The iconic film “Gladiator” came out in 2000.
Maximus Guenther Granville was born in 2007, but you know him better as “Max.”
The character Maximus Decimus Meridius, portrayed by Russell Crowe, would have been eligible for the Roman Army at 17.
Granville joined the Penn State football program at that age.
One thing Granville has that Meridius didn’t is tattoos, and one idea he’s pondered ties back to Russell Crowe and his signature scene from the film.
“I got some chest pieces I want to do, maybe even like a bicep,” Granville told Nittany Sports Now at Penn State’s local media day Friday. “I was mad that I took this bicep up and had a great idea… So I was thinking about doing a like, ‘Are you not entertained?’ And then when I get a sack, I’m gonna be brought hands up like Maximus now. I might find a way to incorporate it.”
When “Gladiator” began, Maximus was already a general, so we never saw him when he was waiting his turn. Penn State fans saw Granville play behind veteran defensive ends Abdul Carter, Dani Dennis-Sutton and Amin Vanover in 2024, when Granville was one of the country’s youngest players.
He ended the year with 41 snaps per Pro Football Focus — not bad for a 17-year-old— and with Carter and Vanover gone, he was thought to be a player to watch in 2025.
It didn’t end up happening that way.
Early last summer, Granville suffered what proved to be a season-ending injury.
By the time Granville was healthy again, head coach James Franklin and most of the staff that recruited him to Penn State were gone, and many of his teammates, including defensive ends Chaz Coleman and Zuriah Fisher, had left via the transfer portal.
Granville could have left.
He didn’t.
“The whole process and coming back from injury,” he said, “I’m kind of reminding myself and telling myself, watching my old film. Like you can be one of those like really good players. You’re capable of that. You have those traits.
So what type of player is Granville?
“I have a good feel for the game naturally,” he said. “Like I just kind of know how stuff goes, you know? I mean… if I know I’m a QB spy or something like that, I can kind of anticipate. When he’s about to roll out, I think I have that. I think I have a really good change of direction and pass rushing. You know, you see Micah (Parsons) a lot like take a quick step, boom swim swim a guy. And I think that comes from having a basketball background, playing basketball, euro stepping, crossing over people. So I think that really adds an element to my game. And lastly, I do have good bend like I said naturally.”
Granville finds himself in a position battle.
Iowa State transfer Ike Ezeogu is expected to start at one of the defensive end positions, and the other one is expected to be between Granville and fellow Penn State returner Yvan Kemajou.
This gives Granville all the more incentive to work.
“I got to be on my stuff,” he said. “I have to recover as good as possible. I got to watch my film. I got to make sure. I got to make sure my playbook (is) right. That’s the reality, and it’s good, you know, iron sharpens iron. They’re my brothers at the end of the day.”
Penn State defensive ends coach Christian Smith wasn’t here the last time Granville played in a game, and as of media day, hadn’t seen Granville in a padded practice.
But that doesn’t mean Smith hasn’t noticed Granville.
“You know he’s worked his tail off to get back,” Smith said. “On the field, and he’s done an incredible job. He’s had an incredible summer, and the flashes I’ve seen, you know, in his true freshman year when he played four games. If he can just capitalize on that and continue to play the way he played in a limited role, I’m excited about it.”
Maximus Granville’s arena is Beaver Stadium, not the Colosseum.
He plays the game because he loves it, not because Rome forced him to.
But both fed off the crowd, and Granville relishes the thought of getting to the quarterback in front of 107,000.
“By going out there and competing the way I know I can compete,” Granville said. “That’s really a goal, and that is tangible. But I’ll know when I know.”
