Earlier this week, we asked for your help to find the best Penn State tattoos. The response we received was overwhelming, with hundreds of submissions. If you don’t consider yourself the tattoo type, some of these may change your mind.

Out of all of the submissions we received, these Penn State tattoos made our jaws drop. Read some of their stories below. (Oh, and there’s a picture of a huge Lion tattoo on a guy’s butt at the bottom of this, so, quasi-NSFW).

Click on any image to enlarge.

Vincenzo Rallo

Vincenzo graduated in 2008 and got his tattoo the same year. He designed it himself, and was inspired by the idea of bleeding blue and white.

Mark Bass

Mark graduated in 2006 and got his tattoo in 2010 because he “didn’t want to forget the best four years of his life.” It took him so long to get the tattoo after graduation because he wanted to find the right person to do it. 

Joey Mingione

 

Joey graduated in 1988. He got this tattoo in 2012, the day after the NCAA sanctions were announced, to “show support for the team and love for my university.”

Ian Kenney

Ian graduated in 2013. After finishing his first season as the Drum Major of the Blue Band, he got this tattoo with the number 53 underneath, because he was the 53rd Drum Major of the Blue Band.  

Mike McNeill

Mike was also a member of the Blue Band and graduated in December 2013. He got the Blue Band logo because “without the band, his four and a half years at Penn State would be drastically different.”

Sara Leavy and Nicole Logan (pictured left)

Sara and Nicole were big and little on the Lionettes Dance Team. The three paw prints represent their three national championships together.

Allyson Andrews

Allyson got her tattoo in 2008 and is currently a student through the world campus. She said it turned out pretty well except for “the tail looking like a private part, to some.”

Brian Marron

Brian graduated in 2005. His first tattoo was the one on the left. His second tattoo represents his 15 years of service as an emergency medical technician for several services, including the Penn State University Ambulance Service.

Jenna Hruska

Jenna is currently a junior at Penn State and got her tattoo the summer before she went to college. She got the tattoo in honor of her grandfather, who also went to Penn State. “He was Italian and taught me all about Penn State and my Italian roots,” she said. Jenna said her grandfather knew Joe Paterno, which is why it says “legends never die” underneath.

Vincent graduated in 2012. He instantly loved Penn State “from the first minute I stepped on campus.” He said, “Going through what we did as a University in 2011 made me want to permanently ink my support for my university and I was proud of graduating.” He asked to give props to the artist, Austin Grove at Evolution Tattoo Studio.

Kendra Fogleman

You may look at this and be like, “what on earth does a duck have to do with Penn State?” Kendra got her tattoo to look like the “duck stamp” so she didn’t have to pay a cover at the Brewery anymore.

Michael Yabroudy

Michael said, “I woke up one Saturday morning during the 2013 football season and realized no one wanted to tailgate or go watch the game with me (I’m from New Jersey). I got this on my butt so I have a piece of Penn State with me wherever I am.”

Although every tattoo has a story, it would be impossible to feature them all.  With so many submissions, it’s no surprise we saw some reoccurring themes. Here are some of our favorites.

 FTG  

What better way to raise the song than by getting the words tattooed on yourself?

FTK 

Many submissions featured THON.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Where in the world is Old Main?

These tattoos are all (supposedly) of the coordinates of Old Main. It’s awkward because they’re not all the same.

Foot Fetish 

Foot tattoos were one of the most popular submissions we received.

JoePa

These Nittany Lions chose to show their Penn State pride by honoring the great Joe Paterno.

The Nittany Lion

The Penn State logo is everywhere: fridge magnets, car bumper stickers, and on some piece of clothing on at least half of the student population on campus.

But wait, there’s more!

These tattoos didn’t fit in any of the other categories, but they’re still awesome.

Well folks, there you have it! From current students and proud alumni, to diehard fans, Nittany Lion pride runs ink deep.