Which player do you think Joe Paterno was closest to and probably the proudest of in his career?

[Jerademan74]

I would say it had to be John Cappelletti. Cappy shared his Italian heritage with Joe, was a Heisman Trophy winner, had a family that adored Joe, and vis-a-versa, and Joe was extremely caring to the Cappy family over his brother Joey's situation. My guess is that Cappy was the kind of kid that Joe could relate to most as his own son who made him proud, and it showed! BTW, I believe that Jay made Joe extremely proud too, despite the awful way he was treated by some fans, especially on this board!

 

[psu00]

I would say it had to be John Cappelletti. Cappy shared his Italian heritage with Joe, was a Heisman Trophy winner, had a family that adored Joe, and vis-a-versa, and Joe was extremely caring to the Cappy family over his brother Joey's situation. My guess is that Cappy was the kind of kid that Joe could relate to most as his own son who made him proud, and it showed! BTW, I believe that Jay made Joe extremely proud too, despite the awful way he was treated by some fans, especially on this board!

It's a good question. I don't know if there's anyway it can be answered with absolute certainty. Much of his coaching career, I was too young to be able to evaluate his relationship with players. I would bet the players he was most proud of were those that didn't have the greatest talent or academic achievement early on but worked the hardest and overcame the most to be good students and good people.

 

[marshall23]

Adam Taliaferro

 

[dawgduice]

I'm thinking Mike Guman, since Joe tried to put him in a game two years after he graduated

 

[Michael.Felli]

All the "rudy-like" players, IMO.

 

[BobPSU92]

It would probably be players who didn't have the natural talents on the field or in the classroom but persevered and were successful in life, whether that included football or not.

 

[bdgan]

It would probably be players who didn't have the natural talents on the field or in the classroom but persevered and were successful in life, whether that included football or not.

^^^ This ^^^

He obviously cared about the Curkendall family.

 

[sluggo72]

Jay

 

[lionlurker]

Not one of the Surma's?

 

[cjrugger]

Mike Robinson

 

[Colorado Man]

Adam Taliaferro

Cappy is a good choice, but I believe Adam is the best choice due to the amount of adversity he overcame

 

[psuro]

Jay Paterno

 

[Nittany Ziggy]

Impossible to answer definitively but Franco would be on the first page of the "search" results!

 

[harbest]

Matt Millen................right!

 

[BobPSU92]

Matt Millen................right!

I love Millen imitating Joe yelling about him maintaining poise.

 

[cavic]

Hard to say one. An interesting case that I didn't see mentioned -- Bob White

 

[Achowalogan]

The real beauty of Joe is that there never was just one. Joe loved all his players, each in their own way, and as he said, he got more from them than he ever gave them, even the ones that gave him a difficult time. If you are a parent, you understand. You love all your children, equally, unconditionally...."The People's Joe"...he has touched our lives and we have grown..

 

[Chris92]

 

[olelion]

Bob Campbell is in the conversation

 

[Jerademan74]

The real beauty of Joe is that there never was just one. Joe loved all his players, each in their own way, and as he said, he got more from them than he ever gave them, even the ones that gave him a difficult time. If you are a parent, you understand. You love all your children, equally, unconditionally...."The People's Joe"...he has touched our lives and we have grown..

Although this has merit, everybody has their favorites for different reasons. I would also think that if Joe were alive and was candidly asked this question, he would include Tamba Hali as one of his tops. Just think what Hali had to overcome to succeed! I'm also hoping Joe was well enough to see how both Mchael Zordich and Mike Mauti stood up for him and Penn State football!

 

[GTACSA]

I would say from the 68-69 teams; Jack Ham, Bobby Campbell Chuck Burkhart etc

 

[PSU1991]

Tamba Hali would be in the conversation.

 

[ChiTownLion]

Just wanted to jump in to commend @Jerademan78 for consistently presenting some of the best PSUFB-related questions for the BWI/McAndrew/Fisher board to debate.

 

[hagerstown lion]

I would say it had to be John Cappelletti. Cappy shared his Italian heritage with Joe, was a Heisman Trophy winner, had a family that adored Joe, and vis-a-versa, and Joe was extremely caring to the Cappy family over his brother Joey's situation. My guess is that Cappy was the kind of kid that Joe could relate to most as his own son who made him proud, and it showed! BTW, I believe that Jay made Joe extremely proud too, despite the awful way he was treated by some fans, especially on this board!

 

[hagerstown lion]

Mike Reid not only a great DT but, who retired young to follow his dream in the musical profession.

 

[BarryPSU]

Other than his own son Jay, I would say Tom Bradley for he worked with him on a day to day basis for years. So did Dick Anderson. Tom's brothers played for Joe as did Franco's and a group of other family pairs. Franco was pretty close to Joe as was Mike Reid. It would be hard to pick any one player for Joe had a great relationship and was close with many of his former players.

 

[john4psu]

I would think Franco, Tamba Hali, and Michael Robinson would be high on the list.

 

[jerot]

Tommy Bill.

 

[jrd23psu]

That's a tough question. I think Joe was very close to a lot of players. Cap, MRob, Poz, LaVar, and any number of other guys would be good picks.

 

[BobPSU92]

That's a tough question. I think Joe was very close to a lot of players. Cap, MRob, Poz, LaVar, and any number of other guys would be good picks.

Joe was at odds with Arrington when Arrington played at Penn State. Maybe they got along better as Arrington matured.

 

[psuro]

I think too many posters are assuming that Joe was close to the guys who were fan favorites. To Joe's credit, he never publicly stated if one player was more of a favorite than others - he would often squirm away from that question when asked.

I would also venture to guess that if Joe did develop favorites, it was less to do with their notoriety than with other factors of their personal, academic and athletic developments.

 

[Cruising Route 66]

Which player do you think Joe Paterno was closest to and probably the proudest of in his career?

Impossible to say but I think it could be someone no one would ever think of because he had a non descript PSU football career. I'll throw a name out because he was from NYC and I know JVP asked him to join his coaching staff when his playing days were over and JVP didn't hand job offers out to just anyone. Tom Yahn was on the '86 NC team but saw virtually no playing time yet overcame some long odds and went on to play professional football for the Patriots. He later went back to his native Bronx to teach and dedicate his life to working with kids in his community. Things that JVP would have admired.

 

[mhentz]

JayPa?

 

[psu1969a]

Charlie Pitman, reason in Charlie & Tony's book.

 

[Mixolydian]

Impossible to say but I think it could be someone no one would ever think of because he had a non descript PSU football career. I'll throw a name out because he was from NYC and I know JVP asked him to join his coaching staff when his playing days were over and JVP didn't hand job offers out to just anyone. Tom Yahn was on the '86 NC team but saw virtually no playing time yet overcame some long odds and went on to play professional football for the Patriots. He later went back to his native Bronx to teach and dedicate his life to working with kids in his community. Things that JVP would have admired.

Wait a minute...Joe would have admired someone who dedicated his life to working with kids in the community, yet according to you and your ilk he conspired with others at PSU for over a decade to cover up a serial pedophile? You are stuck on stupid. But we all already knew that....

 

[PSU1991]

Add Devon Still to the list. BTW, he'll be on the Espys tonight without Leah who wasn't cleared by her doctors to go because her immune system is still too weak.