His career started as a walk-on in Bill O'Brien's "run-on" program. Now more than three years later, James Franklin and his coaching staff have honored wide receiver Gregg Garrity with a scholarship.

Carrying the torch of a family that has been a part of the program since the 1950s, Garrity is a third-generation Nittany Lion and earned his first start in college under Franklin at the Pinstripe Bowl in New York City after the 2014 season. Prior to that he had made appearances in two games (UMass and Indiana.)

Although he was a non-scholarship student-athlete as a true freshman, Garrity worked his way onto the field under O'Brien. He saw time against Eastern Michigan, Purdue and Nebraska, becoming one of 12 true freshman to see the field in 2013.

As a junior in 2015, Garrity played in six games and tallied one reception against Indiana for 4 yards. By the time the Nittany Lions played Georgia in the bowl game, Garrity had locked up the starting punt return position.

A native of Pittsburgh, who played his high school football for North Allegheny, Garrity has one remaining year of eligibility in college. A communications major at PSU, Garrity is interested in pursuing a career in the journalism field. A Dean’s List student, he owned a 3.6 grade-point average as of last spring.

A third-generation student-athlete, Gregg’s grandfather, Jim, played for the Nittany Lions, and his father, Gregg Sr., was a wide receiver for PSU, lettering from 1980-82. He is famous for making “The Catch” in the end zone that helped the Nittany Lions clinch their first national title in the 1983 Sugar Bowl with a win over top-ranked Georgia. Regarded as one of the iconic plays in Penn State football history, the feat landed the elder Garrity on the cover of Sports Illustrated.

In a story coming full-circle, Gregg Jr., played against the Bulldogs this past year in TaxSlayer Bowl. Said Gregg Jr., "It's kind of funny how things worked out."

Penn State had previously granted former walk-on long snapper Tyler Yazujian a scholarship earlier this month.