Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1546586
O C T O B E R 2 0 2 6 11 W W W . B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . C O M dergo as part of a routine arrival screen- ing — a test that wasn't administered during his time at Iowa State — revealed a dilated aortic root and dilated ascend- ing aorta. In short, Manske had an in- creased risk of a potentially life-threat- ening aortic aneurysm or rupture. The news came out of nowhere for the Algona, Iowa, native. "I never would have known," Manske said in August, speaking with reporters for the first time about his condition. "I had zero symptoms before then. And I never felt like I'd get out of breath easy or anything like that. It was definitely a surprise when I found it, and I'm glad that I found it." The discovery may have come seem- i n g ly o u t o f n o - where, but Resendez was prepared. An experienced sports medicine practitio- ner, he had linked up with Campbell fol- lowing stints as the head athletic trainer for the NBA's Sac- ramento Kings and i n t h e X F L / U F L , and he approached Manske's situation with a plan of his own. After consulting colleagues and specialists, Resendez sat down with Manske and his family and explained the nature of the situation. Even with the positive feedback from the medical staff, Manske wondered whether he would ever play football again. "[Resendez] told me right from the start. He said, 'We have a plan. We're going to get you back.' So I trusted them," Manske said. "But when you're sitting alone at night, you can start thinking about it a little bit. There were definitely a couple of nights where I thought, Oh shoot, I don't know what's going to happen. But I think they did a really good job of making me feel reas- sured." Instead of preparing for his first spring practice at Penn State, Man- ske found himself at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., undergoing ad- ditional testing. He had open-heart surgery on March 16 to replace the en- larged section of his aorta with a syn- thetic graft. Manske left the hospital four days later — less than a week be- fore the Nittany Lions were set to begin spring practice. "I was a little nervous, but I was also excited to get on the road to recovery," Manske said. "And I know on that day, I had a lot of people texting me, a lot of the staff, a lot of the players telling me [they were] praying for me. That really helped put my mind at ease a little bit. My parents were there every step of the way, really helping me." Manske returned to Iowa for cardiac rehab, all the while keeping in touch with the Penn State coaching staff and medical team. He made it back to State College a month after the surgery, and following a summer checkup at the Mayo Clinic, Manske finally began throwing again in June. "It was as good as it could possibly be during the checkup," he said. "I got cleared to start throwing again and then cleared for contact. [The doctor] said if I had a game in three weeks, they would probably clear me to play in the game. That's how good it looks." When Penn State got together for camp in early August, Manske was right there with his teammates on Day 1. The Nittany Lions had planned to ease him back into action to start, but he sur- prised the coaching staff by coming out of the gates strong over the first couple of practices. It didn't take long for him to work his way up to his familiar spot behind Becht, a redshirt senior. "What that man has done to get back, to play the way he's playing — he's play- ing as good in the last two days as we've witnessed Alex Manske play his en- tire career," Campbell said late in Penn State's preseason camp. The Nittany Lions' first-year head coach noted that he hoped to be able to get Manske some significant playing time this fall, even with Becht firmly established as the starter. As a true freshman at Iowa State last fall, the for- mer four-star prospect played in three games, completing 4 of 5 passes for 28 yards while adding 33 yards on 7 rushing attempts. "Alex certainly has deserved the right to be able to get on the field," Campbell said. "I think even a year ago, if you watched us play, we were able to find ways to get him into the football game, impact the football game in a positive way. Alex does a lot of things well. Ob- viously, as we game plan each week, we try to figure out where we can plug him in to give us an advantage." In its season opener against Marshall, Penn State built a sizeable early lead and was able to pull Becht in the third quarter. Coming on in relief, Manske was on the field for 24 plays, completing 6 of 8 passes for 57 yards. In a more competitive game at Temple a week later, he played only 3 snaps and didn't attempt a pass. Under his shoulder pads, Manske now sports a gnarly scar down the middle of his chest. It will forever serve as a re- minder of the uncertainty of life and ev- erything he's done to get back to where he wants to be. "When I look at it, I just think, obvi- ously it was tough going through it, but I'm just thankful that I was able to get it done and I was able to find it," he said. "I'm thankful for Penn State, and to be able to do the testing here to find that. Because if I didn't find that, you never know what could have happened." ■ "When I look at it, I just think, obviously it was tough going through it, but I'm just thankful that I was able to get it done and I was able to find it. I'm thankful for Penn State, and to be able to do the testing here to find that. Because if I didn't find that, you never know what could have happened." M A N S K E O N H I S D I A G N O S I S A N D R E C O V E R Y