Former Penn State football player Nate Stupar inspires with story of not giving up at NFF banquet
Penn State linebacker Nate Stupar was ready to quit in 2011.
Stupar wasn’t getting the playing time he wanted in his senior season with the Nittany Lions. He sat in his team’s locker room after a win over Temple, fed up with his playing time and stressed out by the situation.
He texted his dad, telling him he was ready to quit. His dad told him not to make any rash decisions, and that he wanted to sit down and talk before his son gave up on football.
So they talked, and Stupar made his decision. It wasn’t time to quit just yet.
One week later, Penn State starting linebacker Mike Mauti suffered a torn ACL and Stupar was thrust into a starting role. The rest, for the Penn State linebacker, was history. He went on to start the team’s next nine games and was selected by the Oakland Raiders in the 2012 NFL Draft in the seventh round. From there the former State College standout went on to play for eight years in the NFL, possibly with more to come.
Stupar’s toughness in those times was the core of his speech Sunday afternoon at the National Football Foundation’s Central Pennsylvania Chapter banquet at the Penn Stater Hotel and Conference Center. As the banquet’s featured speaker, he wanted to convey his message about overcoming fear and having toughness to a room of high school football players, their parents and their coaches.
There were 48 high school football players in attendance, all of whom were recognized as high school scholar-athlete award nominees. Five of the nominees were from Centre County, with three taking home scholarships. Austin Fisher, of Penns Valley, and Asher Burkett, of Bald Eagle Area, and Nathan Lusk, of State College, were each awarded a $1,000 scholarship, while Nick Catalano, of Bellefonte, and Andrew Sypa, of Philipsburg-Osceola, were honored as nominees.
Burkett was inspired by the former Penn Stater’s speech.
“Pushing through and persevering through the fact that he wasn’t playing,” Burkett told the Centre Daily Times. “Then he got on the field and it shows that there’s a plan for you no matter what. I thought it was really inspiring.”
Jesse Nagle, Bald Eagle Area’s head coach, sat with Burkett at the banquet and said the speech showed the benefits of playing football.
“It was outstanding,” Nagle said. “He talked about what it means to play football, what it teaches kids as far as life lessons, and what it’s like to fight through adversity. He’s a great example of what it takes to become a great individual.”
Stupar gave the 20-minute speech in spite of his fear of public speaking, but wanted to press forward to prove to the high-schoolers in attendance that they can overcome their own fears.
“It’s something constant,” Stupar told the CDT about his fear. “It’s just me stepping one foot forward with every single word. Just hearing the feedback and the positivity, and how me overcoming my fear inspired them. That’s what it’s all about.”
The former Penn State linebacker was approached by Penn State’s Director of the Football Letterman’s Club Wally Richardson about the opportunity to give the speech and didn’t want to turn the opportunity to spread his message.
“I love telling my story,” Stupar said. “The inspiration it has for people, and even myself because I still look back on it and can’t believe it happened, made me want to. I’ve been liking to speak lately. I found out I have something to say. It took a while for me to understand and to see that, but I like to share my story. Hopefully it inspires some people and can encourage them.”
Stupar has shared his story, but he’s sharing more than that away from the football field. He and his wife, Marissa, have started the State of Hope Foundation with the plan to help kids from less fortunate situations.
“We’re just bringing a positive life impact to them,” he said. “We’re just getting started.”
As far as his own career, Stupar, who’s a free agent, doesn’t know what’s next, but he’s ready for whatever it may be.
“We don’t really know right now,” he said. “I’m just enjoying my time being home with my girls and having family time. Normally I’m traveling and training. I’m taking it easy right now to see what I want to do. We’ll see.”
This story was originally published March 1, 2020 at 6:02 PM.
