Penn State’s Andrew Dufault works out with a medicine ball during preparation for Lift for Life. Mirror photo by Andy Stine

UNIVERSITY PARK — It’s clear that serving communities has been a priority for Brett Brackett ever since he was a player at Penn State from 2006-10. The former Nittany Lion receiver was the president for the Penn State chapter of Uplifting Athletes when he was a player, and now he is president of the entire organization for his full-time work.

Uplifting Athletes raises money around the country for those impacted by rare diseases.

While another Penn State football alum in Scott Shirley started Uplifting Athletes in 2003, it’s only grown from there, and Brackett has been around for a large portion of the nonprofit organization’s success.

“It’s unbelievable to see how far this organization has come,” Brackett said. “To know it started here and was built up by this community and this program, it’s just so special to me.”

At Wednesday’s 23rd Annual Lift for Life at Holuba Hall, it was announced that the players raised just over $20,000 dollars this year. The coaches matched the players, making a total of over $40,000 dollars raised for families impacted by rare diseases.

In total over its history, Uplifting Athletes has raised over $80 million dollars to the cause, and $1.5 million has come from Penn State alone.

While players competed in competitions such as a sled race, a medicine ball throw, and exercise bike racing, it was the cause that caught the players’ attention.

“The money is the biggest part for us because we compete every day,” Lions offensive lineman Dominic Rulli said. “We do this style of competition throughout the whole winter and spring. This nature of working out isn’t strange to us, but being able to do it for people and raise money and have the coaches match it, that’s amazing. To be able to continue a tradition Penn State has had for 20-some years — it’s a great event.”

For Brackett, Uplifting Athletes has allowed him to serve families for today and in the future. On top of raising money for research of rare diseases, the organization hosted Uplifting Experiences 90 times last year throughout the country. Uplifting Experiences connects athletes with the families of those impacted by rare diseases.

“We’ve been able to bring a vision to life,” Brackett said.

Brackett, who also spent four seasons in the NFL mostly as a practice squad member, was quick to point to legendary Penn State coach Joe Paterno in inspiring him to grow Uplifting Athletes.

“He didn’t want us just to be good football players,” Brackett said. “He knew at some point in our lives, football might not be the same opportunity that it was when we were in college. He wanted to prepare us to be leaders in the community.”

A new era

Penn State appears to be a wild card as far as its success is concerned for the upcoming season. While there will be a learning curve for fans on a completely different roster from last season, it already appears that the new team has come together in just six months time.

“It’s football. We’re all in the same locker room. We’re all hanging out together,” said Rulli, one of the holdovers of the James Franklin era. “The groups of guys that don’t really know each other will eventually know each other. Everyone in the locker room are great people. To see it come together that quickly, I don’t think it’s that crazy.”

Defensive lineman Armstrong Nnodim is one of the handful that was a transfer not from Iowa State, but started four games for Oklahoma State last season. Nnodim has already been lauded as a natural leader from his peers.

“I love this team. The bond is through the roof,” Nnodim said. “It’s not just about football with these guys. It’s about life and brotherhood. We don’t only hang out here. We hang out outside. That just brings the brotherhood closer.”

Goodbye Nike

If you were around campus on Wednesday, you probably didn’t have to look too hard to notice the Adidas signs. It was the first day of the new apparel deal with the company.

The university held a pop-up sale next door at 8 a.m. at Pegula Ice Arena for new Adidas gear, and displayed mannequins with the new uniforms. There were no major changes with the jerseys with the Big Ten logo and an Adidas patch, rather than the old Nike swoosh logo.

Penn State’s deal with Nike began in 1993.

“I’m blessed to be a part of a switchover like this that can help the university so much,” Rulli said. “Just excited to rep the three stripes. It’s been 33 years since the last change, so it’s pretty cool.”