has overcome many hardships to become one of the top defensive players in the Big Ten | S P O T L I G H T D E F E N S I V E B A C K S >> aquan Brisker understands deeply the ways in which his life could be different. A 22-year-old safety at Penn State, Brisker is getting set to embark on his third season with the Nittany Lions this fall. Having chosen to forgo a likely op- portunity to play in the NFL, instead opt- ing to take advantage of the NCAA's bonus year of eligibility due to the COVID-19 pandemic and its fallout, Brisker is aware that he's standing at the precipice of something great. He is coming off a 2020 season in which he earned multiple awards and was lauded for his perform- ance, and additional national and confer- ence honors have followed in the months leading up to the 2021 campaign. His fu- ture, at Penn State and beyond, is bright. But as he awaits the opportunity that will soon be upon him, Brisker can't help but think about his past – the humble, difficult adolescence, the small choices that proved critical, the evolution in per- spective and thinking that occurred along the way. All of it has given rise to frequent moments of reflection. "I'm here at Penn State and I'm very blessed, and I just think about where I was and where I came from," Brisker said. "I'm just blessed to be here. From what I dealt with in high school, and then when I went to junior college – to be here at Penn State, I think about things like that all the time. It always comes up." Given Brisker's complex personal his- tory, there is much to think about. A rising prospect at Gateway High School in Monroeville, Pa., Brisker saw his world upended when his older brother, 19-year old Tale', was gunned down in February 2015 in Prairie View, Texas. Having completed his sophomore season with the Gators, Jaquan found sol- ace on the field and motivation in his brother's memory. But he couldn't com- pletely escape the brutal reality of a fam- ily member lost to violence. Tale' had been an outstanding receiver himself at Gateway, and his death gener- ated a blanket of support for Jaquan and his siblings. But with it came attention that only furthered the deep discomfort that Brisker was feeling. "It was hard because when he passed, I didn't want to go to school. That put me behind in school because I didn't really want to go to school and see people and communicate," Brisker said. "It was hard to go back and learn and sit there and act like things were normal. He went to the same high school, so people there knew him. There were always people apologiz- ing or making sure I was OK. That was un- comfortable, because I'm a chill guy and I really don't like too much attention. I don't really talk much, so it was uncomfortable at the time. A lot of things were going on [that caused] me to not focus on school." By the time Brisker was a senior, he had drawn the attention of Penn State, Pitt, Toledo and others, but the academic im- pact had taken its toll. Missing games through his senior season due to aca- demic ineligibility, he eventually found himself sidelined for Gateway's last-sec- ond semifinal loss to McKeesport in the WPIAL playoffs. Spending that final high school game watching helplessly, with offers and options for his college football career drying up, he vowed to commit himself to the academic obligations he had previously ignored. That difficult experience, Brisker says J >> TO THE

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