Penn State Football: 200 Former Lettermen Ask for Return of Statue, Wall and Apology to Paterno Family

Update: Penn State had the following response to this morning’s demands by former lettermen. 

‘We appreciate the passion of our former Penn State lettermen for Coach Joe Paterno and the football program, and thank them for their input and many contributions/achievements. We recognize that this is emotional for many in the Penn State community, many of whom differ, yet feel strongly about this issue. The University’s leadership has clearly indicated that there will be a time and place to acknowledge Coach Joe Paterno’s many contributions. Any plans by the president to reach out to the Paterno family will be done privately.’ 

Original story:

Some former Penn State football players haven’t given up just yet when it comes to seeing former head coach Joe Paterno honored by the university.

A list of more than 200 lettermen who span every decade since 1950 issued a press release and formal request to the university: to return Paterno’s statue and the players’ wall once found outside Beaver Stadium in addition to an apology to Sue Paterno.

Brian Masella, former tight end and punter, and 1975 alumnus spoke on behalf of the more than 200 lettermen who signed the statement which he has sent to University President Eric Barron, as well as every Penn State Trustee.

“We have been told during the last four-plus years that the board and administration are waiting for the appropriate time to repair the damage they created. Now is the appropriate time. Enough is enough!” Masella said in the release. ‘Our program has always been one of integrity, honesty, and respect. Under Coach Paterno, we strove for academic excellence and made an ongoing commitment to becoming better men. We deserve to have that respect reciprocated by Penn State and its leadership.’

In addition to Masella’s comments, the list of 200 former lettermen added their official statement to Tuesday’s demands. Their words can be seen below in addition to a list over every letterman to undersign.

‘We, the undersigned, are united by the common bond of having been a member of the Penn State Football Team.  We state, unequivocally, that our program has always been one of integrity, honesty, and respect.  Under Coach Paterno, we strove for academic excellence and made an ongoing commitment to becoming better men.

We remain saddened that the Penn State Administration and the Board of Trustees thrust our program and coach into an undeserved negative media frenzy in 2011.  Nearly five years after the firestorm, they still have not defended us or corrected the false narrative.  Our legacy and our university deserve better.  Penn State’s leaders should take two steps toward repairing the damage that they created.

First, restore the statue of Coach Paterno and the players’ wall to where they stood previously outside Beaver Stadium.  These testimonies to “Success with Honor” should never have been removed.

Second, a formal apology from the University to Sue Paterno needs to be issued.  This is a common act of decency, which is both warranted and long overdue.

The university’s leaders have repeatedly stated a desire to restore unity to the Penn State community.  We hope that they will not waste a great opportunity to do so.’

1950’s

Robert Belus

Frank Della Penna

Charles Koval

Daniel Maddigan

Fran Bucky Paolone

James Scott

John Storer

 

1960’s

Ronald Adams

Alex Chiara

Peter Cimino

Jack Curry

Alan Delmonaco

Gary Eberle

John Eppensteiner

Gerry Farkas

Ed Gabriel

Chuck Gambone

Warren Hartenstine

Robert Kline

George Kulka

Jon Lang

Linc Lincoln Lippincott

Thomas McGrath

Dave McNaughton

Pete Ochsner

Bill Rettig

Jack Sain

Ted Sebastianelli

Gary Shaffer

Thomas Stuart

Jack White

Gary H. Wydman

Joe Zelinsky

 

1970’s

Frank Ahrenhold

Russell Albert

Kurt Allerman

Ferris Atty

John Balena

Bruce Bannon

Dave Brockway

Richard M. Brown

Chuck Burkhart

John W. Bush

Bobby Campbell

John Cappelletti

Michael Cappelletti

Joseph V. Carlozo

Thomas Greg Christian

Craig Coder

Ron Coder

F. Len Consalvo

Bill Crummy

Steven A. Davis

Gary W. Debes

Thomas F. Donchez

William Ericsson

Morris Fansler

Chuck Fusina

Michael Gilsenan

Bill Glennon

Tony Gordon

David F. Graf

Gary Gray

Mike Guman

Brian Hand

Jim Heller

Scott Hettinger

Ron Hostetler

Thomas M. Hull

John Huttenberger *

Gary Klossner

Bob Knechtel

Richard A. Knechtel

Joe Lally

Ron LaPointe

Philip F. LaPorta

John R. Lewchenko

Kevin Lyden

Brian Masella

Peter Michaelson

Robert Nagle

Joe Navin

John Nessel

Richard N. Nichols

Ed O’Neil

Michael A. Orsini M.D.

Ron Pavlechko

Woody Petchel, Jr.

Gary Petercuskie

Charles Pittman

Carlos Quirch

Tom Rafferty

Joel Ramich

George Reihner

John M. Reihner

James E. Rosecrans

C. Douglas Rothgaber

George SanFilippo

Bernard Shalvey

Tom L. Shoemaker

Tom Shuman

Derek Smith

John P. Susko

Gary R. Tyler

Michael Urquhart

Kip Vernaglia

Marshall Wagner

* requested by John’s family

1980’s

Roger Alexander

Mark Battaglia

Jeff Bergstrom

Kirk Bowman

Tim Bronish

Jeff Brunie

Bruce Clark

Bill Contz

Tom Couch

Peter Curkendall

Rick D’Amico

John DePasqua

Dean DiMidio

Michael Dunlay

Eric Etze

Craig Fiedler

Tim Freeman

Brennan Gaertner

Gene Gladys

John W. Greene

Nick Haden

Greg Hay

Stu Helgeson

Joseph Hines

John Hornyak

Robert Jagers

Joe Johns

Ken Kelley

Massimo Manca

Carmen Masciantonio

Jay McCormick

Mike Meade

Rob Mikulski

Robert Mrosko

Aoatoa Polamalu

Kevin Romango

Michael Russo

Rich Schonewolf

Brian Siverling

Patrick Slater

Rob Smith

Pete Speros

Tim Sweeney

Blair Thomas

Darryl Washington

Jeff Woofter

 

1990’s

John Andress

Michael Barninger

Dave Brzenchek

Robert Ceh

Keith Conlin

Brett Conway

Daniel Drogan

Adam Fahrer

Chafi Fields

Derek Fox

Rudolph Glocker

Ryan Grube

Mike Heller

Leonard Humphries

Greg Huntington

Corey Jones

Scott Kaufmann

Jeffrey Koontz

Chad Linnon

Mike Malinoski

Christian Marrone

David Miller

Bradley Pantall

James Scourtis

Dave Smith

William Spoor

Brian Stairs

Justin Williams

 

2000’s

Tyler Ahrenhold

Drew Astorino

Jason Bisson

Nick Daise

Steven Delich

Tom Humphrey

Justin Ingram

Cedric Jeffries

Andrew Kubic

John Kuceyeski

Justin Kurpeikis

Ben Lago

Nick Marmo

Shawn Mayer

James Mitchell

Michael Pawlikowski

Andrew Pitz

Paul Posluszny

Ryan Primanti

Curt Reese

Matt Schmitt

Bryan Scott

Ryan Scott

Mickey Shuler

Alan Zemaitis

 

2010’s

Jesse Alfreno

Larry Federoff

Patrick Flanagan

Eric Flohr

Stephen Obeng-Agyapong

 

Coaches & Staff

John Bove

Booker Brooks

Don Carlino

Craig Cirbus

Raymond J. Horan

Allen Meyer

George Salvaterra

Keith Richeal