Ex-Penn State football player opens up about ‘incredibly tough’ decision to end career

Days before the 2023 season opener, we learned that offensive lineman Landon Tengwall had decided to step away from football. More than just a blow to Penn State football and its offensive front, the choice took a significant personal toll on Tengwall himself. Recently, Tengwall spoke on the Lions247 Podcast about his medical retirement, the challenges he faced following the decision, and the role that James Franklin, Nittany Lion teammates and letterman, and the Penn State community have played in his ability to move forward.

Tengwall: It took time to adjust to “difficult” decision to retire

Penn State football came into 2023 optimistic for a rebound season for redshirt sophomore offensive lineman Landon Tengwall. The former top 10 lineman in the class of 2021 was sidelined five games into his first season as a starter in 2022 with a shoulder injury.

Looking to throw himself back into the mix of a competitive offensive line room, Tengwall suffered a series of setbacks with “bumps and bruises” during preseason camp. But ultimately, the situation ended up being much more dire, with concussion-related issues forcing his medical retirement.

“It is with a heavy heart that I am announcing my retirement from football,” Landon Tengwall wrote on the Wednesday before the 2023 season opener with West Virginia. “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.”

Recently, Landon Tengwall spoke about the decision to end his playing career. Opening up publicly for the first time since the decision, the former Nittany Lion explained the challenges he faced adjusting to life without football.

“Obviously, that first month of August and finally stepping away from football, it was a really difficult time,” Tengwall said. “The advice I got from other lettermen [was], it doesn’t really matter when it happens; whenever football is done for you, everybody struggles with it. I think people don’t realize, when guys have storied careers and they retire, those guys even struggle the most with it because it’s almost like, ‘What do you do with your time?’

“It definitely took me a little bit of time to get into that, so to speak, ‘civilian life.’ It’s definitely different.”

Penn State football teammates, lettermen step up in support

Landon Tengwall described how difficult it was to let go of such a significant part of his life and find a new way forward. But thankfully, the former Nittany Lion said the Penn State football community was there for him when he needed it most.

“Obviously, when you lose something that you love dearly, there’s going to be a grieving process where you kind of have to take a step back and figure out exactly what you need going forward,” Tengwall said. “But I’d say that process was definitely sped up because of the support and love that I had from the Penn State family.”

“The team was fantastic, just being around me, supporting me as much as possible, guys coming over to visit me. Some of my best friends, Olu [Fashanu], Dawk [Nick Dawkins], those guys coming over all the time and being around me, trying to keep my spirits up, understanding that it was an incredibly tough time for me.”

Tengwall was even able to lean on the support of fellow Penn State football lettermen who have experienced similar medical issues.

“Talking to guys like Mike Mauti, who had problems with concussions and injuries towards the end of his career, and being able to take some stuff away from their experiences,” Tengwall said. “Getting that information early on in my retirement was really helpful to kind of understand, hey, these are the mistakes that other guys have made. Don’t fall into these traps.”

James Franklin showed “nothing but love and support”

We heard from James Franklin in the hours immediately following Tengwall’s retirement announcement. But as the Penn State football season got underway and time progressed, Tengwall and his injury faded from the forefront.

“I had a really good meeting with Landon and his dad earlier in the week,” James Franklin said in the days leading up to the West Virginia game. “As you know, I’m not going to get into the specifics of it. But I think you’ll be seeing Landon around here, hopefully pretty soon. But we just talked about it as a team as well. We’re just going to be as supportive as we possibly can.”

But behind the scenes, Landon Tengwall said the support he received from James Franklin never dissipated.

“Franklin is always checking up on me, making sure I’m doing okay,” he stated. “It means a lot because I think in those situations, if you don’t have that, you can start to feel like, okay, maybe I didn’t matter. But it’s the complete polar opposite here at Penn State. It was nothing but love and support, and still continues to be that.”

Former Nittany Lion forges a new path

Six months removed from his decision to medically retire, and after lots of help and support, Landon Tengwall isn’t going anyway.

He states that he is on track to graduate from Penn State in 2025 with a degree in broadcast journalism. Tengwall has already started to become involved with several media ventures, including the launching of his own Penn State podcast in the upcoming months.

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