Sometimes, life offers a full-circle moment that makes you truly appreciate how far you’ve come.
For Penn State quarterback and Cincinnati native Sean Clifford, that moment will hit him Jan. 2 when he steps foot in the Rose Bowl. Over a decade ago, Clifford was just a fifth grader who fell in love with playing quarterback while attending the Steve Clarkson Passing Academy at the Rose Bowl.
Now, he’ll return to Pasadena to lead the Nittany Lions against Utah in the final game of his collegiate career.
“It’s definitely surreal,” Clifford said. “That was really one of the first camps I did as a quarterback. I fell in love with the position, I fell in love with the game – it’s gonna be a lot of fun.”
Clifford has made the most of his college career and left a legacy for future signal-callers to look up to. For starters, he’s a sixth-year captain after gaining an additional year of eligibility due to the pandemic. Off the field, he and his younger brother, Liam, launched Limitless NIL, an agency “made for the players and founded by the players,” according to the company’s website, that already represents 25 athletes at a dozen schools.
On the field, Clifford has won nearly 70% of his starts at Penn State and is the program’s all-time leader in passing yards and touchdowns.
“I have so many blessings,” he said.
‘I owe St. Xavier a lot.’
The last time Penn State was in the Rose Bowl, Clifford was on his couch in Cincinnati. He watched as Penn State and USC battled in the highest-scoring Rose Bowl of all time (it was broken one year later) with the Trojans pulling out a 52-49 victory.
“It gave me a lot of hope for the future and even more going into my first year of college,” said Clifford, who would sign at Penn State a month later.
Clifford had just wrapped up a successful prep stint at St. Xavier, where he was a three-year starter. Eight years later after his high school debut, he can still remember his first varsity start in 2014.
“East St. Louis,” he guessed correctly.
Clifford was a 16-year-old sophomore starting for a program that had won three state regional titles and a pair of state championships in the last decade. But his confidence never wavered; it was a role he had prepared for since middle school thanks to helpful advice he received when he was young.
“I had somebody tell me that in whatever I do, I should always think I’m two years older than I am,” Clifford explained. “It was instilled in me early. I always had the mindset to play at St. X under Steve Specht, a fantastic coach and somebody I’ve always looked up to. I owe him a lot. I owe St. Xavier a lot.”
Clifford would help guide St. Xavier to a 10-3 record and a trip to the regional championship. He would commit to Penn State before his junior season.
Two years later, the Bombers would make history as the first five-loss team to ever win an OHSAA state championship. Clifford, nursing a hamstring injury, returned under center in the second round of the playoffs. He led St. Xavier back from a 23-7 deficit against Colerain and fired the game-winning touchdown in overtime. In the regional final against Sycamore, he threw for 229 yards, ran for 171 with four total touchdowns in another overtime win.
Clifford was the hot hand again in the state Final Four, running for 102 yards and two scores in the semifinals against Pickerington Central and throwing the game-winning touchdown against St. Ignatius in the Division I state final.
“That was one of the best teams in terms of leadership I’ve ever been on in my life,” Clifford said. “We really stuck together no matter what. We had a lot of injuries that year. To be able to regroup, refresh and go into the playoffs and have a five-game run to win a state championship, I know that we’re all proud of that moment.”
‘I knew the hard work and dedication.’
Clifford’s first collegiate pass went for a 34-yard touchdown to Brandon Polk to close out Penn State’s 51-6 win over Pittsburgh in Week 2 of the 2018 season. In fact, Clifford’s first taste of collegiate action was perfect: 5-for-5, 195 yards, two touchdowns while filling in for starter Trace McSorley at the end of lopsided wins.
“I knew there was no way college football would be that easy,” Clifford laughed.
He was ultimately right. After leading Penn State to an 11-2 record in 2019 and a Cotton Bowl win, the Nittany Lions started 0-5 in 2020 and the team opted out of a bowl game. In 2021, Clifford led Penn State to a 5-0 start before going 2-6 in its final eight games, including a loss in the Outback Bowl.
Clifford thought back to overcome adversity in his final season at St. Xavier, when a battered Bombers squad conquered all of the outside noise, and doubt. Clifford opted to return to Penn State for the 2022 campaign, despite constant support from outside the program for a new quarterback. After all, true freshman Drew Allar, Ohio’s Mr. Football in 2021, was on his way to State College.
“When I went to Penn State, I knew the hard work and dedication I needed to make it,” Clifford said. “I thank St. Xavier for giving me the work ethic because it’s not gonna be easy and you’re gonna be in tough situations.
“The people that you love, the team, the administration, those are the people you need to concern yourself with. It’s been putting my head down, grinding and sticking with the family at Penn State. It’s been such a blessing.”
Leaving a legacy
Clifford’s work ethic produced results. Penn State is 10-2 this season with its only losses coming to College Football Playoff teams in Michigan and Ohio State. On Nov. 12 in a win over Maryland, Clifford passed McSorley, his former mentor for whom he credits a lot of his success, as Penn State’s all-time leading passer. Two weeks earlier, he passed McSorley for the program’s passing touchdowns record in the loss to the Buckeyes.
The numbers will speak for themselves and will echo Clifford’s talent throughout history. As he nears his final time in a Penn State jersey, hoping to lead the Nittany Lions to their first Rose Bowl win since 1995, Clifford is more concerned with how he’ll be remembered by his peers.
He’s one of just two players in Penn State history (Jonathan Sutherland) to be voted a team captain four times.
“I tried to leave my legacy as somebody who is gonna tell you what you need to hear,” Clifford said. “I’ve had real conversations with people to make them better, myself better and this team better. I really know who I am as a competitor and as someone who’s always trying to get better and better the people around me.”
