ESPN has announced its celebrity guest picker for College GameDay this weekend ahead of Penn State-Oregon.
It’s Penn State legend LaVar Arrington.
It should be obvious to anybody why Arrington was picked.
After all, he’s one of the best linebackers in the history of the program known as “Linebacker University.” In his time at Penn State, Arrington was a two time All-American and won the Chuck Bednarik (Defensive Player of the Year) and Duck Butkus (Best Linebacker in the Country) Awards for the 1999 season.
After that campaign, Arrington declared for the Draft and went No. 2 overall to the Washington Redskins, where he became a two-time All-Pro over six seasons.
Arrington is also the player who first popularized wearing what’s now the legendary No. 11 at Penn State, which is currently occupied by somebody he knows quite well.
LIKE FATHER, LIKE SON
Photo by Matt Lynch, Nittany Sports Now
Add Nittany Sports Now as a preferred source in Google! Click here to add us.What makes this extra unique is that this is the first season Arrington’s son, Lavar II, is playing at his father’s alma mater. The younger Arrington is a freshman linebacker who wears the No. 11, but he’s more then just a kid who shares a famous last name. Penn State LB coach Dan Connor— another member of the LBU fraternity— talked about Arrington’s progress earlier this month on a Zoom call with media.
“He’s big, he’s fast, he’s twitchy, he can rush the passer,” Connor said. “He can do pretty much anything. And it’s really encouraging to see him operate now as a level-two linebacker, but not just a level two linebacker, the MIKE linebacker. The main communicator.”
A CHANGE OF PACE
Arrington being the celebrity guest picker also offers what some Penn State fans will see as a change of pace. Last season, when GameDay came to town for Penn State’s showdown with Ohio State, celebrity Keegan-Michael Key was the celebrity guest picker.
As popular as Key is— and as spot on of an impersonation as he does of Penn State coach James Franklin— plenty of fans will be happy to see a former player on the podium with Davis, Howard, McAfee and Saban.
Penn State-Oregon is scheduled to kickoff at 7:30 on NBC Saturday night.
