Andrew Rappleyea has spent plenty of time fighting through pain just to stay on the field, and Penn State says the tight end is finally back in good shape as the Lions prepare for Saturday’s opener against Marshall.
The 6-foot-4, 242-pound Rappleyea was limited to one game in 2024 - Penn State’s opening win at West Virginia - before a season-ending injury shut him down. Even that came after he pushed through an undisclosed physical issue to finish the year, and he still managed to close the season with touchdown catches in Penn State’s final three games.
This offseason brought more of the same kind of battle. Rappleyea missed spring drills because of an injury and also sat out time in preseason camp with another physical issue. But Penn State coach Matt Campbell said Tuesday that Rappleyea is healthy again.
“Rapp was great early on,” Campbell said.
“Got dinged up a little bit in camp. (He0 has come back and been back here the last week. Looks really good.
“Really excited about what he’s done and the progress he made through the off-season.”
Rappleyea and Iowa State transfer Ben Brahmer are expected to be key pieces in Penn State’s two-tight end packages.
Rappleyea said the issue he dealt with in the spring was tied to the one that lingered at the end of the 2025 season, and he wasn’t interested in letting another year slip away.
“I lost an opportunity to (play) the year before (in 2024) and I wasn’t going to let something that was still dragging take another year from me,” Rappleyea said.
“So for me it was like, you only get so much time.”
Last season, Rappleyea finished with 20 catches for 183 yards and three touchdowns. He said his role grew once Penn State assistant Terry Smith became the Lions’ interim head coach.
“It was a big opportunity for me, the way things were going (in 2025),” Rappleyea said.
“It just felt good to be able to do something with an opportunity that coach Terry (Smith) gave me. Now I’m pretty confident coming into this year.”
Rappleyea also said he’s eager to have another productive tight end, Iowa State transfer Gabe Burkle, back in the mix as Burkle works his way back from an ACL injury suffered last year.
“I’m just really excited to showcase what I can do and help this team get to where it wants to be,” Rappleyea said.
“I just think when you have (players) like Ben and Gabe and other guys in this tight end room, it makes everybody play at such a high level.”
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