When Kyle Johnson got the call, he almost swerved off the road.
It was just four days before the 2008 spring semester began, and Johnson was on his way home from the grocery store with his mom. His phone rang. It was a Penn State assistant football coach. Johnson -- who had tried out for the Nittany Lions in the fall -- was invited to walk-on the team.
"It was the call I was waiting for, but didn't think I would ever get," Johnson said. "And I almost drove to the sidewalk."
That's because Johnson was nobody's All-American prized recruit.
As a safety for Avon Groves High School, nestled just two miles north of the Maryland border in southeastern Pennsylvania, the lanky 6-footer drew interest from a few local Division III schools, which don't offer scholarships.
"It wasn't like the big guys were coming up and knocking on my door," Johnson said. "And I chose my college based on academics."
But Johnson loved football. He had played team sports since grade school and wasn't quite ready to let go. So when he enrolled at Penn State for summer session 2007, he decided to take a chance and devote himself to doing everything possible to play for one of the nation's most prestigious programs.
Penn State football -- its roster full of touted high school standouts with full scholarships -- became Johnson's obsession. He began a rigorous training regimen, lifting weights almost daily. He stopped going out on weekends and monitored his diet. He spent hours doing research on fitness, learning about alternative recovery methods, speed enhancement drills and new stretching techniques. It paid off for Johnson, who now sits on the Lions' 122-man roster.
Tonight, the Penn State football team will hold a tryout at Holuba Hall for those won't-give-up dreamers, all who have the same goal of wearing Nittany Lion navy and white come fall 2010.
They all want to beat the odds. They want to feel the same exhilaration a walk-on safety did when he received that call last spring.
They want to be the next Kyle Johnson.
Third times a charm
Alphonso Newsuan sees the Penn State football players walking around campus, and he can't help but feel intimidated.
"I look at them, and they're just so big, so accomplished," Newsuan said. "They're who I want to be."
Newsuan isn't too shabby himself. At 6-foot-2, 285 pounds, he was a star lineman and All-District wrestler at Milton Hershey High School. But even that might not make the grade at a storied program like Penn State.
"All my life, I have tried my hardest and that was good enough to do well," Newsuan said. "And for the first time in my life I'm in a situation where I can try as hard as I can, but that might not be good enough. That's scary."
So scary that it took Newsuan a year to actually come to tryouts. Twice, Newsuan attended the general interest meetings -- once last spring and once this fall -- and twice he withdrew before actually getting the chance to showcase his talent in front of the Penn State coaches. Newsuan said his nerves weren't the type that could be measured. His knees didn't shake. His voice didn't quiver. It was more of a feeling inside that told him he wasn't emotionally ready.
"One time I didn't even go as far as handing in my physical," Newsuan said. "I just looked at the guys in the meeting and got really nervous. I just couldn't do it. I thought I needed to do more preparations."
Now, Newsuan believes he is ready. He has found solid support in friends who have encouraged him throughout his training. Newsuan said they believe in him, and that motivates him to try harder than ever before to reach the ultimate goal.
"I want to play for Penn State because it's the ideal football school," he said. "I want travel the country and play the best competition in the country, with the best team in the country for the best coach probably in the history of the game."
A journeyman returns home
It's taken David Adewumi a while to get to Holuba Hall for tonight's football tryouts. Actually, it's been a journey that spanned almost six years, five states and two countries. Since graduating from State College Area High School at age 17 in 2005, Adewumi did missionary work in the Dominican Republic and Amazon jungle, ventured for a while into the business world, and also served a stint in the army as an airborne infantryman.
As a high schooler in the shadow of Beaver Stadium, Adewumi played for the Little Lions' football team but shined in track. Miami (Fla.) heavily recruited him as a sprinter. Yet he chose Penn State, where he was awarded an academic scholarship and joined the track team in spring 2006.
"I had some DI-AA and DII offers for football out of high school," Adewumi said. "But I chose track because that's what I was better at. It was a safe option, for sure. But now I have matured and realized life is all about passion and doing what you love. Football is my first love, and I want to pursue that."
Adewumi walked away from Penn State and the track team after one semester. He had joined the team late -- Adewumi had deferred fall semester to work for the nonprofit organization Youth With a Mission -- and found it difficult making the adjustment as "the new kid." He also had trouble at home. Adewumi's mother has bipolar disorder, causing a tumultuous home life for a teenager.
Adewumi spent a year in the army, then moved to Baltimore with a few friends where they founded a social-network Web site called Heekya, dubbed "a Wikipedia for stories." Now, he is back at Penn State, where he is studying Spanish and international politics. And he's been training to try out for the football team. He has gained 55 pounds of muscle in the past six years, now filling out his 5-foot-11 frame at 200 pounds.
"My life experiences, those have shaped who I am today," Adewumi said. "And they have made me a better person. But at the end of the day, at tryouts, the football coaches will be looking for football skills. And I hope to be ready for that."
An unrequited love
It started with a Facebook message.
Shortly after Johnson made the football team in 2008, he received a note in his inbox from Ryan Curran, whom he'd never met.
"I just said, 'Hey, I heard you walked on the team, and that's always been my dream,' " Curran recalled. "And I asked him for some tips on what I should be doing to get better."
Johnson couldn't decide if he was more surprised or flattered by Curran's outreach.
"To this day, I have no idea how Ryan found me. Man, that kid is resourceful," Johnson said. "But it also shows how he is persistent and how much he wants this."
Curran wants it badly. After graduating from Solanco High School in 2007, Curran attended Penn State-York for two years while playing for the York County Silver Bullets, a semi-pro football team. He transferred to University Park in August and attended the fall tryouts, where the roster is essentially set. He didn't get the call.
Historically, spring tryouts are more competitive, with few spots actually open. And tonight, Curran feels he's completely ready.
"It is like I've been training for this tryout for three years," Curran said. "It's all calculated, all part of the plan. Ever since I fell in love with the sport, Penn State football has kind of been my thing. And I am going to do whatever it takes to be a part of it."
That includes making serious sacrifices. Curran -- an aspiring linebacker -- has put close to 20 hours a week into training, and his grades have taken a hit.
"As much as I hate to say it, I'm putting in as much time as a DI player with my training," Curran said. "It's my priority, my life right now. And it's my sole focus."
Athletically, that dedication has paid off. The 5-foot-11 Curran has gained 15 pounds since the last tryout --40 since high school -- and now stands at a muscular 210 pounds. His training regimen is intense -- and obsessive. He regularly sneaks into Holuba Hall -- Penn State's state-of-the-art indoor training facility -- after football practice ends. Some nights, he straps on a 30-pound vest and runs sprints along the 80-yard indoor turf field. Other nights, he goes to the weight room for two-hour stints.
Before all workouts, he carefully wraps his big toe with a specialized black bandage. Shortly after the fall tryouts, Curran was diagnosed with turf toe because he trained too hard.
"I don't think anything will stop me from trying out again, and again," he said. "At this point, I'm 100 percent Penn State. I'm here. I'm in college. What else do I have to lose? I might as well just keep working hard to achieve my goal, because I can't even imagine myself playing in another uniform. I'm all blue and white."
Curran receives encouragement from Johnson, who has been working out with him on weekends. Even one of Curran's idols has given the Lion hopeful more hope. Sean Lee -- the standout linebacker and 2009 team captain -- has been training for the NFL Combine at a facility in Lancaster, the same gym Curran works out at when he's home.
Over winter break, Curran saw Lee and approached him.
"He was such an inspiration," Curran said. "He told me, 'Keep working hard. I know you'll get it.' After that, I was just like, wow, I can do this."
