Heading into 2024, Penn State tight end Andrew Rappleyea — then a redshirt freshman — was playing some of his best football and primed for a breakout season. He earned one of two starting tight end roles, alongside future Mackey Award winner Tyler Warren, for a Week 1 matchup at West Virginia.
That momentum came to an end when he went down with a season-ending lower body injury during practice, derailing his progress and crushing his spirit in one unexpected blow.
“I had never dealt with injuries honestly in my career,” Rappleyea said on Tuesday. “I never thought I would. So it was kind of the first bit of adversity that had been thrown at me in my life. So kind of just coping with that and realizing I got to take it the right way.”
Rappleyea said he tried to “keep a positive mindset” during his recovery process, but watching Warren, Khalil Dinkins and Luke Reynolds play throughout the year was difficult knowing he should’ve been a part of that rotation.
“Not being able to be out there for quite a bit with my guys, it wasn’t ideal,” Rappleyea said. “It wasn’t fun having to take the back seat and understand that, right now, my battle is getting healthy and being able to go back out there again.”
In a cruel twist of fate, his roommate Cam Wallace, who had locked down the RB3 role, went down two weeks later against Kent State with an injury that was “quite literally disgusting,” according to Rappleyea.
While Wallace was in “damn near a nursing home” for an extended period of time, Rappleyea learned from his resiliency as they both battled to return to full health. On Saturday, both players made their first game appearances since their respective injuries, and both made an impact in the stat sheet.
Rappleyea caught three passes for 33 yards, while Wallace took five carries for 19 yards, including a highlight hurdle reminiscent of another Nittany Lion running back who wore No. 26.
“To see one of my best friends have to struggle like that, but also know, with his tough mentality, he was going to come back and he was going to be better … I was even emotional watching him clear somebody in the game the other day after going through what he went through about a year ago,” Rappleyea said. “So I just think that reality is I wouldn’t want to go through the crap I had to go through with anybody else.”
Wallace wasn’t the only teammate who motivated Rappleyea during his recovery process. Defensive end Zuriah Fisher, who has dealt with multiple injuries throughout his six-year career, was there to offer advice.
“Just him telling me it’s a process,” Rappleyea said. “You’re coming back, you might take a little time, but just trust it. And go out there and don’t even think about ever being hurt. Just be you.”
Rappleyea also received support from a former member of the Penn State tight end room, current New York Giant Theo Johnson. Johnson made the trip to watch the Nittany Lions in the Orange Bowl in January, who was in an injury boot at the same time.
“I had never had a player get on me about just everything the way Theo did, in a good way,” Rappleyea said. “Like, you know, when you make a play, he’s there when you were not playing up to the standard. He was going to let you know. And that’s one thing that I don’t think I’ve appreciated enough until now.”
Heading into fall camp, Rappleyea wore a knee brace as a precaution, but after a couple days of camp he removed it himself.
“I said, ‘I’m good, I’m healthy, I’m back.’”
Offensive coordinator Andy Kotelnicki said he had to hold Rappleyea back during practice after he kept cutting to the front of the line to get more reps. That eagerness to return was the release of pent-up energy from nearly a year of rehab.
Though his offseason workload was limited, Rappleyea spent lots of time with quarterback Ethan Grunkemeyer and the twos, building rapport which shined against Nevada last Saturday, with three of Grunkemeyer’s seven completions going to Rappleyea.
“He’s been looking really smooth,” Grunkemeyer said. “And, you know, kind of been one of those main targets in camp. Me and him have built a good connection in the pass game. And I think moving forward, he can be a big, big key to the offense.”
