It’s one heck of a comeback story. Today we salute #79.
I’m sure many of you are familiar with the comeback story that is Joey Tanona.
In short, the Notre Dame transfer was in a major car wreck on the way to a Fighting Irish practice as a true freshman. After being forced to medically retire, Tanona got to work to resurrect his football dreams. The Indiana native rehabbed his body and was able to transfer in-state to Purdue, where he was cleared for football activities and became a Boilermaker classified as a true sophomore.
He enters the 2025 season with two years of eligibility remaining after appearing in 10 games for Purdue last season. He played sparingly in reserve duty, seeing 56 snaps on offense and 22 snaps on special teams. The fact that he was playing football at all and for more than just an appearance in one game is a very good sign going forward.
The 6’5” 310-pound left tackle out of Zionsville is one of the highest-rated offensive line recruits Purdue has had on the roster in a long time, even if the Boilers acquired him in a strange way. The former 4-star prospect was ranked the 16th best offensive tackle in the nation and fourth overall best prospect out of Indiana for the class of 2022.
Now that he’s shown he can play snaps, the rising junior is expected to be the backup left tackle behind senior transfer Jalen St. John, another transfer from UNLV who followed head coach Barry Odom.
With Tanona’s raw talent and the showing that he can play football again, left tackle may end up being a real strength for the Boilermakers with a shaken-around offensive line following the coaching transition. In terms of not much talent drop-off, that is.
First and foremost, I’m just happy for the kid to make such a recovery after such a horrific accident. I’m sure many Purdue fans will have a special rooting interest in #79, along with his former teammates when he’ll face the Irish in the September 20th meeting between his new and former schools.
Here’s to health and to under 80 days until Purdue football.