During 129 seasons of college football, Penn State has produced hundreds of award winners, 184 All-America selections, dozens of all-conference selections and a Heisman Trophy award winner — and that’s an abbreviated list.
There have been leaders and legends (on the team, not ill-fated Big Ten Conference divisions) as well as one-game wonders and many standouts who were successful because they were workmanlike or wonderful.
Amidst all that success, all the bowl games (52), all those unbeaten seasons (10), there have been many super football players.
Here’s a question, though: Who was the most important player in Penn State history?
Not the most awarded or honored, not the most popular or successful but the most important — the one who’s impact and legacy mean the most for the program.
While Penn State can lay claim to the title of Linebacker U. — with a two- or three-deep roster of All-America quality standouts at that position — it’s similarly stacked at many spots all over the field when you consider the program’s rich history.
A strong argument could be made for a Mount Rushmore, of sorts, at just about every position. That’s a discussion for some other day, though, and maybe a slightly easier one.
For this column, it’s about determining the most important player — the one player above all others.
It’s probably a no-win discussion, one that’ll likely prompt second-guessing and strong reactions but those factors have not been deterrent. Plus, I intentionally did not reach out to my friend and Penn State football historian Lou Prato to pick his brain on the topic, so I’m sure what follows will overlook someone. Many someones, in fact.
I did talk with and trade texts with family and friends, though, and, in fairness, it’s my topic so I’m going to cheat a bit and toss out a few options.
It’s a short list of lasting impact.
With all that context and disclaimers, here are a few candidates, listed alphabetically, for the Most Important Player in Penn State football history.
Todd Blackledge
With all Penn State’s success under coach Joe Paterno during his first 16 seasons in charge of the program, the Nittany Lions had earned national respect but not a national championship. They finished second in the final polls twice, in 1968 and 1969, but always fallen just short.
Blackledge was under center, leading a team that passed for more yards than it gained rushing, when Penn State won its first national championship in 1982. There’s something special about the first, and Blackledge added to that on-field success as an Academic All-America selection — with all that a precursor to a career as one of the best analysts covering college football, a role he continues to this day.
He’s worked for every major network and has complemented his professional career with the kind of personal success that fit the Penn State narrative, as a coach, father and leader. He’s still the go-to guy for many big-time Penn State events — including last week’s inaugural Impact Awards — and certainly an important player in the history of the program.
John Cappelletti
Eastern football had been viewed as something less by national media, and Penn State’s success in the late 1960s and early 1970s did little to change that mindset. Even with back-to-back 11-0 seasons (1968, 1969), and even after going 11-2 in 1971 and 10-2 in 1972, respect remained elusive.
After playing defensive back early in his career and waiting to earn playing time behind Lydell Mitchell and Franco Harris, Cappelletti put together a stellar season in 1973. He rushed for 1,522 yards on 286 carries with 17 touchdowns as the team went 12-0.
With legends before him like Harris, Mitchell and Lenny Moore, and many more after him (Saquon Barkley, Larry Johnson, Curtis Enis, Blair Thomas, D.J. Dozier, Curtis Warner, Matt Suhey) It might be hard to argue Cappelletti as the best running back in Penn State history.
Still, his stellar season warranted the Heisman Trophy, and he earned the Maxwell Award, the Walter Camp Award and was a unanimous All-America selection. All that signaled, finally, some respect for Penn State, making Cappelletti among the most important for helping secure that respect.
Rosey Grier
His teammate, running back Lenny Moore, was the more honored (and deserves consideration as Most Important as well), but Grier, a defensive tackle, did a lot to make Penn State a potential destination for black players. Plus, he was a passionate activist and a well-rounded professional — on and off the field.
He was selected to an NCAA list of the 100 most influential student-athletes, played for the Giants and Rams in the NFL — earning All-Pro status five times — and doing even more off the field.
He hosted his own weekly half-hour TV show, served as a bodyguard (he was famously on site when Sirhan Sirhan shot Bobby Kennedy in 1968), made more than 70 guest TV appearances, supported numerous charities and written several books, on topics ranging from “Rosey Grier’s Needlepoint for Men” to several biographies.
Michael Mauti
Many fans probably have Mauti, a linebacker and Penn State legacy, atop their list because he and teammate Michael Zordich, another legacy, were the defiantly strong spokesmen as Penn State players said they would remain with the program rather than transfer away in the wake of NCAA sanctions resulting from the Sandusky scandal.
Mauti, whose father, Rich, was a wide receiver for the Nittany Lions in the mid-’70s, battled injuries to return to the field, only to sustain further injuries before working hard toward an eventual short-lived NFL career.
His defiance and loyalty, along with that of his teammates, did a lot to limit the on-field struggles during that time. That group’s pride and loyalty, as well as its gumption and moxie, were in display with Mauti, Zordich (his father, Mike, played in the early ’80s), quarterback Matt McGloin and all the others who stuck through and, arguably, saved the Penn State football program while often playing shorthanded.
They opened the door for people like quarterback Christian Hackenberg to stand by his decision to attend Penn State (he’s another who could be on the Most Important list), and for the program itself to be positioned for almost immediate success once the scholarship restrictions were lifted.
Or course, Mauti remains committed and outspoken in regard to the Penn State football program, and his passion resonates with many — the kind of long-lasting approach that make someone a Most Important Player.
Michael Robinson
He was not alone, none of the Most Important candidates would be, but Robinson was the driving force, the quarterback of record, the Maxwell Award winner and fifth in the Heisman Trophy voting when Penn State reached the Orange Bowl after the 2005 season.
After enduring the dark years, when the team went 3-9 in 2003 and 4-7 in 2004, Robinson put the team on its back and (thanks to recruits like Derrick Williams and Justin King who had joined the program after Paterno defiantly said he would keep his job after being asked to depart by university leaders) helped revitalize the program.
Robinson’s productivity helped validate Penn State’s approach and earn a share of the conference championship. In the four years before Robinson was the starting quarterback, Penn State won 21 games. In the four years after, the Nittany Lions won 40 games.
Again, it’s a team game, but Robinson, who went on to an NFL career where he adapted and became the starting fullback on a Super Bowl-winning team, clearly made an impact and helped change a culture. As a pro, he was respected and steady, if not super productive. He scored five touchdowns in eight seasons split evenly with the 49ers and Seahawks.
While playing, he was working on his communications skills, launching podcast and video efforts that have led to him working for the NFL Network these days. Plus, he’s dedicated to charity work and making an impact in Richmond, Va., where he lives with his wife and two children. Again, a typically Penn State narrative — the kind of thing that puts you among the Most important.
Who’s Not Here?
All the standouts from 1968 and 1969, many of the younger players Paterno turned to who altered program’s trajectory early in the coach’s career — Ted Kwalick, Dennis Onkotz, Charlie Pittman, Mike Reid and Neal Smith. It’s just hard to pinpoint one.
As a group, they might be the most important in the program, followed closely by those on the 1985-86 teams, but this is not a group award.
Also missing, Dave Robinson and Jack Ham, who are both in the College Football and Pro Football Hall of Fame.
There’s not a linebacker besides Mauti on the list, either. Perhaps that’s hard to believe, but at the same time, from Mother Dunn (1906), a linebacker and the program’s first All-American, to Micah Parsons (2019), linebackers have been super-productive, stunning (the “LaVar Leap” is iconic), but not necessarily the most important players in the program’s history.
In a game, season or career, sure. There’s just not one that rises even higher for the purposes of this argument.
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