Blue White Illustrated

N A T E   B A U E R | N B A U E R @ B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . c O M Penn State head coach James Franklin likes to think of his football program as a family. From the coaches and players, all the way through the personnel and support staff, the feeling is a central tenet to how the Nittany Lions operate. The past few weeks, that very concept – a strength that Franklin holds in such high regard – has been put to the test. Friday especially, the Nittany Lions mourned for one of their own. Terry Anthony Zettel, father of senior Penn State defensive tackle Anthony Zettel, succumbed to cancer aAer bat- tling the disease for 18 months. He was only 46 years old. "We talk about being a family. We're going to back that up all the time," Franklin said immediately aAer his Nittany Lions had defeated San Diego State, 37-21, on Saturday aAernoon. "I thought Anthony and his family handled this unbelievably well, as challenging as it is. We're always going to put that as priority. That's always going to be the priority, family." Nowhere was that more evident than at Beaver Stadium on Saturday aAernoon. Surrounded by a support group of teammates and coaches, Zettel led the Nittany Lions with seven total tackles, 2.5 tackles for loss and half a sack to go along with his pass breakup. A disruptive force throughout the af- ternoon for a Penn State defense that ar- guably paced the team's win, Zettel played one of his best games this season against the Aztecs. None of which came as any surprise to his teammates. "It means everything. That's our brother. We always got his back and he plays hard every down," linebacker Bran- don Bell said. "That's one thing you know, he's going to bring it every down. It does- n't surprise me he had the most tackles. "Football is important to him, so I'm not surprised [that he played]." Franklin said that the past three weeks were especially painful for the Zettel family as Terry's condition worsened. He said that at no point was Zettel pressured to continue playing, adding that he was "a special kid" who decided to stay in the lineup because he and his family thought that was what his father would want. "I think it shows the type of commit- ment and the type of bond that these guys have as a family, that it's really looked at not like it's Anthony's family, but it's our family," Franklin said. "It's our family going through something to- gether and supporting him the best way we possibly can. "Anthony felt like that was the right thing to do for his situation and his fam- ily, and we'll support that. We love him and his whole family. I'm just really proud of him and the whole team. This team is going to be here to support him and his family every step of the way. I think they've handled it better than most." As the Zettel family works through the grieving process following the loss, the emotionally and physically taxing sched- ule that has seen Anthony driving to and from West Branch, Mich., following each game the past three weeks will turn to a team burden to bear. "This is something that he and his fam- ily have been dealing with for some time now. Really, the last three weeks, it's been tough. It's been pretty intense for him and his family for the last three weeks," Franklin said. "We're going to modify practice [Sunday] because we're going to go and support him, so we're going to modify practice as much as we possibly can." S E P T E M B E R 2 6 , 2 0 1 5 B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . c O M 6 STAYING STRONG Teammates rally around Anthony Zettel on an emotional day COLLISION COURSE Zettel lays a hit on Donnel Pumphrey. Photo by Steve Manuel

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