Life doesn’t get much better for a walk-on football player than the moment Penn State’s Drew Hartlaub experienced Saturday afternoon.
Jack Ham, one of the greatest football players of all time — a Penn State and Pittsburgh Steelers legend — was talking to the Penn State team in the locker room when he was able to address Hartlaub and give him some outstanding news.
The video below is must see for any PSU fan.
Scholarship Moment‼️
Jack Ham dropped by the locker room after today's Spring Practice to deliver some news for @Drew_Hartlaub! 🙌#WeAre pic.twitter.com/mwhvNKBmkA
— Penn State Football (@PennStateFball) April 17, 2021
Hartlaub, a redshirt junior from Hanover, Pa., is a special teams ace for Penn State. He had entered the transfer portal a while back, but he won’t be going anywhere now that he’s on scholarship.
Hartlaub has appeared in 30 games during his Penn State career, all on special teams. He’s made 11 tackles (3 solo) and recovered two fumbles. This is his PSU bio page.
Ham is talking about former Steelers teammate “Mean” Joe Greene when he singles out Hartlaub.
“We won games with special teams, we won games as a defense,” Ham said. “We had a player named Joe Greene, look him up …”
Add Nittany Sports Now as a preferred source in Google! Click here to add us.At that point, some Penn State players can be heard saying, “Mean Joe Greene. … We know about that man.”
Ham continues, “We played a defense that it was a stunt 4-3, and he bought into the fact that he was gonna get double teamed on every play. He didn’t care about being All-Pro. He cared about winning championships. And that’s what it’s all about.
“And a guy right here is, I think that kind of a champion, that kind of a team player is Drew Hartlaub. And he’s on full scholarship now.”
The reaction of the PSU players in the video is priceless, as they go nuts celebrating with Hartlaub.
“I love being here with you guys, and I can’t wait for what’s in store for us this year,” Hartlaub says in the video.
“You deserve it,” one of his teammates yells.
“Jack Ham just put me on full scholarship,” Hartlaub says. “It’s kind of still surreal to me. It’s really a dream come true. I can’t believe this happened. I’ve worked four years for this, and it finally came true. So, I’m just kind of speechless right now, just trying to take it all in.”
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