ERIE, Pa. — Curtis King came to Penn State Behrend to study marketing and continue his baseball career. A two-sport athlete, he’d found his place on the infield, occasionally taking the mound to pitch. Then, in July 2024, during a summer-ball game, he felt something in his elbow tear.
The injury — a damaged ulnar collateral ligament — sidelined him for the fall season and most of the spring of his sophomore year. King, a marketing major, tried rest and physical therapy, returned to pitching and reinjured the elbow — twice. At that point, he needed surgery.
“The third time was the charm,” he said.
Rather than undergo a lengthy Tommy John reconstruction, which can require up to 18 months of recovery, King opted for a newer procedure: an internal brace repair that stabilizes the ligament with synthetic material. The timeline for recovery? Six to seven months.
Still, it meant sitting out an entire season. King knew that watching games from the bench would be torture, so he asked head coach Paul Benim if he could bring a camera to games.
“He gave me the green light,” King said.
King had dabbled in photography after his first injury, posting images on social media. This time, he said, armed with a Canon R100 he purchased after taking Photo 100 with instructor Rob Frank, he went all in. He recorded every pitch, edited highlight reels and crafted hype videos for the team.
What began as a way to stay connected to the game, he said, became something else entirely.
“Editing was super fun for me,” King said. “I loved having such creative freedom and putting the videos together. It doesn’t feel like work. It feels like fun.”
Players, families and coaches loved the content. Benim saw another benefit: recruiting. Other Behrend teams noticed, too. Soon, King was shooting for the men’s and women’s basketball teams.
His work caught the eye of Laina Banic, director of fan engagement for the Erie SeaWolves, the AA affiliate of the Detroit Tigers. She reached out about a summer internship.
King worked for the SeaWolves as an entertainment intern, producing pre-game hype videos, social-media content, local TV commercials and in-game scoreboard content — everything he’d been doing for Behrend, but on a professional scale.
Back on campus, King took Brian Streeter’s "Sports Industry" class. That opened his eyes to the breadth of career paths beyond playing, he said. Just before winter break, he upgraded his equipment, convincing his parents it was an investment in his future. He’s now exploring academic minors that complement his new direction and add to his marketing major. He shares his photos on his Instagram feed as @shotby_curt.
The elbow that forced him off the field led him to something he might never have discovered otherwise — a career he is genuinely excited about.
“Having earned a little income from this and knowing that I can turn something I enjoy into a career is pretty exciting,” King said.