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Penn State uses a special guest to tell specialist Barney Amor he's on scholarship: Watch

Greg Pickelby:Greg Pickel•08/25/22•

GregPickel

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Barney Amor. (Daniel Althouse/BWI)

Penn State football used a special guest to stun a specialist with terrific news ahead of the 2022 season.

A social media video posted by the program on Thursday shows Super Bowl winning quarterback Eli Manning, who visited the Lions’ practice on Wednesday, telling punter Barney Amor that he has earned a scholarship. Amor is expected to be the Penn State starting punter this fall.

“In the NFL right, you have free agents, in college you have walk-ons,” Manning says. “I got a guy. Barney Amor. Where’s Barney? Get up here pal.”

Then Amor joins Manning at the front of a circle of his teammates.

“Walk-ons are important, right? You got to have them,” Manning said. “But, it’s pretty damn cool when you’re on scholarship right now.”

The video goes on to show the team erupting as Amor looks on in disbelief and hugs Manning.

Watch the social media clip below:

How did Barney Amor end up on scholarship at Penn State?

Amor graduated from Central Bucks East High School. There, he was a two-time all-league first-team kicker and made the first-team and second-team once a piece as a punter.

Next, he went to Colgate. The Doylestown, Pa., native ranked second in the Patriot League with a 42.1-yards-per-punt average in 2019. He was received second-team All-Patriot League honors from Phil Steele.

The Patriot League did not compete in 2020 because of the coronavirus pandemic. So, Amor transferred to Penn State before the 2021 season. He learned behind All-Big Ten talent and future Baltimore Ravens draft pick Jordan Stout for a year. And, now, he’s poised to replace him as the Penn State starting punter this fall.

“The biggest thing is trying to make everybody else better. It’s trying to figure out where everyone is, and then ultimately just doing your job,” Amor told BWI in August. “For me, that’s going out and being high performance, low maintenance. It’s something we preach around here.”

Amor went on to add that he learned something from Stout that has stuck with him as he competed with freshman Alex Bacchetta for the starting job.

“Consistency is really what starts to separate the kids from, ‘Can you do the same thing every single time?’ So it’s the same thing with anyone,” Amor said. “Jordan Stout, he’s shown that he’s got the leg talent and the leg consistency. Put them together and then you get top-tier performance. 

Penn State opens the 2022 season at Purdue. Kickoff is set for 8 p.m. on Sept. 1 at Ross-Ade Stadium. FOX will televise the matchup.

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