At least for one day, Penn State football players weren't letting recent negative attention affect them.

STATE COLLEGE -- They sprinted back and forth, lugging 100-pound sand bags, heaving them in a pile, one after another.

The blue shirts roared for their own.

The white shirts roared back.

The drill finished and the dozen or so Nittany Lions erupted and grabbed one another in equal parts celebration and good-natured mocking, smiles and cheers all around.

They wouldn't really say it before or even after the 10th annual Lift For Life event Friday evening on the new lacrosse field on campus. No, they mostly talked about how this was just to raise money to fight kidney cancer, as always.

How they were circling together as a team and blocking out all of the negativity that has nothing to do with them and yet shadows every one.

Most wouldn't talk directly about it, but this sure seemed like it also was an opportunity to let off some steam and to bond even tighter -- and even remind the world that Penn State football is about good things, too.

Fans gathered and ringed the field in support, despite off-and-again rain showers. For a day, the scars of the scandal past and the unseen worries to come lifted away.

"There's no way to run from it or look away from it because it's out there," said senior defensive tackle Jordan Hill. "But we're not going to talk about it as a team. You can't really focus on it as a player because you'll get too emotional and that really affects your play."

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Lift for Life event lends Lions chance to make positive impact