Penn State Offensive Lineman Landon Tengwall Announces Retirement from Football

Penn State redshirt sophomore offensive lineman Landon Tengwall announced on Wednesday that he is retiring from the game of football for medical reasons. Tengwall released a statement on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter.

“It is with a heavy heart that I am announcing my retirement from football,” Tengwall wrote. “Unfortunately, I have sustained an injury that will not allow me to safely continue to play the game I love and that has given me so much. I want to thank my family, my friends, Coach Franklin, Coach Trautwein, my teammates and all the Penn State coaches and staff. They have all provided invaluable support through this difficult time. Penn State will always be my home. I will always be a proud Penn State football player. Penn State has the greatest fans in the world and I want to thank all of you for supporting me during my time on the field and now in my next chapter.”

Tengwall started five games in 2022 before a shoulder injury during pregame warmups against Michigan ended his season, he will likely be replaced by JB Nelson at left guard.

The Maryland native had long been a target on Penn State’s recruiting board and was a key piece to the Nittany Lions’ 2021 class as a four-star prospect at the time.

“We just talked about it as a team, and we’re going to be as supportive as we possibly can,” Penn State coach James Franklin told reporters after Wednesday’s practice. “This is a hard thing, as you can imagine. He’s been playing football his entire life. This is a major life change. It takes some time. But I think you’ll see him whether it’s coaching, recruiting, strength and conditioning. At the end of the day, he’s a part of our family. Always has been, always will be. That will never change.”

“We went into this year feeling like JB was going to factor in either as a starter or having starter-like reps,” Franklin said last week. “That’s how I would have viewed him coming in the season, and he’s built on that. His habits are a lot better in terms of how he practices and approaches meetings and everything else. You can make the argument he may be our most physical offensive lineman. I know talking to our defensive linemen, they’ve got a lot of respect for him. So we expected him to play a significant role this year, either way.”

Tengwall had largely been absent from public team events and practices this offseason and did not play or dress this spring for Penn State’s annual spring scrimmage.