Betsy was a rape victim and Irv was a football star who vowed to protect her - they fell in love 40 years later

When 21-year-old Betsy Sailor was studying at Penn State University in 1978, she was raped at knifepoint by a star footballer.

The two-hour-long assault at her campus apartment by fellow college student Todd Hodne shattered the young woman's world.

"He simply stated, very matter-of-factly: 'I'm going to rape you'," Sailor recounted in the new ESPN documentary Untold.

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It was incredibly uncommon for a woman to speak out against sexual assault, let alone receive justice, but Sailor was determined Hodne would not get away with it.

The first thing Sailor did was call her mother, Ann. A month later, Hodne was arrested.

"Things like that didn't happen back then in State College, people still say," wrote journalists Tom Junod and Paula Lavigne. "But they did. It was just rare that someone came out and said so."

After Sailor reported Hodne and he was convicted of rape, he was sentenced to seven years and a maximum of 21.

Most of Hodne's teammates stood firmly behind him and rubbished Sailor's claims. They watched in court as their friend was convicted but none of them reached out to his victim.

All but one player: Irv Pankey. He heard Sailor's brave testimony and, one evening, he knocked on her door.

"Hello," he said. "My name is Irv Pankey and I believe everything you say."

"And, you will never have to be afraid, or be alone again. I will be by your side.'"

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Pankey's words meant everything to Sailor and he soon became her "protector" for the rest of their college years.

"She does not deserve to be a pariah," Pankey thought to himself at the time. "You will never have to walk on this campus alone again."

It marked the beginning of a beautiful friendship between a rape victim and star football player.

Pankey would walk Sailor to class each day and invited her to parties with fellow footballers during their time at Penn State.

She was brutally raped by a footballer, but Sailor spent the remainder of her college days almost exclusively surrounded by football players.

"He believed in me, and I was a stranger," Betsy told ESPN. "And I was white, and he was Black. And he was my guardian angel."

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Reunited after 40 years

When it was time to graduate, Pankey and Sailor went their separate ways.

He became an NFL player for the Los Angeles Lams and Sailor had a long career in HR. Both of them married and had children and both sadly lost their spouses.

Pankey and Sailor didn't speak for 40 long years, until an ESPN documentary about Hodne's crimes brought them back together.

Not only did the old friends reunite during the making of Untold, but they also fell in love.

Now both aged in their 60s, a new documentary titled Betsy & Irv chronicles how their long-lost friendship blossomed into a romance straight from the pages of a great American novel.

"I'm crazy about him," Sailor told ESPN journalist Paula Lavigne. "I feel so honoured to be by his side. He's such a great guy."

She added: "I got to kiss him for the very first time after 40 years, and it was a lovely kiss – and so I hope to do more of that."

Hodne, who served life in prison for various crimes, died of cancer in April 2020 after his 61st birthday.

Meanwhile, Sailor and Pankey are reigniting a friendship and love story that had long been shrouded in the horror of rape.

"We're riding off into the sunset. Calling it a day. Peace out! I hope we can enjoy each other's company for the rest of our lives and just move on," Pankey said.

"We're 65 years old. We ain't got time to be messing around."

Betsy & Irv is available for streaming on ESPN.