Which Penn State Football Players Would Have Benefited From NIL?

2. LaVar Arrington

There’s an argument to be made that LaVar Arrington is the greatest Penn State Football player of all time, so there’s no surprise he’s on this list.

Arrington is also the reason this list is going 25 years back and not just to the turn of the century, it just felt wrong to have the cutoff one year after he left Happy Valley.

Arrington was a first-team All-American and first-team All-Big Ten in 1998 and 1999. In 1999 he won the Butkus, Bednarik and Lambert awards. That season, Arrington had 72 tackles with 20 being for loss and nine sacks.

Like a couple other players on this list, Arrington had a play that lives on in Penn State history. In 1998, Penn State was hosting Illinois and the Illini were driving in the third quarter. With Illinois facing a fourth and inches, Arrington leaped over the offensive line and hit the fullback behind the line of scrimmage, forcing a turnover on downs.

The play became known as the LaVar Leap.

Imagine all the marketing that could have been done on that play. LaVar Leap t-shirts, posters and the list goes on.

In addition to his great play, Arrington has turned into a star personality on Fox Sports 1. He is best known for being on analyst on “Speak For Yourself”.

A legendary player with a legendary play who is also a natural in front of the camera, Arrington would have been a marketing star during his Penn State career.