Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/349223
ill Belton can't relax. With the start of his 9nal college football season still more than a month away, the senior running back is in no mood to enjoy the laid- back atmosphere that accompanies the summer months in State College. He means business, and his business is football. Eager to achieve team and personal success this fall, Belton is a man on a mission. "That's all I think about. I don't know why, but it's just like, this is my last sea- son," he said. "I want to do well, and that's all that's on my mind. "I was told that you have to speak things into exis- tence, so I guess that's why we talk about it all the time." The "things" Belton wants to see come to fruition are abstract, private goals that a single statistic or award would be unable to capture. What would constitute a successful season? "Winning as many games as possible," he said. But there's more to it than that. In addition to the never- ending quest for more victories, he is motivated by a desire for personal val- idation and also for a career in profes- sional football. Whatever truths may be le< unspoken in an interview setting, Belton's personal Twitter feed o;ers a glimpse into his mindset. Although doubt is a major motivational in:uence on many upper-echelon ath- letes in many di;erent sports, few relish the opportunity to disprove prognosti- cators and analysts the way Belton does. When his name was omitted from the silly preseason lists purporting to identify the "Top 25 Big Ten Players" or the "Top 10 Big Ten Running Backs," Belton took serious note. On June 9, he tweeted this: "It's about getting on the national scale and being B >> ELECTRIC BILL Belton has been Penn State's second- leading rusher each of the past two sea- sons. He fin- ished with 803 yards last year, while adding 158 receiving yards. Photo by Steve Manuel