Your favorite player in Penn State football history
- Thread starter ChiTownLion
- Start date
A one game favorite Nittany Lion goes to Pete Giftopolous. During the 87 championship game he made some big plays. However, Kerry Collins may be the best Lion of all time. I still believe till today that the undefeated 1994 Nittany Lions would have beaten Nebraska.
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Curt Warner
There was an unmatched sense of excitement for me every time Curt touched the ball. He had the best feet and cuts in the hole of any PSU tailback I ever saw. I think Saquon might have surpassed Curt for me, but that just wasn’t going to happen for him in this offense.
There was an unmatched sense of excitement for me every time Curt touched the ball. He had the best feet and cuts in the hole of any PSU tailback I ever saw. I think Saquon might have surpassed Curt for me, but that just wasn’t going to happen for him in this offense.
Franco Harris - because he never stopped fighting for Joe Paterno.
Matt McGloin - because he never stopped fighting for himself.
Matt McGloin - because he never stopped fighting for himself.
Probably the Reid and Steve Smear combo, but after next year, it might be Trace....
LaVar...actually met him in the handicap parking lot after a game he was playing in. Was walking to see his father who was wounded in the Vietnam War if I remember correctly. ONLY NFL jersey I ever bought was LaVar's.
Always liked Andre Collins out of Cinnaminson NJ. Just because he was drafted by the Redskins soon after I moved down here to DC...always remember he was from a big family and most of them went to Penn State. Met him not too long ago at a Redskins function. He was/is a rep for the players association? I think?
Always liked Andre Collins out of Cinnaminson NJ. Just because he was drafted by the Redskins soon after I moved down here to DC...always remember he was from a big family and most of them went to Penn State. Met him not too long ago at a Redskins function. He was/is a rep for the players association? I think?
So many great men have come through this program but I'll stick with my first all-time favorite.
So many favorites for me over the past 53 years ... I'll break it down by decade:
1960s -- Mike Reid, Dennis Onkotz, Roger Grimes, and Bob Campbell
1970s -- Lydell Mitchell, John Cappelletti, John Hufnagel, and Bruce Clark
1980s -- Curt Warner, Mark Robinson, Blair Thomas, and Shane Conlan
1990s -- Ki-Jana Carter, Bobby Engram, Courtney Brown, and Lavar Arrington
2000s -- Paul Posluszny, Michael Robinson, Tamba Hali, and Zach Mills
2010s(?) -- Michael Mauti, Michael Zordich, Marcus Allen, and Saquon Barkley
If I am only allowed 1 ... gotta be old #68.
1960s -- Mike Reid, Dennis Onkotz, Roger Grimes, and Bob Campbell
1970s -- Lydell Mitchell, John Cappelletti, John Hufnagel, and Bruce Clark
1980s -- Curt Warner, Mark Robinson, Blair Thomas, and Shane Conlan
1990s -- Ki-Jana Carter, Bobby Engram, Courtney Brown, and Lavar Arrington
2000s -- Paul Posluszny, Michael Robinson, Tamba Hali, and Zach Mills
2010s(?) -- Michael Mauti, Michael Zordich, Marcus Allen, and Saquon Barkley
If I am only allowed 1 ... gotta be old #68.
Michael Mauti. MVP for the program, not even close.
Absolutely. Collins was a Generalfeldmarschall out there. You felt like that 1994 offense could will themselves to overcome anything.
Chet Parlaveccio, the meanest SOB ever to play LB. And Jimmy Cefalo, who was the king of raising a ruckus with the ladies.
Agree on Chet 100%. On the OL side of the ball Ron Heller was one Nasty SOB as well!
They overcame everything, except biased voters. Shame. I rarely say teams are robbed in sports, but that team was robbed.
Reid, Dave Robinson, Cappy, Ham, but no one has done more for PSU than Franco. A real ambassador..
Poz.
My first PSU favorite: Charlie Pittman followed by Lydell Mitchell
Off-the-field: Franco Harris and Michael Mauti
My first PSU favorite: Charlie Pittman followed by Lydell Mitchell
Off-the-field: Franco Harris and Michael Mauti
Curt Warner was my favorite because the tougher the competition the better his game. Went to the 83 Sugar Bowl and proposed to my wife during the game. Spent most of the 4th Qtr yelling Warner..Warner, as he was cramping up but when we needed a 1st down he came back in a got it. But there are so many now! My wife and I and my 3 kids for 20 years were a host family for Big 33 Pennsy players. My oldest son was a water boy when he was young. He met Craig Fayak at 3 yrs old shagging balls for him during field goal practice and although he couldn't attend my son's HS Grad party due to working a PSU Kicking camp, he stopped by our house with a graduation gift on his way back home. Then there was Lavar & Kenny Watson! At the Redskins Training Camp in Ashburn, VA not long after moving there, we went for a visit and got there a bit late, almost all the players were inside their locker room already but we did see Lavar still signing autographs. Then he says that's it, I got to get going, sorry. We were yelling Lavar, Lavar like everyone else until I yelled with my Penn State voice, "Big 33 water boy!" He stopped dead in his tracks, looked over and came and spent another 15 minutes talking. At Purdue in 97 I gave Lavar a Pee Wee football card of my son....anyhow, during our visit he told my son he still had his card and my son tells Lavar like its no big deal, "Yeah, I still got yours!" Walking back to our car we ran into Kenny Watson's mother and when she learned who my son was, she called Kenny and he came back outside and he had another great visit. Every single Big 33 player we hosted was a favorite of ours also. It didn't matter to what extent they excelled at Penn State, they were like family! Last night was emotional for my wife and I as our last Big 33 player ran off the field at Beaver Stadium for the last time! One last player I must mention....a couple years ago we were visiting my brother & sister-in-law near Buffalo and went to the market downtown on the Saturday before Easter. I was wearing my usual Penn State jacket and hat when this pretty big dude wearing a red jacket comes over asking if I graduated from Penn State. I said I had not graduated from Penn State but my oldest son and daughter both had and I've been a season ticket holder for 38 years. I asked him what his name was and I told him he was of the teams that caused me to become such a lifelong fan. Ed O'Neil, really a great guy! We talked a bit about our affection for his old coach! Back in the day I couldn't wait for my mothers letters to reach me overseas because she always sent me the Harrisburg Patriot News sports section with the Penn State results. Hard to pick just one favorite player.....I say anyone who dons the blue and white! My youngest son will get his degree within the next month and he has a picture with himself and Todd Blackledge, Blair Thomas & Kenny Jackson.
Bob, loved the Roger Grimes choice. Knee injury cut him short. I'll add Tom Sherman to your 60's list. Best name: Lincoln Lippincott,Jr. (sp?)
Dennis Onkotz, a two-time consensus All-American (1968-69) linebacker from Northampton who also returned punts.
He WAS a true beast before he got hurt.....sadly, he was very very ave upon his return.
Frank O’Harris!
Seriously, lots of great names / great players in this thread. No wrong answers!
Seriously, lots of great names / great players in this thread. No wrong answers!
1. Franco
2. LaVar
3. MRob
Saquon is just too young to have a place in this contest right now. But give him some years playing in the NFL and repping PSU, and he could move way up the list.
2. LaVar
3. MRob
Saquon is just too young to have a place in this contest right now. But give him some years playing in the NFL and repping PSU, and he could move way up the list.
Roger Grimes was my very first Penn State "hero" (so to speak) when I became a Nittany Lion fan in 1964. He was considered the top new player in the East (freshmen not eligible) in Rip Engle's final season of 1965. Grimes was featured in Look magazine's college football preview, giving me my first look at the Soph Sensation at RB. He never really recovered from that knee injury.
Lippincott, I believe, was in Naval ROTC and took a commission upon graduation. I never read how his career in the Navy went.
He was a big idol of mine also in those early years. Another name I left out was Bill Lenkitis.. I think he was a center? I had the opportunity to meet him and Jack Curry, as my sister was best friends with Bill's girlfriend at Penn State. What a thrill for a boy like me at the time.
