Penn State Football: Family is More Than Just Words it's in the DNA
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NOTE: New coach Matt Campbell and his staff have made it a priority to connect with Penn State's former players and the history of the program. This is the second in a continuing series of offseason essays highlighting Penn State football history focusing on the players. It will also include some stories about our unique community of fans.
In our first essay we talked about Penn State’s great history of linemen on both sides of the ball. That is the foundation of any great team on the field.
But the foundation of any enduring program is a family ethos that welcomes all. In Penn State’s case, family has an even bigger meaning as the bloodlines of individual families course through the heart of Penn State football. This essay will cover many of these bloodlines as a key part of this great program.
Just prior to World War I Bob Higgins came to Penn State from Corning, NY to begin his academic and athletic career. He remains one of the biggest figures in Penn State football history. He was an All-American end in 1915 before serving in WW I. He returned to be an All-American again in 1919 in his College Hall of Fame career.
But his story goes beyond his playing days. He returned to Penn State as an assistant coach in 1928 and became the Head Coach in 1930 where he stayed through the 1948 season.
He coached one of the greatest Penn State teams; the 1947 Cotton Bowl team. That team is well known for breaking the color barrier in the Cotton Bowl, but contrary to modern mythology the “We Are” cheer at Penn State did not originate with the 1947 team. That cheer did not start until the 1970s.
But recognizing the true origin about the “We Are” cheer does not lessen the tough choices to do what was right in 1947. Under Higgins the program was an early example of integration. Most of the teams in the south waited until the early 1970s.
Comedian Shane Gillis once quipped “We landed a man on the moon before Alabama had a Black cornerback.”
On that 1947 team was All-American Steve Suhey who would end up in the College Football Hall of Fame (like his coach). Steve married Bob Higgins’ daughter Ginger (who would later be my godmother). They had three sons that played at Penn State; Larry, Paul and Matt. Paul was a linebacker who had the good fortune to play behind a d-line of Matt Millen, Bruce Clark, Larry Kubin and Joe Lally. Larry and Matt played running back.
The three of them were an impressive core of State College High’s greatest team. That team that won the State Championship in a 10-0 season that included wins over both Pittsburgh North Catholic and Central Catholic. Of note; that State High team was coached by Penn State letterman Jim Williams who would later become a long-time Penn State assistant coach. Jim was one of at least three Penn State lettermen to coach State High. Joe Yukica and Ron Pavlechko are part of that list.
Matt Suhey was a 2nd-round pick of the Chicago Bears in 1980 and played 10 years in the NFL. He scored a touchdown in the Bears’ Super Bowl win. His backfield partner was Walter Payton and their long friendship evolved into a true brotherhood. You can read more about that here.
In the 2000s the next Suhey generation arrived for Penn State football. Quarterback Kevin Suhey (son of Paul) and fullback Joey Suhey (son of Matt) played at Penn State. Kevin saw action on special teams. Joey was a talented route runner who could have been an NFL player if not for lingering injury issues.
Joey was notable because, according to Matt, he was the first Suhey to dunk a basketball. Two of his high school basketball teammates at Loyola Academy were Jeffrey and Marcus Jordan whose father was a fairly good ballplayer in his day.
When Joey finished his career at Penn State with the 2011 season, it ended (for now) a span from 1914-2011 for the Higgins/Suhey players at Penn State.
Joey Suhey’s Penn State teammate and fellow fullback was Michael Zordich. Michael is remembered for his leadership defending Penn State in the 2012 season. Zordich’s father Michael was an intelligent player as safety at Penn State and for twelve years in the NFL.
The other vocal leader at that time was Michael Mauti, whose father Rich played football and lacrosse at Penn State. Rich’s last season at Penn State was 1976 before eight years in the NFL. His oldest son Patrick was a receiver before younger brother Michael joined him in 2008.
Michael Mauti and Michael Zordich made a pitch to their teammates to stay at Penn State in 2012 and really set the tone for that season. Both will tell you that their family roots at Penn State were a big factor in asserting their leadership.
Family has always mattered here and respect for family ties has yielded some great benefits for the program.
Mickey Shuler arrived at Penn State in the 1970s as an undersized player who became one of the great tight ends to play at Penn State. When his son Mickey was coming out of high school, he too was undersized. But the veteran coaches who remembered how his father developed, saw the same things in the son. Despite being a less prominent recruit, tight end coach Bill Kenney signed the younger Mickey who developed into an NFL tight end.
While the Suheys were a 4-generation line, the Garritys were a 3-generation line. Jim Garrity lettered from 1952-54, his son Gregg lettered from 1980-82 and made a rather memorable catch in the Sugar Bowl to clinch a National Title. His son Gregg returned kicks and played for Penn State in the early 2010s.
Brothers were also a key component. Dozens of brother combinations have donned the Blue and White almost from the first days in 1887. Frank, Louis and Roy Mattern lettered as Penn State teammates in 1891. Two years later the Dunsmores arrived as William and J.A. Dunsmore joined the team. William lettered in 1893, J.A. lettered four times form 1893-96 and James lettered in 1894-95.
That started a trend that continues to endure.
Brothers Frank and Jim O’Hara played for Penn State in the 1930s. Jim was a long-time Penn State assistant and was my godfather. He was the pride of Dunmore, PA.
In the 1960s George and John Kulka played together at Penn State. John’s son Todd would play in the 1990s before a successful career in Penn State’s Morgan Academic Support center that continues today. Franco Harris arrived at Penn State in the late 1960s and was followed by brother Pete, an All-American Safety in 1978, and Giuseppe. John and Mike Cappelletti both played at Penn State as well.
In the 1970s, Walt Bahr became Penn State’s soccer coach and as luck would have it, he had two sons who were not only pro caliber soccer stars, but also great football kickers. Chris and Matt both played professional soccer in the old NASL but really shined in the NFL. They combined for 31 years and 4 Super Bowl rings in the NFL.
Current Steelers team doctor and distinguished Penn State Alum Dr. Jim Bradley was the first of three brothers to play at Penn State. He was followed by Tom, who would be a captain and coach at Penn State for over three decades. The youngest brother, Matt, was the best athlete of the three. He was a tough outside linebacker/strong safety.
Ron Coder played guard at Penn State and the NFL in the 1970s and his brother Craig was a teammate here. The two of them were frequently seen doing daring jumps and dives off the 10-meter platform at Penn State’s outdoor pool in the summer. The coaches were not particularly thrilled by their daredevil antics. But for those of us at the pool it was wildly entertaining.
Two-time All-American Wide Receiver Kenny Jackson and his brother Roger (safety) came to Penn State from South River, NJ and were critical pieces on the 1982 National Title team. Trailing 14-0 at #1 Pitt, Roger picked off a Dan Marino pass in the end zone to start the 2nd quarter that triggered a 48-0 point avalanche in that rout (brother Kenny had two memorable TDs in that game).
On that same team were another set of brothers. Safety Harry Hamilton was the first of three Hamilton brothers to come to Penn State. Brother Lance played cornerback, and Darren was a wide receiver. Both Harry and Lance were multi-year Academic All-Americans.
Their father, Stan was a civil rights and community activist who ran soup kitchens, homeless shelters and helped the poor throughout Northeast PA. Stan had a huge impact on my life, as well as serving as an important sounding board for Joe Paterno on critical issues of the day on race and equality.
The most geographically interesting set of brothers were Frank and Phil Yeboah-Cody. Frank was a defensive back who lettered in 1993 while Phil was a linebacker who started a few years including the undefeated 1994 team and played in the NFL. They came to Penn State from Vanier College in Montreal which has produced a long line of college football players. But their story started in Ghana where they were born and raised before moving to Canada.
There were other notable combos. We mentioned the O-line brothers of Chris, Keith and Kevin Conlin in our last essay. Quarterback Paul Cianciolo signed with Penn State in 2004 from Charleston, SC and was joined by his brother who transferred from Air Force. Before Paul left Penn State after lettering in 2008 he reached his goal of getting his undergrad degree and MBA. Joe was a talented long snapper who lettered in 2005-06.
Jim and John Shaw were linemen and teammates on some of those same teams. They were born to play with their hands in the dirt. Their father had a worm farm that supplied live bait nationally to big stores and shipped to places like Japan.
Gerald Cadogan was an Academic All-American who started at tackle for the 2008 Spread HD offense which ranked among the top 10 all-time in Big Ten history in several statistical categories. His brother Nate was a tackle and part-time goal-line offense tight end who caught a touchdown in Joe Paterno’s 400th win.
The brother combinations did not always end smoothly. Ron and Doug Hostetler had successful Penn State careers before younger brother Jeff came to play quarterback. In 1980 Jeff was locked in a QB battle with Todd Blackledge who eventually won the job and led Penn State to the National Title in 1982.
Jeff transferred to West Virginia and had great success there but fell short against Penn State as a starter in 1982 and 1983 when PSU upset the 4th-ranked Mountaineers. Jeff went on to a successful NFL career and won a Super Bowl as the starting QB for the Giants.
(You want to win a Penn State trivia bet: Who are the 3 starting Penn State QBs who started in the Super Bowl ? Answer at the end of this essay).
There is also an in-law connection between the Hostetlers and Steve Stupar a 1979 letterman. Steve’s son Nate was a starter at linebacker for Penn State alongside Michael Mauti from 2008-11 before Nate started on a 7-year NFL career.
These were just a handful of the brother combinations at Penn State. But there were father/son combinations as well. That even extended to the coaching ranks.
Dick Anderson played at Penn State and coached at Penn State for many years. But ironically, he was the Head Coach at Rutgers when his son Jeff played at Penn State. Fran Ganter was a Penn State fullback and the offensive coordinator here when his sons Chris and Jason played for the Nittany Lions.
All-American running back Charlie Pittman was on undefeated teams at Penn State. His son Tony was a cornerback on the undefeated 1994 team. Running back Mike Guman’s son Andrew played safety, Chris “Scooby” Thorpe’s son C.J. played offensive line. Ed Lenda’s son Tyler came to Penn State to play tight end before growing into an NFL guard.
First overall pick of the 2000 NFL draft Courtney Brown’s nephew Rodney Kinlaw started at running back and led Penn State in rushing in 2007, rolling up 1,329 yards that season.
Sometimes the bloodline skips a generation. Rip Scherer was part of the 1947 team and his grandson Ryan lettered for Penn State in 2011. Rip was an outstanding high school coach in Western PA for many years. But the bloodline didn’t totally skip Penn State. Rip’s son Rip started his coaching career as a graduate assistant coach at Penn State before his career as assistant and as a head coach in college and the NFL.
But amid all this family talk, perhaps no family stands out more than the Collins family. In 1986 a highly touted safety from Cinnaminson, NJ signed with Penn State (he would later move to linebacker). On the home recruiting visit Fran Ganter and Joe Paterno met Andre, his parents as well as his 18 brothers and sisters. Mr. and Mrs. Collins had all nineteen of them present for that visit.
Joe Paterno returned and talked about how impressive their family was. Little did he know what was coming next. Younger brother Gerry went to Colorado State and after two years his mother Frances called Penn State and told (not asked) Joe that Gerry would be transferring to Penn State to play running back. Joe replied that he’d have to look at Gerry before Frances cut him off and stated that Gerry would be at Penn State and Joe would have a scholarship for him. But that was not the end of it.
Brothers Jason (safety), Phil (receiver) and Aaron (linebacker) rounded out a set of 5 brothers who all played at Penn State. Frances was a force of nature and it was reflected in her family. Nine guys named Collins played for Penn State and five of them were from the same family.
But what’s in a name?
The 2002 team could have been dubbed “The Brothers Johnson”. Larry (running back) and Tony (receiver) were the sons of defensive line coach Larry Johnson. When that explosive offensive broke the huddle, it was a Johnson nightmare. Larry rushed for 2000+ yards, brother Tony was at wide receiver along with Bryant Johnson (no relation). Bryant and Larry were NFL 1st-rounders. Other unrelated Johnsons were defensive tackle Ed, defensive back Donnie and linebacker Tim (whose father played at Penn State).
All told at least 27 guys named Johnson lettered in football for Penn State and six were on the 2002 team. The name Johnson is the all-time leader. Twenty-three Smiths and twenty guys named Brown played for Penn State. Davis (13), Miller (13), Williams (13) and Wilson (11) are next. And from McAndrews through McSorley fifty-two Nittany Lions had last names that started with “Mc”. And there were two players with the same phonetic name: safety Shawn Lee from Harrisburg in the 1990s and linebacker Sean Lee (no relation) from Pittsburgh finished his PSU career in 2009.
Whether players were related across generation or within generations or not related at all, Penn State is a place where a brotherhood was formed. It is a common cause, a belief in a set of core values that endures. It is a belief that we came here for something different, something better.
And as we look to the future, we expect that this place will continue to inspire future generations to seek what has always made this place unique.
TRIVIA ANSWER: The 3 Penn State starting quarterbacks to later start in a Super Bowl are: Jeff Hostetler, Kerry Collins and Michael Robinson.
