Freiermuth: Why he came back, and one big difference that most people aren’t aware of

Tight end Pat Freiermuth could be preparing for the NFL draft right now as a likely first-round pick, but he just couldn’t bring himself to leaving a place he loves so much.

“I just love everything about Penn State,” Freiermuth said during a Zoom call Friday.

But he did give serious consideration to leaving early.

“There was a point in time when I was kind of like, I don’t care, I just want to move on to the next chapter of my life.”

There were definitely “serious talks” about him turning pro early, but he talked it over with his parents and was just too excited about coming back to play at PSU. His parents played a big role in the decision, since they also love coming to Penn State games so much.

See Freiermuth explain his choice and some other notable topics in this video.

Freiermuth also shared some interesting insight into one of the big differences he’s had to deal with in his daily life while going through the coronavirus pandemic.

“One thing I’ve struggled with is not being able to come into the building whenever I want just to kind of watch film and get extra rehab and do all that kind of thing,” he said. “Once you’re in the building, you’re locked in the building, and if you leave, you can’t come back really. Especially with workouts over the summer.

“A lot of you guys saw us working out at State College High. So that was definitely different, being able to plan my day around classes and stuff like, just going to State College High to work out there. But it’s definitely different not being able to just come in and swipe in the building and just be here whenever we want.”