Penn State safety Jaquan Brisker holds up his end in decision to return for extra year

Jaquan Brisker and several other players will take the field Saturday for a Senior Day game as seniors with Penn State football — for a second time.

The senior is one of many who took advantage of an NCAA ruling that didn’t count the 2020 season toward players’ eligibility and returned for a second senior season. But Brisker feels a noticeable difference this time around.

“This is really my last game in Beaver Stadium,” Brisker said. “It does feel different, I definitely feel it. I feel it winding down, it’s coming to an end.”

He returned with high aspirations in mind after the team sputtered to a 4-5 record in what could have been their final season last year.

With only two games left in the season, Brisker has played a key role on a defense that has held up its end of the bargain in 2021.

The season surely hasn’t gone as intended with the team being 6-4 and struggling mightily at times, but the way they’ve pushed through that difficult stretch is what Brisker is most proud of as his time as a Nittany Lion winds down.

“I’m most proud of the way this team battled,” Brisker said. “…Just overcoming adversity, the way this team battles, especially the defense. Just those guys the way we all play together, I’m just really proud of this team.”

Though the team hasn’t had the success many may have envisioned, Brisker is happy with the decision he made, one that happened with the team in mind.

He’s stabilized the back end of the defense, along with fellow safety Ji’Ayir Brown, and has proven to be one of the best in the country at his position.

His path to this point has been circuitous, but Penn State coach James Franklin is proud of the way Brisker his handled himself, on the field and off it.

“I’m super proud of him,” Franklin said. “He’s done a great job in every aspect that we’ve asked him to do — academically, athletically, socially. … I’m really proud. I think he’s doing great and I think he’s putting himself in position to have a very bright future after leaving Penn State.”

The senior safety’s efforts to get to Senior Day haven’t gone unnoticed by his teammates. He’s a team leader and has the type of voice that turns heads when teammates hear it.

That alone has been a major development for Brisker, who said in the preseason he wasn’t always the loudest voice in the room. But like seemingly everything with him, he put the time and effort in to improve and it paid off. Fellow super-senior Tariq Castro-Fields said it’s been clear how impactful Brisker has been.

“Brisker’s story is truly amazing,” Castro-Fields said. “He had to overcome a lot to get here and once he got here he maximized all the opportunities that he had. He’s a phenomenal player, a phenomenal person, a phenomenal leader. Everyone speaks highly about him. Brisker is a great guy, for sure.”

Brisker’s successes have gone beyond the football field. The Gateway High School student, who didn’t take his SATs and chose to go to junior college to follow his late brother’s advice to “bet on yourself,” has clearly won that bet.

He’s leaving the Penn State football program as one of the best safeties in the country and one of the leaders of the defense that has carried this team as far as it possibly can.

Just as importantly, he’s leaving it with his degree.

“It means a lot just to even be here, just stepping foot on campus here in State College and wearing that jersey,” Brisker said. “It means a lot to me and my family. Especially the academic piece. I’m doing well in academics and I’ll be graduating in December. Getting a degree here at Penn State and playing football here at Penn State. I’m just thankful. There’s a lot of people that wish they were in my shoes and I don’t take it for granted. I’m thankful every single day.”

Brisker’s time at Penn State may be coming to an end, but his impact could be the type that has a lasting effect. Players who play at his level tend to draw future recruits who aspire to be the next Jaquan Brisker to don the blue and white.

For the senior safety, all that matters is that he’s remembered as a player who gave his all.

“(I want to be remembered) by my play on the field,” Brisker said. “What I gave to the program, what I did every time I stepped on the field, just giving my all. I’m an emotional player. I just hope that in their eyes I was one of the best defensive players to walk through here and I showed what I can do. I hope they’ve seen what I really brought to the table. I hope they appreciate it.”