Kevin Winston Jr. sat out Penn State’s Fiesta Bowl victory over Boise State after missing the season due to a knee injury and declaring for the NFL draft. Kevin Winston Jr. began his junior season at Penn State as a preseason All-American and projected first-round choice in the 2025 NFL Draft. His season, and ultimately his collegiate football career, ended abruptly when he damaged his knee during practice prior to the Nittany Lions’ Week 2 game against Bowling Green.
Winston played a few snaps in Week 2, but left the game and was eventually ruled out for the season due to a partially torn ACL. Despite missing the year, the junior safety declared for the 2025 draft, terminating his Nittany Lion career, but he has since rejoined to the program. Winston was away from the team after his injury, rarely seen on the sidelines on gamedays, but he was there on New Year’s Eve when Penn State won 31-14 over Boise State in the Fiesta Bowl, advancing to its first College Football Playoff quarterfinal. And, while he is unable to participate on the field, he is doing everything he can to aid his team.
“It was so hard for me,” Winston told reporters after the victory. “I never anticipated to play my first game and then get hurt the following week at practice. But you know, I had to return. Starting this season, my motivation was to be there for my teammates and be a leader on the team, whether I was on the field or not. I had to commit to it and make sure I was present when [we] were on the sideline and the boys became frustrated. I got to be there to calm them down.” He proceeded, “Or, say, the energy is low. I got to be there to help raise it up. And this is what I owe them.
I love these guys, and they love me back. And I feel genuine affection all the time. And it is exactly what they deserve. After Penn State’s first-round CFP victory over SMU at Beaver Stadium, James Franklin stated that Penn State is a “real college football program,” referring to Dom DeLuca’s transformation from walk-on to CFP hero with two interceptions in that game. However, Winston’s return to the sidelines, when he could have been rehabilitating and preparing for his NFL future, exemplifies his point.
Franklin has fostered a culture of constancy in a college football world where players rush to the transfer portal at the first indication of turmoil and rosters are routinely churned each offseason. Even Winston, who has one foot out the door following his NFL declaration, wants to see this season through to its conclusion. The Nittany Lions are not immune to the sport’s modern challenges, as the Beau Pribula controversy shown, but stability may be the ideal formula for the enlarged 12-team CFP era.
Franklin’s concept may not result in a national championship this year, or ever, but Penn State will be in the mix because his “real college football program” has been immune to the awful losses that have plagued some of the country’s other top teams.
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