Fair warning: Get ready to dry your eyes if you watch this video from ESPN’s College GameDay on Penn State quarterback Drew Allar.
The former Ohio high school Mr. Football in 2021 returned to his home state for a major showdown at the ‘Shoe with Ohio State on Saturday. Allar’s homecoming led to an introspective, extremely emotional TV feature that’s so sad and inspiring at the same time.
Long story short: Allar grew up loving football and idolizing his cousin Blake, who was 10 years older and an excellent linebacker by his junior season. They had an extremely close bond.
Tragedy struck thereafter. Blake was in a car with four other friends. The vehicle was going a little too fast over a railroad crossing, and hit the tracks at an odd angle. That caused a major car crash that killed four of the five passengers, including Blake.
I can’t even imagine going through a loss like that at such a young age. Surely Allar thinks of Blake every time he steps onto the field. I’m sure Blake’s legacy had a hand in driving Allar to achieve all he has to date. But my goodness. When things like this happen and teenagers are taken away so abruptly, it’s really easy to question pretty much everything about life. Like, why?
Allar is only a true sophomore and has cemented himself as the Nittany Lions’ starting QB for the foreseeable future. His size, arm strength and athleticism give him as good of physical tools as any signal-caller in the country. It’ll be so exciting to see him piece it all together eventually
I knew very little about Allar beyond those surface-level attributes until now. I’m sure anyone who sees this College GameDay feature will walk away not only wanting to root like crazy for the guy, but also be reminded of how precious life is. It’s a cliché, sure. A particularly appropriate one in this instance, however.
Go get ’em, Drew Allar. What courage it took for him to be that vulnerable, especially considering how young he is. Pretty extraordinary to see.
