Chris Geiss remembers milling around the Nittany Lion Inn back when he was in grade school, standing near his parents' side when a familiar face in Coke-bottled frames strolled past.
He wasn't yet old enough to watch a PG-13 movie, but he instantly knew who that man was. Joe Paterno. He extended his little arm, while Paterno smiled and told the fresh-faced youngster something that stuck with him all these years later: "He said one day I'll be playing football up there," Geiss remembered.
On Monday, Geiss finally realized his dream -- and discovered Paterno was right all those years ago -- when he accepted a preferred walk-on offer to play at Penn State.
He wasn't yet old enough to watch a PG-13 movie, but he instantly knew who that man was. Joe Paterno. He extended his little arm, while Paterno smiled and told the fresh-faced youngster something that stuck with him all these years later: "He said one day I'll be playing football up there," Geiss remembered.
On Monday, Geiss finally realized his dream -- and discovered Paterno was right all those years ago -- when he accepted a preferred walk-on offer to play at Penn State.
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ABOUT NITTANY NATION
Josh Moyer
Josh Moyer joined ESPN.com in 2012 after covering Penn State football for recruiting website Nittany Network and City Hall for The Citizens' Voice in Wilkes-Barre, Pa. Moyer graduated from Penn State and earned his graduate degree at Columbia. Email him at espnjoshmoyer@gmail.com.