Keeper of the Fields

Video posted May 1, 2014 in Sports by Cody Bupp

Loading...

Paul Curtis has been part of the Penn State Athletics field crew for over 25 years. He is part of the staff that is in charge of numerous athletic fields around campus, including Beaver Stadium.

Curtis admits that after working for so many years, in a job that requires so much precision, there is a certain way to do things. He joked that he has almost developed a type of OCD. Everything from painting boundary lines, painting logos, or mowing for countless hours a week; he loves his job.

 “You kind of forget how special it is. We get a new crop of students each year that are blown away. Or you take someone in for a tour to see the stadium and their just blown away,” said Curtis.

Working for so many years and a variety of sports there are home field advantages he and his crew can provide. “When Coach Paterno was here he wanted for all those years, his big thing was to get the grass as short as we could and to make it as dry as we could for game day,” said Curtis.

Curtis has plenty of stories to tell, everything from Coach Paterno’s rants, to the soccer coach cutting the grass his own way, or finding wine bottles on the 50-yard line before Beaver Stadium heightened security. Needless to say, he hopes to continue a job that he finds great joy in.