Support the Penn State Football Team's Lift for Life Effort

With so much controversy and opinion circulating about who at Penn State knew what and who did what (or didn't do what) related to the Sandusky child sexual abuse crimes, one thing should be clear to everyone: that the players on this Penn State football team had nothing whatsoever to do with what happened more than a decade ago on Penn State's campus.

This team has been through tremendous turmoil since November 2011. It has had to deal with the firing of coach Joe Paterno. It had to play out the last three games of the season and the toughest part of its season—games against Nebraska, Ohio State and Wisconsin—with an interim head coach and in the midst of a whirlwind—no not a whirlwind, a tornado—of negative publicity and tremendous angst. In addition, the last two games of the season were away from the support of its home crowd.

This team was chosen for a lesser bowl than it would have normally been invited to because of the Sandusky scandal, and perhaps its disappointment contributed to the loss against Houston. Or perhaps Houston was a better team on that day.

Then, in January, it faced the death of Paterno due to lung cancer. A new coach was selected, Bill O'Brien, who brought in his own team of assistant coaches and an entirely different playbook and strength and conditioning regimen.

In the midst of all the change thrust upon this team, the football players went to school and maintained decent grades. They stayed out of trouble (except for perhaps one player) and out of the limelight.

They welcomed the new coaching staff and training regimen. They buckled down and went to work on the new playbook. They have been praised right and left by O'Brien for their hard work and dedication.

Each of those team members have to prove themselves to the new coaches, and no one will earn a starting position until they do. More than anyone else, this team has had to adjust to tremendous change.

But with all this change, one tradition still remains: this team's commitment to their chosen charity, Uplifting Athletes. Uplifting Athletes was founded at Penn State in 2003 by Penn State football teammates Scott Shirley, Dave Costlow and Damone Jones. 

Since that time, the Penn State football team has held its annual "Lift for Life" event and raised over $600,000 for the Kidney Cancer Foundation. Last year, the team exceeded $100,000 for the first time.

The format for this year's event has changed. It will be an "offense vs. defense" format, and will be held for two hours on July 13, between 5-7 p.m. The location will be the outdoor lacrosse field next to the multi-sport facility on campus. Last year, the event was indoors and went on for several hours. It was sort of like watching grass grow as small teams competed one at a time. This year's format promises to be more exciting.

If you are coming to State College for the Arts Festival, be sure to check this out and show up to give your support. If you can't make it, then you can support your favorite player by donating online. Just pick "donate to participant" and pick your favorite player.

In the midst of all the grim news coming out of Happy Valley, here's a way we can take a moment and help the football team know that we support them and are proud of their charitable efforts.