UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Nyeem Wartman-White says he always will be a Philadelphia guy.
Penn State’s middle linebacker didn’t play organized football as a kid growing up in Philadelphia, but his childhood there helped shape him.
There were pick-up games after school and Madden football video games to keep him occupied. That big stadium in the distance (Lincoln Financial Field), home of his beloved Philadelphia Eagles, was where he dreamed of playing. It didn’t matter that it took a move out of the city and to Valley View High School in Archbald, Pa., for him to play organized football for the first time and have a chance to excel at it.