Penn State’s Pat Freiermuth far from satisfied after breaking school tight ends TD record
Almost forgotten Saturday in the disappointment of defeat for Penn State in its season-opening overtime loss to Indiana was a career-defining accolade for redshirt junior tight end Pat Freiermuth.
On the Nittany Lions’ first drive of the contest, Freiermuth hauled in a 2-yard touchdown from redshirt junior quarterback Sean Clifford. The score put Penn State on the board first, but more significantly, it was Freiermuth’s 16th career touchdown catch. It allowed him to break former star tight end Mike Gesicki’s record for the most career touchdowns by a tight end in program history.
Freiermuth didn’t speak about the record hours after the loss on Saturday, but he’s since had time to reflect on his accomplishment. Now, the 2019 All-Big Ten selection is out to help the Nittany Lions get back on track as they get set to take on Ohio State on Saturday.
“I’m thankful and appreciative for the whole program and the whole staff who helped me get to this point of being able to break that record,” Freiermuth said Tuesday. “It’s a great honor to be a record-holder at Penn State in such a great, established program. I’m always going to be blessed to be a part of this program.”
But head coach James Franklin said he believes Freiermuth would’ve traded breaking the record for a “different result” on Saturday.
“For us, with team success comes individual recognition,” Franklin said. “I think that’s how our players approach it, and I think that’s how the staff approaches it. For us, it’s everything we possibly can do to get a win.”
Freiermuth didn’t spend much time basking in the glory of his milestone, either. While he mentioned the record “means the world” to him, he said he still has work to do and wants to put his “head down and grind.”
In his two-plus years on the field so far, Freiermuth has totaled 935 receiving yards in 26 games played. Gesicki — who was a second-round draft pick in the 2018 NFL draft — tallied 1,481 receiving yards in his four years with the program.
Now a starter with the Miami Dolphins, Gesicki called Freiermuth a “super-talented” athlete who has “made a ton of plays throughout his time at Penn State” during an interview with the Centre Daily Times in September.
“He’s extremely talented — good kid, good player,” Gesicki said. “I’m excited for his future.”
Since breaking the record, Freiermuth received a text from Gesicki. The congratulatory message encouraged the 6-foot-5, 258-pound tight end to “keep going.”
It’s those types of interactions that motivate Freiermuth to continue to leave his mark on the Nittany Lions’ program. He’s thankful for Gesicki and others who have aided his development and allowed him to get to where he’s at now.
With the absence of standout redshirt junior running back Journey Brown — and now with sophomore running back Noah Cain out, too — Penn State will need Freiermuth to be the focal point of its offensive attack. That’s an expectation Freiermuth has for himself, as well.
Even after etching his name into the school records book last Saturday, he’s nowhere near satisfied.
“Just kinda my three goals are to obviously break all the records for tight ends here at Penn State, be an All-American and win the (John) Mackey Award,” Freiermuth said. “I’ve just gotta continue to do what I can control and be that guy who on offense is just relentless.”
This story was originally published October 27, 2020 at 5:30 PM.
