Adam Breneman's Playing Career Over Due to Knee Injury

Penn State redshirt sophomore tight end Adam Breneman, one of the key commitments in Penn State's 2013 recruiting class, has ended his playing career with the Nittany Lions due to a chronic knee injury, according to a press release sent out by GoPSUSports.

Breneman was a four-star recruit coming out of high school and showed plenty of promise as a true freshman in 2013. He was most notably on the receiving end of a memorable 68-yard touchdown pass from Christian Hackenberg in Penn State's upset win over Wisconsin. On the year, Breneman caught 15 balls for 186 yards and three touchdowns. Unfortunately, he was unable to build on that after suffering a knee injury in August 2014, and he was a medical redshirt that season.

It became concerning for the team and for Penn State fans when Breneman did not crack the depth chart to start the 2015 season. Breneman saw action in just two games this year, both times in place of another injured tight end. It now seems to be confirmed that it was the knee injury that continued to hold him back.

Despite missing so much time at Penn State, Breneman was a leader for the program on and off the field. He served on the executive board for Uplifting Athletes, the football program's leadership council, and was awarded the Frank Patrick Total Commitment Award by the program in the spring of 2015. He was an outstanding student, as Breneman graduated from the Smeal College of Business in just three years with a 3.25 GPA and a degree in business management this December. He will begin to look for professional opportunities as he moves on from football, and according to the press release, Breneman will look to get into business or politics.

Adam penned an open letter to the Penn State family on PennLive. You can (and should) read it in its entirety, but here's a quick sample from the latter half of the letter:

"I will love Penn State and I will love the people of Penn State for as long as I live. A day will not go by that I do not wake up and thank God for sending me to this great school. I always knew since a young age this was the place I belonged. It did not always go the way I planned, but I trust this was the plan for me. I would rather go through the challenging times at Penn State than have any other experience anywhere else.

Thank you, Penn State. I will bleed blue and white forever and ever. I love you, Dear Old State, and I will forever be indebted to you."

Many thanks and best of luck to Adam moving forward.