Penn State coach James Franklin almost never issues an opening statement at a Wednesday post-practice presser, but he did this week because of Landon Tengwall.
Minutes before Franklin addressed reporters inside Holuba Hall, Tengwall, who was Penn state’s projected starting left guard, tweeted that he has to medically retire from football.
— LandonTengwall (@landon_tengwall) August 30, 2023
This isn’t easy for anybody in Penn State’s program.
Before Penn State, Tengwall lettered three seasons at Our Lady of Good Counsel High School and another at Pallotti. He was so good in high school that he earned an invitation to play in the 2021 Adidas All-American Bowl, Under-Armour All American Game and Polynesian Bowl. He was also a first-team USA Today All-American for the 2019 season and played in the 2017 Adidas Freshman All-American Game. A four-star recruit, Tengwall was was Penn State’s highest-rated Class of 2021 signee.
In 2021, Tengwall redshirted but played in Penn State’s last three games.
The next season, everything was going fine and dandy for Tengwall. He started Penn State’s first five games at left guard and Penn State started 5-0. Then, Tengwall got hurt during pregame warmups ahead of the team’s Week 6 clash at Michigan. That injury turned out to be a season-ender, and, sadly, Tengwall won’t get the chance to play college football again.
Tengwall ended his Twitter statement by writing that he’ll “always be a proud Penn State football player.”
“Penn State has the greatest fans in the world,” he wrote, “and I want to thank all of you for supporting me during my time on the field and now in my next chapter.”
Franklin expects Tengwall to still be an active part of the program.
“I think you’ll be seeing Landon around here, hopefully pretty soon,” he said. “But we just talked about it as a team as well, and we’re just gonna be as supportive as we possibly can. This is a hard thing, as you could imagine. He’s been playing football his entire life.”
Penn State defensive end Adisa Isaac spoke with reporters after Franklin’s press conference, and said, per Mark Wogenrich of Sports Illustrated, “we all love Landon.”
“When he first got here, he was a hard worker,” Isaac, who has been with Penn State since 2019, said. “He gave everything he had. “We all love him, and he’s always welcome here.”
