Penn State’s players had a new message on their backs Tuesday morning, and it came straight from athletic director Pat Kraft.
Quarterback Rocco Becht and tight end Ben Brahmer were both spotted wearing shirts the team had not seen before. The shirts, handed out to the entire roster, carried a simple line: Own the outcome.
Brahmer explained that Kraft was the one behind the gesture and said the shirts came with a note in the players’ lockers.
“Mr. Kraft gave us (the shirts) with a note in our little lockers. So just owning the outcome and understanding that we gotta control what we can control and continue working as hard as we can in practice, and own whatever happens to us on Saturdays,” Brahmer said.
Kraft’s message lands at a moment when he’s already deeply tied to the direction of Penn State football. He made the decision to fire James Franklin in the middle of Franklin’s 12th season last October, setting off a coaching search that stretched nearly two months before the school hired Campbell.
Campbell is 4-4 overall and 1-4 in the Big Ten early in his Penn State tenure.
Kraft has also been a visible presence around the program, showing up on the sideline at every game and reacting openly when big moments hit. He was emotional, too, when discussing QB Drew Allar’s season-ending injury last year.
For Penn State right now, the slogan on the shirt matches the moment: the only thing the team can control is what it does Saturday at Washington. Kickoff is set for 3:30 on FS1.
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Still, this one feels different enough to merit a closer look. The teams have not crossed paths often, and Penn State is entering as a slight underdog, which adds a layer of intrigue to an early-season test far from home. For a team with bigger goals ahead, how it responds in that setting could say plenty about the road ahead, even if the full picture will not be clear until the game is played. [Read more 🡒]