Former Penn State guard Landon Tengwall left football in his prime. But he’ll never regret it

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. — Every day, Landon Tengwall would wake up, check Penn State’s Team Works app, and have his schedule for the day. Training, practice, meals, breaks — it was all there.

With one more strong season, Tengwall, a guard on the Nittany Lions football team, was destined to be an early-round NFL draft pick.

But in an instant, that was no more.

In the early stages of Penn State’s 2023 preseason camp, Tengwall went down with a concussion. It was an injury that coach James Franklin initially called “bumps and bruises,” prompting inquiries. A few weeks later, Tengwall decided to retire from football for medical reasons.

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“The biggest piece and best piece of advice I’ve ever gotten is use the game of football before it uses you,” Tengwall told The Inquirer. “I felt like I was starting to get to the point where if I went back, it may have used me more than I was getting out of football.”

Tengwall has adjusted to life after football behind the podcast he hosts called Behind The Wall. He says the journey was beneficial — but not easy.

Tengwall’s grandfather David Tengwall played football at Tennessee from 1966 to 1968. In the aftermath, the elder Tengwall went through several surgeries and did not let Tengwall’s father, Chris, play. Landon saw how the game impacted his grandfather and many others. The young Tengwall had dealt with a number of concussions and did not want to fall victim, too.

“I have seen what it looks like when you’re 40-50 and you have brain trauma, brain injury,” Tengwall said. “I’ve seen former players talking to walls before. I was in an NFL year, but it was so much more important for me to be, down the road, a good husband, a good father, a good businessman, and just be who I am and be energetic.”

Additionally, injuries began to beset Tengwall. Along with the concussions, he suffered a torn labrum in his shoulder five games into his redshirt freshman season and missed the remainder of the year.

Even after his retirement, football was still life for Tengwall. Football was all he did, but he had to pivot. Tengwall then remembered something that his father reminded him about.

“‘One thing I will say to you is, all you would talk about is what you were going to do after you finished playing football and you had money and you were able to do this business venture,’” Tengwall recalled. “He’s like, ‘It’s funny, I never thought about it, [but] you never really talked too much about actually being in the NFL.’”

As Tengwall watched what could have been his NFL draft season bypass him, it was a struggle.

“I really didn’t work out for a while, I’ll say that. And anybody that knows me, I love to work out,” Tengwall said. “People used to say I was on steroids.”

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Tengwall came out of Good Counsel High School in Olney, Md., as a four-star recruit, and at 6-foot-6 and 300 pounds, he was listed as the No. 1 player in Maryland.

As Penn State finished the 2023 season with a 10-3 record and a Peach Bowl appearance, Tengwall, a broadcast journalism major, started his new life as a non-athlete. He used his experience to secure radio appearances and, eventually, regular showings on the Fox television station serving State College in efforts to build his brand.

Tengwall’s mother, Nicole Busse, knew that he was capable of this career as he sat out his final year.

“I remember saying to him, ‘Landon, you have the best personality. I can totally see you on TV being a sports broadcaster,’” Busse said. “It was just kind of my mom instinct, saying to me, I really could see him doing this and being really successful at it.”

Now, he has more than 2,000 YouTube subscribers to his podcast. He has done film sessions, sit-downs, and even an eating competition with Eagles Super Bowl champion and former Nittany Lions guard Stefen Wisniewski.

Through Tengwall’s new ventures, he is able to learn more about Penn State football history and talk about athletes in a new light.

Recently, he set up a GoFundMe for walk-on kicker Ryan Barker, who nailed the deciding field goal in Penn State’s 33-30 overtime victory against Southern Cal on Oct. 12.

Tengwall is set to graduate in December and has put himself in place to have a firm next step. He has thrived off his connections, part of which he credits to Franklin and Penn State for preparing and supporting him, even continuing to honor his scholarship and remain in contact.

Franklin acknowledged Tengwall’s ability to connect with players but took no credit, as he claimed he could see Tengwall was destined for success.

“He seems to be carving out a nice little niche for himself,” Franklin said. “We’re not surprised one bit. I think he’s got a very, very bright future.”

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