Lessons Learned from a 2000 Penn State Football Team That Faced Difficult Times

 

Thanksgiving is one of those moments for reflection. As we look back on our past there are hard moments and happy moments, and we are thankful for all that has molded us.

One of those tough times that molded me, and others, was two decades ago with the 2000 Penn State team.

That team may never have a reunion. Society doesn’t celebrate 5-7 teams. But what many may never know is that amid incredible challenges off the field, that team and Joe Paterno became a tremendous example of leadership through solidarity.

If you look for the foundational values of the Penn State program under Coach Paterno, the 2000 team had it all. Our program prided itself on a commitment to social justice, to education, to love for one another and faith in whatever may come.

In mid-May that year, the storms rolled in. While at home in Hoboken, New Jersey, our quarterback Rashard Casey was falsely charged with assaulting an off-duty police officer. The media reported that Penn State’s Black starting quarterback had beaten up a white police officer in a racially motivated attack. They were merely reporting what a corrupt system looking for a high-profile case was feeding them.

I was on the road recruiting that Monday, flying from Florida to Ohio when Rashard was being arraigned. By Tuesday morning when he returned to State College his name and picture were in every newspaper in the country.

Rashard sat with me and told me the truth. 

The howls of outrage demanded that we bench Rashard or kick him off the team. Powerful people and university donors called for his dismissal. But amid the tempest, Joe Paterno stood by him. We had to endure the calls of hypocrisy from sanctimonious pundits and politicians who appointed themselves judge and jury. Joe told his team that he believed in due process, and he believed his player. But he knew there might be a price to pay. 

In his notes from the time he wrote, “If it costs us a few wins to stand up to a corrupt sheriff I am willing to do that.” He believed in social justice, he believed that standing up for a young Black man falsely accused was far bigger than wins or losses.

The media circus and pressure when we started the season in Giants Stadium against USC were not easy to navigate. The ongoing grand jury investigation loomed ominously just over the horizon all season. Anonymous correspondence to Rashard, Joe and to me (as his coach) were filled with vile, racist hate speech and threats.

Coaches and players alike learned the courage to stand up for what is right knowing that you may be vilified for it.

That would be enough for most teams but there were more challenges.

At Ohio State, freshman cornerback Adam Taliaferro made a tackle late in the game and remained down. He was motionless as seconds turned to minutes and our team medical staff responded to what we quickly understood was an injury that transcended a game.

Our players watched as he was taken away, paralyzed from the neck down. As our team headed home without one of our players, there was absolute silence and sorrow on the flight home. No one spoke a word.

Back at Penn State, Joe Paterno gathered our team and as tears rolled down his cheeks we prayed together before heading home. That generation of coaches never showed emotion, but in that moment the team saw the pain in his heart and the love for Adam and all the young men on the team.

The next week we would face Drew Brees and eventual Big Ten champion Purdue. Before that game players had to practice and hit each other in full pads. Coaches cringed on every hit that looked even slightly awkward.

To create a diversion and some excitement for the team, Joe Paterno had us install a shotgun offense for the first time in his career.

Around us, the Penn State community rallied like never before. Buttons with Adam’s No. 43 were everywhere; donations from the Penn State family would cover Adam’s bills and recovery. The outpouring showed the world what Penn State was all about. 

On Friday, the team and community gathered for an emotional, multi-faith prayer service at Old Main — a moment to unify, to recognize our common humanity. Our players, strong young men,  stood heads bowed arm-in-arm in the hope that unity would ignite faith in that which is unseen. 

The next day Beaver Stadium was as emotional as it has ever been. As Rashard Casey shifted into the shotgun, it brought a cheer from the crowd, even though the pass was incomplete.

No championship was won that day, but that win still ranks as one of the best-ever in Beaver Stadium. And as a last, desperate Drew Brees Hail Mary arced into the early evening sky, a sold-out crowd of 96,023 fans held their collective breaths until that ball finally fell incomplete on the grass. Victory unleashed a roar of cheers and rivers of joyful tears.

That afternoon’s escape ended once thoughts returned to a still-paralyzed player and a quarterback still fighting for his legal life.

A few weeks later we had a night game against Indiana in the RCA Dome in Indianapolis. With the movie “Remember the Titans” playing in theaters, Joe decided to break our normal Friday night routine. We took the team to see the film about football amid the challenge of school desegregation in 1971 Virginia.

What we did not know was that the story included a tragic car wreck that paralyzed the team captain. With Adam’s injury so fresh, the shock of that scene caused the theater to grow silent. Across the aisle from me, in the light reflecting from the movie screen, I saw players and coaches wiping away a tear or two. One of those coaches was Joe.

But the final triumph of that movie may have been a sign. 

Soon our faith was being realized as Adam made what was once unimaginable progress. Our courage was rewarded when the grand jury cleared Rashard.

All these years later, that season is largely forgotten. But the moments when it was darkest, when faith and courage were required, that team stayed together to will one teammate to walk again and held up the cause of social justice for another.

No championship can truly eclipse what was accomplished that season.

And as Senior Day ended with a 42-23 win over Michigan State, a high school senior quarterback was on hand to see the character of this program. Five years later he’d help lead a team that changed the course of this program.

This Thanksgiving I’m grateful to have lived and learned from that team.