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- Mar 19, 2019
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The reason Chisena didn't double dip in both sports? His track scholarship prohibited him from doing both.
"I walked on to the football team at Penn State my freshman year, and I was going to play football and run track there," said Chisena, a Pennsylvania native who won high school state titles in the 100, 200 and 4x100 relay as a senior. "The opportunity came about after my freshman season, when I was running in the spring and I could get a scholarship for track, but I wouldn't be allowed to play football on a track scholarship.
"Ultimately, made the decision to help out my family financially and try to excel at one sport instead of be average at two and decided to run track for a couple years."
But football remained steadfast in Chisena's mind while he excelled on the track. His passion for football led him to visit Penn State Head Coach James Franklin after the spring of 2018.
"Ever since I left football, I really missed it," said Chisena, who was an all-conference wide receiver in high school. "I grew up playing football since third grade and always knew that at some point I wanted to play again.
"In my junior year of track, I ended up getting hurt, and that kind of made me sit down and think about what I wanted the next year and a half of eligibility to look like," Chisena added. "I approached Coach Franklin about rejoining the team, and he gave me that opportunity, which I was extremely grateful for, and just had the past year-and-a-half or two years now of being back on the football team."
The transition wasn't an easy one. Chisena said he had to condition his body to run routes rather than simply sprinting straight ahead.
"It was a challenge for sure. I'd been running straight for three years and hadn't run any routes or anything like that the entire time," Chisena said. "It was difficult at first, but it was great that first season back. I was on the scout team that entire year, which I honestly loved. I loved that role.
"I loved being able to help the team in whatever area I could," Chisena added. "For me personally, I got to go against our starters every single day that first year and go against our top defensive backs every day in practice. I feel like that helped me kind of get my feet back under me and allowed me to transition into having a more substantial role this past year, my fifth year."
Chisena played in 12 games as a senior in 2019 for a Penn State squad that ended the season ranked ninth in the country.
But with limited reps over the past two seasons, Chisena needed another way to get on the radar of NFL teams. He did just that at the 2020 SPIRAL Tropical Bowl, which was held in mid-January in Florida.
Chisena showed off his speed and pass-catching ability with five receptions for 155 yards, including lengthy touchdowns of 55 and 69 yards. He was named the game's MVP.
Chisena said he expects to begin his NFL career battling for a roster spot through special teams, similar to what fellow wide receiver Adam Thielen did.