Tens of thousands of Penn State fans walk through the Beaver Stadium gates on fall Saturdays, navigating the concourses and finding their seats to enjoy some Nittany Lions football.
While Beaver Stadium is a second home for many Penn Staters, they likely never get a chance to see some of the stadium’s hidden gems.
During the offseason, the All Sports Museum opens the stadium for tours periodically, giving fans that rare opportunity to peek behind the curtain and see behind the scenes at Beaver Stadium.
The museum had three tours this past weekend, and a pair of women named Wendy jumped at the opportunity. Wendy Pardee and Wendy Oakes are polar opposites on the spectrum of Penn State football fans.
Pardee just moved to the area last year and attended her first game. Oakes graduated from the university over 30 years ago and flies from San Francisco to University Park three times a year to see her favorite team take the field.
“I moved here a year and a half ago and fell in love with the team last year,” Pardee says. “The tour was a chance to learn a little more about Beaver Stadium and the football program.”
It certainly is an educational experience for Penn State fans, taking them from the media room, to the field, to the locker room, to the recruiting lounge. The tour covers everything — from how the locker room is laid out, to where Penn State football lettermen hang out on game day, to the two different types of grass used on the field.
For Pardee, getting a chance to see that iconic field up close and personal was an almost awe-inspiring experience.
“As soon as you walk out and you see that field, it’s hard not to get a little chill,” she says. “You could do it a million times. You could do it every weekend. But that feeling just doesn’t go away. That was by far the best part of the tour, when you walk out and see that. You can’t compare it to anything else.”
The tour takes you through the player tunnel, between the familiar gates, and onto the field, the same trip the Nittany Lions take from the locker room on game day.
As much as Oakes enjoyed stepping onto the field and seeing where the players put on their uniforms before the game, it was another part of the tour that stuck out in her mind: a picture on the wall of the Letterman’s Club.
“The most important part for me was seeing that picture of the 2012 team, of those players who chose to stay and were committed to the program,” she says. “They knew the program is much more than just one event or one situation. This program and this university represent so much more.”
The next round of stadium tours comes on Arts Fest weekend. There are three tours on Friday, July 10, and four on Saturday, July 11. You can call 1-800-NITTANY to purchase tickets and take a tour of Beaver Stadium.
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