We should all be as forgiving as the desire to win is.
Homegrown Pennsylvania product Julian Fleming now calls Happy Valley his new home after spurning Penn State Football a few years ago when he took his talents to The Ohio State University.
Hard to blame him.
The Buckeyes are in the national championship hunt almost every year.
Julian Fleming Opens up on Joining Penn State Football
After four years in Columbus, the former Southern Columbia star decided it was time for his college career to come full circle.
Speaking to reporters for the first time this past Tuesday, Fleming said he already feels very comfortable in his new environment and the coaches have welcomed him with open arms.
“Honestly, it’s been awesome,’ Fleming said. “Coaches have been great. Players have been very welcoming. So it’s been a great opportunity. It’s been a very smooth transition. I had relationships, and being able to develop them and talk to them, and then being able to come here and my visit to see nothing really changed, that’s been great.”
Fleming played four years in Columbus and while it’s certainly an accomplishment to work your way to the top of the wide receiver room at OSU, it was doubly hard for Fleming who’s been plagued with shoulder injuries for most of his collegiate career, limiting him to just 79 catches for 963 yards and seven touchdowns in four seasons.
But, the Catawissa, PA native says that that’s all behind him and he’s as healthy as he’s ever been after a handful of Spring practices so far at Penn State.
“I’m healthy as can be,” Fleming said. “This is probably the healthiest offseason I have had so far. Shoulders are both good. I got those all fixed up. And, I’ve been under the needle a couple of times with stuff, just having to get this and this done and bumps and bruises.
“But right now, I’m healthy and I’m happy about. healthy and I’m happy about. I’ve got to have spring practices and spring ball. I never made it through a full spring session. So just being able to kind of see and prove more things to myself has been awesome for me.
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How Julian Fleming can Boost WR Corps
Fleming naturally didn’t want to discuss the offense woes that the PSU wide receiving core had last season.
But, he can’t be oblivious to the fact that all eyes will be on the him to see if he can lead the revamped Penn State offense to national prominence in his collegiate finale.
“I have one year left in college and I really wanted to maximize it,” Fleming says. “I felt like the opportunity here is great. Being able to come here, and kind of see how they treated everything, I don’t want to get too far into it because I wasn’t here last year to be able to talk about everything that they went through as a unit. But, they definitely have a chip on their shoulder. They’re definitely hungry. And, I’m really excited to be working with them.”
MORE: 5 Penn State Newcomers Set to Make Immediate Impact
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It was at PRISM where Staszak produced live games and began his career as an on-air reporter.
After a couple of brief stints with CBS-3, WB-17 and WGAL-8 in Lancaster, PA, Staszak began a 12 year stretch at FOX 29 where he became the lead sportscaster in 2007. It was there that Staszak found himself in the middle of Philadelphia Phillies World Series Championship coverage that earned him an Emmy nomination for best sports reporter in 2008.It was one of five Emmy nominations that Staszak earned over the course of his career.
All told Staszak covered three World Series, two Stanley Cup Finals, an NBA Finals and one Super Bowl during his television run.
Staszak left the TV business for 97.5 The Fanatic in 2013, where he enjoyed eight years bloviating his beliefs on how a professional football team should be run.In 2018 when he fortunate enough to be the first sports talk host in the city, along with cohort Zach Gelb, to provide post-game coverage of the first Super Bowl Championship for the city’s beloved Philadelphia Eagles.
Staszak was also a writer for 97.5 The Fanatic along with 4 Philly Sports and now covers Penn State athletics for NittanyCentral.com.
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