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HELPING HANDS PSU recruit Adam Breneman joins the fight against ALS with his Catch The Cure initiative | t only feels like the world is watching Adam Breneman. As a high school All-American with an active Twitter account, Breneman is indeed under a sort of close public scrutiny. Add in his commitment, reaffirmed many times over, to a Penn State program that remains under a unique microscope, and you can't blame Breneman for noticing the attention. Maybe the whole world isn't watching, but clearly, a lot of people are. "I think with the circumstance we've been through at Penn State, we're kind of in the spotlight with everything we do," Breneman said in November. "I'm not quite used to it yet. I know I really have to watch what I do." It risks overstating, but there probably aren't many other high school seniors in America right now whom Nittany Lion fans would want to trust in BreneThose wishing to give man's position. The nato Catch The Cure in tion's top-rated prep support of Project but I didn't know tight end missed his senA.L.S. can do so by viswhat," Breneman ior season rehabbing a iting its website, said. "Once the retorn ACL this fall, leadcatch-the-cure.com, cruiting process starting one to ponder what and clicking on the ed, and all the notosort of trouble a bored "Donate" button. riety that came with 17-year -old might get it, I thought I could into. But the Cedar Cliff do something with that." High School standout has found an Breneman reached out to Kirchhoff impressively useful way to pass his last summer, shortly before he blew time. out his right knee in a seven-on-seven Last summer, Breneman started drill. "My initial plan was that people Catch The Cure, a charity geared tocould pledge money for every catch I ward raising money and awareness had during the season," Breneman of ALS, or Lou Gehrig's disease. His said. "Once I got hurt, that kind of got inspiration came from Tom Kirchhoff, wiped out." Instead, he says he pouted a Cedar Cliff star in the 1980s who about his injury for "about a day," beplayed briefly with the Philadelphia fore focusing on going to work – on his Eagles and who was diagnosed with rehab, and on Kirchhoff's cause. He ALS in 2010. "I wanted to do somedidn't have to look far at all for motithing for Tom for a couple of years, I COMMON CAUSE Breneman was inspired by Kirchhoff, left, a former Cedar Cliff standout. HOW TO DONATE Photo courtesy of Adam Breneman vation, or perspective. "I tore my ACL," he said. "It's not a death sentence." After brainstorming with Kirchhoff and adopting his motivational motto "We Will Win," Breneman contacted Project A.L.S., a New York-based nonprofit dedicated to finding a cure for the disease. He set a fundraising goal of $20,000 and got help building a no-frills website. "The whole idea of fundraising was something I had to learn," he said. "I've never done anything like this before, but I've always been the kind of guy, when I set my mind to something, I go all out." Catch The Cure was officially launched in July – right around the time the NCAA hammered Penn State SEE BRENEMAN PAGE 61

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