Penn State has a host of players on its 2022 roster that played high school football within Pennsylvania borders.

But two players, safeties Jaden Seider and Keaton Parks, attended State College Area High School, just 2-and-a-half miles away from Beaver Stadium. Parks, entering his 4th season in Happy Valley, recorded 18 tackles across 11 games in 2021.

For Parks, the experience of playing in his hometown — and in one of the best environments of college football, no less — never gets old. He revealed that growing up, his seats within Beaver Stadium were “at the 50-yard line, about halfway up”.

“I get that kind of tingling feeling every time I step in here, not just the size of it, but the history,” he said in an interview released by the Penn State athletic department on Saturday. “I’ve watched most every home game growing up, so I know the plays that have been made here, the big games, and all that.”

Parks was asked about his best memory as a Penn State fan, and he brought up the then-No. 7 Nittany Lions’ 24-21 win against No. 6 Ohio State in 2016. That one featured a Grant Haley 60-yard touchdown run in the 4th quarter following a blocked field goal.

Parks recalled the jersey number of the player that blocked the field goal: No. 2, the number he wears today.

“Growing up, I wrote the No. 2 jersey [for] Halloween and stuff,” he said. “That was just, like, kind of my number.”