We Still Are

All eyes are on Happy Valley today for the first game in the post-Joe Paterno era. Lots of things have changed at Penn State in the past eight months...a new coach has arrived, the statue has been taken down, the wins have been revoked, some players have left, the jerseys now have names on them. So much has changed...but one thing has not changed: the dedication of the players, coaches, and fans of the school.


Players: Nine have left. I honestly can't blame any of them. Neither can the players who stayed, nearly all of which showed full support for Silas Redd after he transferred to USC. One teammate actually tweeted that "I'll be rooting for you" at USC.

The players who stayed, especially the seniors, have shown their dedication to the UNIVERSITY, not to the football team. I think Mike Zordich and Michael Mauti said it best...I'll let them speak. They still are the leaders of Penn State.

Coaches: All I can say is that Bill O'Brien is the right man for this job. He has said and done EVERYTHING right. And I mean EVERYTHING. Fans agree, "We Bill-ieve" in this team and this university. I hope that he can have success on the field as much as the success he's had off of the field so far. If he is half as successful, he'll win Penn State a national title in his tenure.

He's motivated, he's young. What will be tough is when he loses some talent over the next couple of years due to lack of scholarships. If they can win 8-9 games this year, the recruits will still come to Penn State because they will see that this team can still win, because they still are Penn State.

Fans: The support shown for this team is astounding. Over 15,000 showed up to the rally last night in Beaver Stadium. They are supporting the team, supporting the players, supporting the university. Ticket sales are still high, with 100,000 attendees certainly for each home game. That shows that the fans still are supporting their university.

And I need to make a statement to all of those out there who are refusing to support Penn State. One example I heard (and it's not the only one) comes from ESPN Radio's Mike Greenberg. He became a big fan of Bill O'Brien after his interviews with ESPN following the sanctions. Greeny tweeted something like "I'll be rooting for Bill O'Brien and the Penn State team this year." To that, he received numerous responses such as "classy Greeny. you support the team, I'll be supporting the victims."

Let me make this very clear: Support of the team and support of the victims are two COMPLETELY different things. In fact, supporting the team IS MORE EQUAL TO supporting the victims than it is to NOT supporting the victims. This team, who had NOTHING to do with the scandal, has come together in support of all who were victimized, in support of their school, and in support of their fellow Nittany Lions. How does supporting them show anything but further support for the victims?

In the end, I ask all members of Nittany Nation...students, alumni, lifelong fans, new fans, and those who don't care at all about Penn State football....to come together to support the young men who stuck it out. Because a family sticks together, in good times and in bad, in support of those who need and deserve the supporting.

We Are Penn State. We Still Are Penn State.

  We Will Always Be Penn State.