The Penn State football team had just completed the Friday meeting at the Marriott Hotel in Ypsilanti, Mich.

Dressed in suits, the group began marching back to their rooms to digest what the coaches had just given them. Their heads were filled with Xs and Os and coach-speak and the images of maize and blue.

That all changed in an instant when cornerback Bryan Scott saw the grand piano sitting in the lobby.

"Very rarely do I pass up the opportunity to play a grand piano," said the 6-foot-2, 218-pound jock.

A bunch of the other jocks gathered around the piano then and about 15 of the oversized men had a little sing along. Or, at the very least, they listened to a talented teammate.

Scott, who began playing football at age five and the drums at age six, often fights the stereotyping that comes along with both of his passions.

"If it's somebody I know, I'll start a conversation," he said. "I'll say 'Why do you think that?' and we'll talk about it."

His teammates have mixed views on his musical talent.

"Some of them tell me it's really great," Scott said. "Some sort of laugh and say 'You're so soft.' "

Scott began playing the drums because he saw them on TV. He, like most young boys, liked loud noise and swinging sticks. His mother, like most mothers, did not. So she took her son for piano lessons when he turned seven.

"I only had one lesson," Scott said. "Then, I learned the rest on my own."

From there, he learned to sing and play the saxophone.

During high school he had to juggle his talents and while not training for athletics he occasionally sang in a small group called Midnight Voices. As a sophomore, he was younger than most of the group and wasn't sure he wanted to make a major commitment to the group.

But the a cappella singers from Central Bucks East had a lot of talent, especially a senior named Justin Guarini.

And, yes, Scott admits that he tuned in as Guarini attempted to become an American Idol on Fox's television show over the summer.

"To be honest, I did [watch]" Scott said. "I watched it just about every week. I definitely was not surprised to see him on the show. When he was a senior he was so talented, we'd all tell him 'You're going to be somewhere big someday.' "

Scott has no plans of pursuing a music career of his own, though. His house will have a piano and he'll continue playing the drums and sax. But music is his release from football. Next semester he would like to join a choir, since the only other duty he'll have is preparing for NFL scouting combines.

"I don't consider myself a performer in terms of music," Scott said. "I get nervous. On the football field, I'm just excited."

He has performed while at Penn State during talent and fashion shows as well as for charity. His quartet included Josh Hill, who recently signed with Sony Records, and former football teammate Neil Wood, who has since transferred to IUP.

His toughest performance, though, came last February when he sang at the funeral of Kevin Dare, a Penn State track athlete who died when he fell while attempting a pole-vault at the Big Ten Indoor Track and Field Championships in Minnesota. Dare's brother Eric is a cornerback on the football team.

"It was an honor to sing at his funeral," Scott said. "It was the hardest performance I've ever done because it was so personal."

Scott sang Mariah Carey and Boys to Men's "One Sweet Day" with Eric Dare's girlfriend Katie Martin, and ended the ceremony by singing R. Kelly's "The World's Greatest," as members of the congregation hugged and cried loudly, including several members of the football team.

At that moment, they were all thankful that Scott could be so soft.