Penn State punter Barney Amor talks earning a scholarship, first game as a Lion, more
Barney Amor will never forget the day he earned a Penn State scholarship. And, it’s not just because he and his parents no longer had to pay for school.
The new Nittany Lions starting punter who learned of his new grant-in-aid from NFL great Eli Manning will always remember the practice leading up to the announcement. A NFL Films crew member was taping his every move, and the specialist who transferred into the Penn State program from Colgate before the 2021 season noticed.
“The camera guy kept following me around, and I started to get, like, mad because it’s called Fast Friday and like, I’ll be honest, punters and kickers and snappers and everyone, I just don’t want to be in anyone’s way. I just kind of like stay off to the side. And the guy kept following me. And, I was like, ‘what is this guy doing? Like, stop following me.’ Coach Franklin is going to start yelling or something. But you know, [Eli Manning] gives us a story about free agents, and brings me up, and it was kind of just like, ‘Ok, well if it’s going to happen, I guess it’s going happen right now. And it was great.”
Amor could not immediately get ahold of his parents to share the great new news out of Penn Stae, however.
:”My mom didn’t answer. She thought it was some spam call because I was calling my assistant coaches phone. So that took a couple of times to get through to her,” Amor said. “And, my dad was in a work meeting, so he wasn’t too happy until I was like, ‘Hey, we don’t have to pay for school anymore.’
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“So I was pretty excited about that. But yeah, it was great. It’s one of those moments gonna remember forever.”
Amor shines in first Penn State appearance
Penn State fans and observers were fairly nervous about the Lions punting situation entering the season. Amor was tabbed to replace Jordan Stout, who taught his predecessor plenty last season. Now, he’s taking on the first-team role, and it went quite well in West Lafayette. Amor averaged about 46 yards per punt and put three inside the 20. And, if not for a mishap by the gunnes, he would have downed Purdue inside the five a second time during the second half.
All told, it was a reassuring performance for fans. But, the players and staff at Penn State knew what to expect.
“Going into this year, I think obviously, we brought in Alex Bacchetta, he’s got a great leg, great, great leg and every single practice, we’re all pushing to get each other better,” Amor said. “We have a great room. We really do have a great room and four punters right now, every single one of them I truly feel like to could do the job. And it honestly just comes down to who the coaches believe is going to put us in the best situation.”
That’s Amor. And, after Thursday night, it’s easy to see why.
