Thousands of fans gathered Friday afternoon to root for the Penn State football team.
The opponent wasn't the Fighting Irish, the Buckeyes or the Wolverines -- this time, kidney cancer was the adversary.
The 5th annual Lift for Life tallied $75,000 for the cause, totaling $225,000 since the event began in 2003. Penn State football players started Lift for Life after former wideout Scott Shirley found out his father had kidney cancer.
An estimated 3,000 spectators, the largest turnout in the event's history, came to watch 22 teams of four Penn State football players compete against each other in 11 grueling workouts.
"It's hard to describe what I'm feeling right now," Shirley said. "If you had been here five years ago, you wouldn't believe what you're seeing today."
Quarterbacks coach Jay Paterno felt the same way.
"We had very few fans years ago, and now, you come here today and see them with hot dogs in the parking lot," Paterno said. "It's just great to see a group of guys come together for something positive like this."
Though offensive tackle Gerald Cadogan will be occupied protecting quarterback Anthony Morelli's blindside from Big Ten pass rushers this fall, his focus was on a larger opponent Friday.
"It's just a big blessing to be out here," Cadogan said, "to be able to give back to the community and help someone else."
With more than one month left before the season starts, other players enjoyed putting on a show for the Lion faithful.
"It's great to work out in front of the fans, to get exposure for a good cause," linebacker Dan Connor said. "We should use our celebrity status to help."
The event also relied on volunteers who collected donations and ran a silent auction including memorabilia signed by 1973 Heisman Trophy winner John Cappelletti and last year's captains Paul Posluszny and Levi Brown.
Eva Rickrode, one of the volunteers at the event and a Penn State alumna, has a friend who had a kidney transplant years ago.
"After watching everything my friend has been through, I understand the need to increase awareness for this cause," Rickrode said. "Why not support young people in an effort like this?"
Shirley said that getting more young people involved is a goal of Shirley and Uplifting Athletes, a non-profit organization that is currently trying to reach out to other campuses and athletes and grow beyond Lift for Life.
"I'm really proud with what these guys were able to accomplish," Shirley said. "The team bought into it, the fans bought into it and hopefully, it will continue to grow in the future."
