Marissa Lower is taking it easy this Valentine’s Day. She’ll chat on Facetime with her future hubby, maybe watch a movie about a love story.
Nothing too memorable. Nothing that will compare to Sunday afternoon, when former Penn State linebacker Nate Stupar proposed to her near the goalpost in Beaver Stadium.
“It surpassed my expectations,” Lower said. “I couldn’t even think of planning something out in my head like this. He did a fantastic job.”
Guys, pay attention.
Stupar, who is training for the NFL Scouting Combine later this month, sent Lower on a goose chase throughout State College using note cards with clues.
When Lower got home from church, she found a card on her windshield that read, “I’m at the place where we first danced the night away.”
Escorted by Stupar’s brother Rob, the two drove to the downtown club formerly called The Cell Block, where another note was hanging on the door.
“Sorry, you’re too slow. I went to the place that we first kissed beneath the stars.”
Set up in a park was a blanket with another note instructing Lower to go to Chili’s, where the hostess gave her another clue to go to her cousin’s house.
There rest the final clue: “I guess I’ll go play tackle by myself unless you want to join me. I’ll be where I performed in front of 110,000 people.”
When Lower pulled up to the players’ entrance at Beaver Stadium, a trail of rose petals led her into the tunnel, where she saw Stupar holding a bouquet of flowers.
Then, she knew.
“I didn’t wanna believe I was getting set up for something that actually wasn’t gonna happen,” said Lower, a 2011 Penn State grad who works as a case manager for Big Brothers Big Sisters.
Watching the scene unfold from the student section behind them, Stupar’s sister Dyanna photographed the moment and even caught some of her brother’s words just before he popped the ring out.
“He said, ‘I’ve loved you since the first time I met you,’ ” said Dyanna Stupar, a local portrait and wedding photographer. “She was really shocked. She thought it was just a Valentine’s Day gift.”
Wearing a gray peacoat, gray sweater and jeans, Stupar dropped to one knee and asked Lower to marry him.
Family and friends greeted the newly engaged couple outside the stadium, including past and present football players Stefen Wisniewski, Andrew Szczerba, Chris Colasanti, Shane McGregor and Matt Stankiewitch.
The two State College natives haven’t discussed many wedding plans yet. It’s a near certainty the wedding will be held in State College, though no date has been set.
And Stupar’s line of work — trying to latch on with an NFL franchise — can make settling down unstable.
But all that will come later. For now, the two are just happy to start their journey together.
