Penn State quarterback Sean Clifford made a special appearance at THON 2020’s pep rally when he surprised THON child J.D. who had said No. 14 was his favorite player, on the stage. The two embraced after Clifford came out onto the Four Diamonds stage.

After Clifford greeted J.D., they were joined by teammates Pat Freiermuth and Micah Parsons. When emcee PJ Mullen introduced each player, each received his own roar of applause from the students filling the Bryce Jordan Center. That’s what being QB1/returning potential first-round draft pick/a consensus All-American will do for you.

“I’m so happy to be here,” Clifford said when Mullen gave him the microphone. “Keep it up. Dancers you’re killing it.”

Clifford then handed the mic over to Freiermuth who helped J.D. lead the loudest “We Are” cheer of the weekend.

Each player then threw a handful of t-shirts into the stands. Surprisingly, both both Freiermuth’s and Parsons’ tosses seemed to hold their own against the deep-balling quarterback. Parsons may’ve even shown Clifford up with his last throw that went from the stage to the opposite end of the floor — but we’ll let James Franklin those requests from Parsons to let him throw the ball.

After the veterans’ cameo, the freshman football players took the stage for their pep rally performance. The newest Nittany Lions shined in an exciting, acrobatic routine to DMX’s “Party Up.”