Three Awards Cap off Career
Professional football is action-packed, and it’s Daniel Beeck’s job to catch it all.
The 2019 graduate is a video producer for the NFL’s Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
His job includes shooting video and putting together highlight reels, game-day trailers and other segments that are used on the Buccaneers’ social media platforms and website. He uses video to tell players’ stories, giving fans a chance to get to know the athletes beyond the field.
“Storytelling plays into every facet of what I do,” says the former communication studies major. “And I owe a lot of my storytelling ability to the foundational building blocks that I was able to gather at Cal U.”
As a student, Beeck took on roles with campus radio station WCAL, CUTV and the Cal Times student newspaper.
Although he wasn’t entirely sure what he wanted to do after graduation, he knew that he wanted to work for a professional sports franchise. He had a particular interest in football.
Landing a job with the Buccaneers has been a dream come true – and it came at a remarkable moment in the team’s history.
In 2020, the franchise unveiled a new brand and updated its uniforms. Veteran quarterback Tom Brady joined the team roster. And, of course, players and staff had to navigate COVID-19 restrictions.
From mid-March through late July, Beeck worked from home. He returned to Florida as training camp ramped up in preparation for the NFL season.
With Brady joining the team, there’s been a heightened sense of excitement, Beeck says. He’s seen athletes who are revered in their own right awed by Brady, a surefire Hall of Fame quarterback with six Super Bowl rings.
“It’s been pretty cool,” Beeck says.
“It’s like a new excitement, that excitement of the unknown.”
Football lineman among the best
Senior offensive lineman Eric Hudanick was named a semifinalist for the 2020 William V. Campbell Trophy, presented by the National
Football Foundation & College Hall of Fame.
Open to collegiate players at all NCAA and NAIA levels, the trophy recognizes a player as the best football scholar-athlete in the nation.
Hudanick was one of 20 semifinalists from NCAA Division II. He has started 32 games in his career, including all 22 games over the last two seasons at right tackle.
Nominees for the award must be in their final year of eligibility and have at least a cumulative GPA of 3.2. The committee nominates only those who are significant contributors to their team and demonstrate leadership and citizenship.
More on the floor
The Vulcans basketball and volleyball teams will have a new look underfoot when they return to home action.
The floor of the Convocation Center arena has been refinished and its logos updated. When the facility reopens, fans will see the Vulcans Athletics logo at midcourt, the Cal U and Vulcans wordmarks at multiple locations on the floor, and a customized PSAC logo inside the free-throw line.
“As an NCAA Division II program, we’ve always felt very fortunate to have the opportunity to play in a first-class facility like the Convocation Center,” said head women’s basketball coach Jess Strom.
“Our student-athletes can’t wait to see the new court firsthand and get back out there to represent Cal U.”
The Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference voted in July to suspend all athletic events and championships through the fall semester in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Plans for the spring semester were uncertain at press time.
This is the first time the floor and logos have been refreshed since the Convocation Center opened with a basketball doubleheader in December 2011.
Vulcans in the NFL
Former Vulcans Erik Harris ’13 and C.J. Goodwin are National Football League playmakers this season.
Harris, the Las Vegas Raiders’ starting free safety in the opening five weeks of the season, was chosen as a team captain after a breakout 2019 campaign.
He previously played for the New Orleans Saints after spending three years with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats of the CFL.
With the Vulcans, Harris was a three-year starting defensive back. He helped the program qualify for the NCAA playoffs in each of his four seasons, from 2008-2011.
Goodwin continues to be a mainstay on special teams for the Dallas Cowboys after leading in special-teams tackles last season.
In 2017, he became the first Cal U player to appear in a Super Bowl, as a member of the Atlanta Falcons.
Goodwin played in every game for the Vulcans in 2013, his only year with the program.
Scholars score honors
Cal U student-athletes and Vulcans athletic teams continue to earn academic awards,
despite the pivot to remote learning last spring.
Across all sports, 253 student-athletes maintained at least a 3.0 grade-point average for the Spring 2020 semester and were named to the Athletic Director Honor Roll.
Additionally, 184 student-athletes were named PSAC Scholar-Athletes, which requires a cumulative 3.25 GPA or higher, and 66 student-athletes received the D2ADA Academic Achievement Award, given to students with a cumulative 3.50 GPA or higher through four semesters.
In team awards, Vulcans swimmers earned CSCAA Scholar All-America Team honors for the 18th consecutive season. The men’s and women’s cross country and track and field teams swept USTFCCCA All-Academic honors in the four sports, and women’s soccer and volleyball received team academic laurels for the third consecutive year.
Fundraiser hits the mark
Thanks to nearly 350 generous donors – and the power of crowdfunding
and social media – Cal U’s third annual Athletics Day of Giving raised more than $42,000 for athletics scholarships.
Messages from coaches and players reached alumni, friends and parents across the country. Many athletics programs met or surpassed their goals.
“Everyone played a role in the success of the campaign,” says Randi Minerva, manager of annual giving programs. “This was a true team effort.”
Proceeds from the Day of Giving provide scholarship support for Vulcans student-athletes. For more ways to give, visit calu.edu/giving.
