Frank Bodani

fbodani@ydr.com

She just may be the first female letterwinner in Penn State football history.

Dallastown's Katie Keller doesn't seem particularly fazed by the accomplishment, though. Such things didn't drive her to start working in the football video department immediately after enrolling at Penn State four years ago.

Penn State just always seemed to be her destination. Her parents graduated from there, her dad a drummer in the Blue Band. She grew up a Penn State fan. Her older Penn State sister informed her of the opportunity in the video department. It just all seemed to make sense.

One of the only females in the football program? She also didn't understand the details of the game she would be filming.

No matter, the freshman turned a most intimidating situation all around. She ended up earning a scholarship, the praise of her bosses and a diploma in May that will carry her on to who-knows-what's next.

She laughs about the struggles now (What's a punting drill?), mostly because she figured it all out better than most. Whether it was filming practice 40 feet off the ground in a lift ... or running a camera on game day to record highlights ... or spending hours on end producing short, inspirational "pump-up videos" for the players.

After a while, it didn't seem to matter she was the only female among the 11-person video department or the entire football team or the coaching staff.

"She belongs. She's just like our little sister, and yet definitely a leader in her own way," said Jevin Stone, Penn State's video director and Keller's boss.

"She's vibrant. She brings energy to the room. When she walks in the room you just see a positive person."

And she helped create one of the most overlooked aspects of the Penn State football experience. On game day, the Nittany Lions gather one last time before boarding the Blue Buses for the ride to Beaver Stadium. They do the same before riding to the opposing stadium on the road.

After a brief speech from coach James Franklin, the players watch a motivational video-of-the-week produced by Keller.

"We're the behind-the-scenes people. Nobody knows exactly what the video department does," Stone said. "It's like how nobody knows what the offensive line does until the quarterback gets sacked. Nobody knows what the video staff does until we make a mistake."

And their work has been top-shelf with Keller. Penn State was a finalist in the most recent Collegiate Sports Video Association awards. Her staff also was named the Big Ten's best of the year.

She will work one more National Signing Day and another round of spring practices before her career officially ends. She will help train video interns this spring, just as she was trained four years ago.

She says she's excited not knowing exactly where her Penn State video experience will take her.

"It's definitely taught me about working with different types of people, no matter what I do in life. I want to be great at working with people with different personalities and demographics. Male, female, young and old. I want to be able to work with them on an equal playing field."