Penn State communications students anticipate, appreciate Super Bowl opportunity

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Not long ago, they were seven aspiring, hopeful students from a half dozen states who showed up at Penn State intending to make the most of college.

Honestly, they were not sure what that meant, they said. But they were ambitions and determined. They went to class, got over any hesitation or uncertainty and got involved beyond the classroom as they sought out opportunities to improve.

They made the most of their chances, made some mistakes, enjoyed valuable successes and completed internships or real-life experiences that helped them build a strong foundation for future success.

This week those students, all seniors in the Donald P. Bellisario Communications, are in the same place. They’re working at the Super Bowl in Santa Clara, California.

Associated Press partnership

Four students are working with the Associated Press as part of a partnership model that Penn State, through the John Curley Center for Sports Journalism, has utilized at previous Super Bowls, as well as the Little League World Series, Paralympic Games and Women’s World Cup.

The students — Lyle Alenstein, Avery Hill, Giselle Jones and Cailey Thalman — will support AP efforts throughout the week. They’ll focus on feature stories, individual interviews and social media content from media availabilities leading up to the Feb. 8 game between the New England Patriots and Seattle Seahawks.

Alenstein, from Briarcliff Manor, New York, was not planning to major in communications when he arrived at Penn State, he said. He only lasted a couple semesters as a potential accounting major, before finding a passion for communications.

His numerous internships have included spots with the Cape Cod Baseball League and the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, and he has steadily earned additional responsibility as a sports reporter, football reporter and wrestling editor with the Daily Collegian.

“We’ll be working at the Super Bowl, helping the Associated Press. It’s hard to imagine anything much better than that,” Alenstein said. “So, we want to make the most of it.”

Hill, from Suitland, Maryland, serves as an editor with the Collegian as well, and has an abundance of experience covering Penn State sports. He’s completed several internships, including one with the Providence Journal last summer, and traveled to cover the Paralympics in Paris in 2024. He’s also president of the on-campus chapter of the National Association of Black Journalists.

The Journal, based in Rhode Island, regularly covers the Patriots, so Hill enters this week with familiarity of the team and with journalists he worked with last summer who will be on site this week as well. All his previous experiences have him feeling good about what’s ahead, he said — much more so than when he first stepped onto campus four years ago.

“It’s a big opportunity, but I definitely feel less stressed about it because of the other opportunities up to this point,” said Hill, who has earned a Collegian AIG Scholarship and the Donald P. Bellisario College of Communications Scholarship and Student Support Endowment. “I know I have a lot to learn but all the things during my Penn State career have been a confidence booster.”

Jones, from York, Pennsylvania, said she calls herself an extrovert and her mother tells people her daughter started talking at 11 months old and has not stopped. With that as a grounding, Jones has focused on honing her skillset and at the same time consistently made connections to grow once she settled on her journalism major and, ideally, a front-facing role on TV someday.

She first found the student produced “Culture Central” as a campus outlet and has subsequently earned opportunities with B1G+, ESPN+ and ROAR+ while covering a variety of Penn State sports. Last summer she completed an internship with the Kansas City Chiefs during the team’s training camp.

“That experience helps a little big going into the Super Bowl, even if it was different than what we’ll be doing,” Jones said. “We’re prepared, but you also never know what will happen so having a variety of experiences, and learning from them is a good thing. I do try to push myself to improve, even to be uncomfortable, because you can learn from those situations.”

Thalman, from Bethesda, Maryland, has found just about every possible sports media related opportunity and given it a shot during her time as a student. That’s PSN-TV, Big Ten Network, Playfly Sports and ROAR+, just to name a few. She said she heard about the possibility of working at the Super Bowl early on and took note, adding it to a list of goals.

Still, getting selected for the opportunity was a big moment, and, she said, the call from John Affleck, director of the Curley Center and head of the Department of Journalism, brought her to tears.

“This is a huge opportunity. Nobody takes covering the Super Bowl for granted, especially a college student,” she said. “Who knows it could be the only one we ever cover, depending on where our careers take us. So, I’m very appreciative of the opportunity.”

Thalman also brings a family connection and legacy to the assignment, which adds to the emotion, she said. Her grandfather, L. Budd Thalman, served as associate athletic director of communications at Penn State from 1986 to 2001, and before that he was a vice president of public relations for the Buffalo Bills during a career that also included leading sports communications for the U.S. Naval Academy. During his NFL tenure, he worked at seven Super Bowls, the last when the Chicago Bears beat the New England Patriots in 1986.

“He has a collection of pins from those games, and my grandmother told me I need to make sure to get a pin too,” Thalman said.

CommRadio coverage

Two students will spend the week on the Super Bowl’s “Radio Row,” where media outlets from across the world come to conduct live broadcasts in the days leading up to the game.

For the Bellisario College students, members of CommRadio, Penn State’s streaming station, it’s an opportunity to hone skills, network and get access to potential guests who might not typically be available. The CommRadio coverage will air from 3 to 8 p.m. from Wednesday through Friday.

Doing a several hours of sports talk a few days in a row in an unfamiliar atmosphere with dozens of other outlets competing for attention and guests could be daunting, but the Penn State duo has a slight advantage — their familiarity with each other.

Nolan Collery, from Pittsburgh, and Mike Landis, from Highland Park, New Jersey, met each other early in their careers on campus.

“I remember calling my mom, after coming back from an orientation meeting and telling her I’d met this guy who had the exact same interests as me,” Collery said. “We’ve been doing pretty much the same things ever since. At this point we’ve lived together for two years and now we’ll be working at the Super Bowl together. We’re in a unique position.”

Along with CommRadio, both Collery and Landis have worked on the award-winning “Centre County Report” student newscast and covered a variety of Penn State sports for B1G+ as well as working for PSN-TV.  They both said they're proud of what Penn State has provided and what they’ve done with it.

“Honestly, part of the trip to the Super Bowl will be raising the profile for CommRadio and Penn State, letting people know what we have here,” Collery said.

Landis, who completed an internship with the Minnesota Vikings during the team's training camp and first preseason game in the 2024 and 2025, is grateful for another chance to work in the NFL environment — the sport's biggest stage, even in the days leading up to it.

"It's truly an incredible, once-in-a-lifetime opportunity that doesn't happen at other schools,” Landis said. “So, I'm so thankful to be at Penn State, to be able to cover the Super Bowl and to make the most out of this opportunity to represent our college and our radio station."

NFL public relations

Sarah Furlong will arrive on site in California for the Super Bowl a day or so before her classmates, and she’ll be working for the NFL’s public relations team.

She anticipates long days, she said, and the kind of behind-the-scenes assignments that provide the foundation for sports public relations and media.

She knows she’ll love every moment of it.

“It’s a chance to work, to help in whatever way they need, at the Super Bowl. Does it get any better than that? It’s hard to imagine,” said Furlong, from Hopkintown, Massachusetts, who received support from the Ahmed Family Endowment and John Troan Endowment in Journalism to help with her Super Bowl trip.

Furlong has worked for Penn State football, completing a recruiting and operations internship, since 2023. An advertising/public relations major, she’s also been a teaching assistant for a Bellisario College class.

Like many of her classmates, Furlong said she has known her intended career path would focus on sports communications. And, like them, she’s said yes to opportunities she hoped would help her grow and succeed. Additional proof of that growth will come at the Super Bowl.

“It’s pretty cool,” she said.

All the students making the trip received support from various Curley Center donors who earmarked their gifts for travel. Learn more at the Curley Center website.