How Penn State star’s ‘special bond’ with disabled siblings drives him to greatness

The first thing Penn State football’s Adisa Isaac does when he takes the field at Beaver Stadium is look around.

Isaac is one of the best defensive ends in college football, a nightmare for Big Ten quarterbacks when the ball is snapped. But before the game is underway — before that side of him is unleashed — Isaac finds his mother and three siblings sitting in the disability section, waiting for him to emerge from the tunnel.

Isaac is at ease when he spots his brothers and sister. They stand up and point at him. He smiles and waves. Isaac knows they’re there for him, just as he’s been there for them his whole life.

Isaac’s three siblings have disabilities that leave them unable to talk. His oldest brother, Kyle, has cerebral palsy after being born with the umbilical cord wrapped around his neck. His older brother, Y’ashua, and younger sister, Tadj, have autism. All four were raised by their single mother, Lisa, who earned the moniker “Superwoman” from one of Isaac’s old coaches.

It’s a fitting nickname, though she may laugh it off. Isaac reacted the same way when asked about the nickname he received in high school: “The Chosen One.”

“He’s a kid who never made excuses,” said Brian Ellis, who coached Isaac as a high school senior. “If he had to be at practice, he would be at practice, and he would still help his mom. He never missed a beat. … When a kid has work ethic and you don’t have to beg him to do something, you know they’re destined for greatness.”

Isaac has dedicated his life to his family, to “a special bond” he has with his siblings. He assisted his mother in any way he could in high school. He cooked and cleaned. He picked up his sister at the bus stop. He fed them, did the laundry and put them to bed.

Isaac’s mom never asked for that. In fact, Lisa, a special education teacher for 30 years at P.S. 138 in Brooklyn, took steps to ensure her son had as normal of a childhood as possible.

“You’re a kid. Have fun and do your best,” his mother preached. “I never wanted him to feel that he had to take on a role as a parent.”

But Isaac always felt like and acted like an adult. Since he was 4 or 5 years old, he adopted what he calls “a grown-man approach.” That helped out at home. It also helped him develop into one of the most sought-after high school prospects in the country, a star at Penn State and an NFL draft prospect.

Isaac plays because he loves the game. But the towering 6-foot-4 pass rusher — a gentle giant in every sense of the phrase — also knows that with every sack and every tackle for loss, he’s one step closer to changing his family’s fortunes.

“They mean a lot to me,” Isaac said of his siblings, speaking to PennLive. “I’ve learned patience from them, and I’ve learned just to be happy. … Every time I see them, I see smiles and positivity.

“I love how happy they are to see me and the love we have for each other. So I’m just trying to make the most of this opportunity. I’m trying to use this platform. I have to make the best of it and help my family’s future.”

‘You can be special’

It was August 2015, a couple weeks into preseason camp, when Canarsie High School coach Kyle Allen saw a lanky 13-year-old kid milling around the football field. He didn’t know where to go.

Allen walked over and could tell the freshman was shy. Then, he spoke up: “I want to play. What do I need to do?”

For the first time in his life, Isaac got the green light to try football out. His mom got him involved in everything from tap dance to taekwondo to swimming as a kid — anything to keep him occupied and offer a sense of normalcy. She saw something special in her son, who started to read and write when he was 3, and wanted to show him that life offers many avenues to happiness and success.

In middle school, Isaac asked several times if he could play football. It was too much on the family, his mom decided. Too many practices, too much travel. She relented when he got to high school, though, when he could more easily get there on his own.

Isaac was a linebacker as a freshman. He was already 6-foot-3 but, like most teenagers that tall, he had yet to grow into his body. Allen, then his coach and now a family friend, compared him to a baby deer that couldn’t control its limbs. It wasn’t until the offseason before his sophomore year that Isaac moved to defensive end.

“I had him fly off the ball, and it was like an epiphany,” Allen recalled. “It was so smooth. It was so natural. I told him, ‘You’re going to keep your hand in the dirt for a long time.’ He looked at me like I was crazy.”

Isaac took off. He had 10 tackles and three sacks in his first game as a sophomore. Allen saw that Isaac had the raw talent to have a future in football and the work ethic to make it happen. He never missed practice and was rarely late to a workout. And when he was, it was because he was at home helping with Kyle, Y’ashua and Tadj.

Isaac’s mom had one rule: “No bad phone calls.” The only time Isaac broke that rule was when he skipped a workout after his sophomore season. Isaac told his mom he would be at football, and he told his coach he had to watch his siblings. Allen and Isaac’s mom got to the bottom of that one pretty quickly.

“The next day I saw him, I screamed at him in the weight room,” Allen said. “I said, ‘Do you realize you have the ability to hand your mother a pair of keys to a house and change the lives of your siblings?’ He looked at me like a deer in the headlights. I said, ‘You can play Division I football. You can be special.’”

Six months ago, Isaac and Allen reflected on that moment. Isaac admitted that, at the time, he didn’t even know what Division I football meant. He soon found out.

The importance of family

Fordham defensive line coach Andrew Jackson visited Canarsie in November 2016, at the tail end of Isaac’s sophomore season. Jackson, a friend of someone on staff, sat and watched film with Allen before the conversation turned to Isaac.

“I can’t take that kid,” Jackson, a former Penn State graduate assistant, told Allen. “He’s way too good to play at Fordham. But I’m going to make a phone call.”

The call was to E.J. Barthel, a recruiting coordinator with the Nittany Lions. Barthel reached out to Allen, gathering every piece of intel he could on Isaac. Grades, film, you name it. He got back to Allen and told him: “This kid’s life is about to change.”

By the fall of 2017, Isaac was fully on Penn State’s radar. He visited Happy Valley in November 2017 for the Nebraska game. He was back on campus for Blue-White weekend, his mom and siblings in tow, smiling and posing for pictures with former defensive line coach Sean Spencer. In between those visits, Penn State offered him a scholarship, becoming the first powerhouse program to do so.

Isaac didn’t commit to Penn State until Dec. 17, 2018 — two days before signing day. By then, he had developed into one of the top prospects in the country. Alabama wanted him. Miami, LSU and Michigan were after him. He could’ve gone anywhere.

But there was something about Penn State. Isaac wanted to be within driving distance of his family so they could come to all the games, like they did in high school. And he wanted it to feel right, too.

“We were looking for someplace that’s comforting, that’s a home away from home,” Isaac’s mother said. “As we visited the different schools, I observed his tensity, his relaxation in the environments. At Penn State, he was happy. He was smiling a lot. He would talk a little more. It was a family environment.”

And yet, it wasn’t easy early on. Isaac was homesick. He called his mom and would Facetime with his siblings often. Though they don’t talk aloud, the personalities of Isaac’s brothers and sister “speak volumes,” Allen said.

Kyle is an inquisitive type. Y’ashua has been described as a ladies’ man. “If he could talk, he’d have 15 girlfriends,” Allen said with a laugh. Tadj, meanwhile, is protective of and attached to Adisa, not wanting anyone to hurt him. Isaac missed his family. But seeing them before and after games helped him settle in.

Isaac was an instant contributor, playing in 11 games as a true freshman in 2019 and appearing in all nine games during the covid-shortened 2020 season. He was dealt a serious setback ahead of the 2021 campaign. Isaac suffered a season-ending Achilles injury — nixing what he thought would be a breakout year.

Self-doubt seeped in over the next eight months of rehab. Isaac struggled to watch road games from afar, feeling helpless while Penn State’s promising season went up in smoke at Iowa. His place on the Beaver Stadium sidelines ate him up inside.

During that time, Isaac leaned on his mother.

“I would call her and tell her how I wasn’t feeling it. It was really hurting my mental,” Isaac said. “She helped me get back in the right headspace and stay positive.

“She means everything. She’s my mom but she can play a million different roles. That’s why I love her so much. No matter what, I know she’s there for me, she’s going to have my best interests in mind, and she’s going to tell me what I need to hear, not necessarily what I want to hear all the time. That’s who you want in your corner.”

Fulfilling a dream

Isaac’s mom bought her son a book in elementary school. For every school year that passed by, they would put a new photo of him in the book. And beneath every picture slot, the book posed a new question.

“In fifth grade, the question was, ‘What is your dream?’ And he wrote that his dream was to go to the NFL,” Isaac’s mom said, her voice cracking with emotion. “Who knew that he would get this far?”

Isaac’s dream will be realized in a matter of months, as this shapes up to be his final season in a Penn State uniform.

Isaac was a standout for the Nittany Lions last fall, rebounding nicely from his Achilles injury to lead Penn State with 11 tackles for loss. He had three TFLs in the statement win at Auburn and two in the Rose Bowl triumph over Utah. Isaac’s ferocious play off the edge put him in position to leave early for this year’s NFL draft.

Looking back on it now, Isaac said he was 50-50. On one hand, bolting for the draft and signing a multi-million dollar contract would benefit his family right away. On the other hand, coming back to Penn State and having a full offseason with the strength and conditioning staff could help his draft stock and career in the long run.

Isaac announced his decision a week after the Rose Bowl: One more year.

“It’s a big decision, and you have to feel it inside,” Isaac said. “There was no rush.”

“It’s like ‘The Six Million Dollar Man.’ Better, stronger, faster,” Isaac’s mom said. “He matured more, and he has a better focus on what he wants to do and where he wants to go. It’s a process, and he knows what he wants for his future.”

Isaac wants to put himself in the best position possible to provide for his family. He’s scheduled to graduate in the fall with a degree in rehabilitation and human services, working with people with disabilities. He’s also set to star on a team poised to contend for a Big Ten championship and a College Football Playoff berth.

Penn State will draw plenty of attention this season. Look no further than the primetime season opener against West Virginia, airing nationally on NBC.

Isaac is ready for the bright lights. And you can bet that his siblings Kyle, Y’ashua and Tadj will be there in the front row with their mother, Lisa, waiting for their brother to run out of the Beaver Stadium tunnel on Sept. 2.

“It’s such a proud, tear-dropping moment that you can see your guidance in your child pay off,” Isaac’s mother said. “The sacrifices, everything. Knowing that you instilled the right morals in him and now he’s carrying out the rest of it, it makes me proud.”