WATCH: Penn State hype video for Saturday's return to Happy Valley is inspiring and unprecedented
Penn State football is entering Week 2 coming off one of the biggest victories of James Franklin’s tenure in State College.
When Ball State trots into a packed–and likely jacked– Happy Valley on Saturday the new video will play on the big screen to ignite the fan base even more.
Franklin took the lead to tweet out one of the most creative, unique and amazing hype videos college football has ever seen.
The cinematography and storytelling must have Nittany Lions fans ready to skip the office and bolt for the place they’ve missed so long.
No matter who you root for, this is the kind of video that gives chills every time and it’s amazing to see new sports teams and programs get creative and innovative as technology shifts.
Give it a watch, and without fibbing, see if you pick up on anything that may be a little bit odd or out of place…. or different.
A Star is Born
Penn State die-hards may have recognized the narrator’s name at the start of the video. Plenty others likely had never heard of the narrator chosen, a rare deal to say the least.
It wasn’t Saqon Barkley or Micah Parsons. No Morgan Freeman or predictable celebrity.
Instead, Franklin and the media minds at Penn State went with current reserve defensive linemen Aeneas Hawkins. Though offered by powerhouses like Alabama, Oklahoma and Michigan, Hawkins chose to follow Franklin to Happy Valley.
Penn State is a progam determined to get back to contending for titles year after year, so compeition has been stiff.
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Under Franklin, the Nittany Lions have consistenly boasted one of the top defensive line units in the Big Ten, so the junior has yet to find a role on the field.
Still, it’s clear Franklin noticed Hawkins’ talents could help the program in other ways.
Penn State Hollywood Hawkins
That isn’t an official nickname for Hawkins that we know of, but it should be.
Somewhere in the planning process for this creative, outside-the-box hype video that could change the game on how college coaches utilize non-football talents of their team, the idea was born.
Let’s flashback to Hawkins’ commitment to take his talents (football, so we thought) to Penn State back in 2017. It’s a full short film that didn’t involve a prospect behind table in a gym with the potential hats laid in front of them.
Using a legitimate production crew, Hawkins used his knack for media, cinematography, humor, suspense and outside-the-box thinking to set a new bar for all commitment announcements moving forward. There is a handful of country music stars with college football backgrounds, but they weren’t playing shows of halftime during their game or doing anything until after they moved on from the gridiron.
Oh, and the Players Tribune partnered with the then high-schooler on the project. If you aren’t familiar, former Yankees superstar athlete Derek Jeter launched the site to give athletes an unfiltered place to create content or share their voice. Again, if this football thing never pans out, it’s clear the Nittany Lions
Grab your popcorn and meet the superstar PSU fans never knew they had.
Oh, and the Players Tribune partnered with the then high-schooler on the project. If you aren’t familiar, former Yankees superstar athlete Derek Jeter launched the site to give athletes an unfiltered place to create content or share their voice. Again, if this football thing never pans out, it’s clear the Nittany Lions big man could have legitimate opportunities elsewhere.