READ: Penn State Letter From Players In Support Of Joe Paterno
(CBS) Below is a letter signed by 425 former Penn State players showing support for former head coach Joe Paterno who turned 85 years old Wednesday:
As members of the Penn State Community, we are deeply saddened by the allegations against Jerry Sandusky, and our thoughts and prayers go out to the victims and their families. Given the allegations against Sandusky, we understand the public's outrage because we share it.
At the same time, however, it's important to remember that all of the facts surrounding this troubling matter are not known. Until all of the facts are known and due process has run its course, we ask that the public reserve judgment about Joe Paterno and the Penn State community.
Having known Coach Paterno for many years, we can say with certainty that Joe Paterno is a remarkable man and that Penn State is a remarkable institution. Joe has had a profound effect on the lives of almost every member of the Penn State family. Joe has taught Penn State faith, fairness, philanthropy and the importance of academic excellence – all values that make Penn State a great institution today.
Penn State's new president recently said that he wants the university to be known as a great research institution. In fact, the institution that Joe helped build is much larger than a single coach or team. Penn State is 94,300 students on 24 campuses. We are Milton S. Hershey Medical Center, Dickinson School of Law and Smeal College of Business. We are the world's largest dues-paying alumni association. We are home of the world's largest student run philanthropic organization. We are the University that has raised over $500,000, to date, for victims of child abuse during its darkest hour.
We are much more than just one man or one sport. We are a great research institution today and a university that prepares all of its graduates for success in many different fields.
Many in the Penn State community view the public's rush to judgment of Joe as a rush to judgment of everything Penn State. We ask for due process for Joe Paterno and the Penn State community. Based on the immense quality of Joe's character and the absence of all the facts, we stand in support of Joe and Penn State.
The Penn State Football Family
The following family members have signed the letter:
1950′s
Ray Alberigi
Robert Belus
Thomas Mulraney
Fran "Bucky" Paolone
Frank Della Penna
Bill Russ
Ronald Signorinorino
Skip Stellfox
1960′s
Russ Albert II
George Allen
Ferris Atty
Robert Capretto
Jack Curry
Alan Delmonaco
John Eppensteiner
Gerry Farkas
Ed Gabriel
Tony Gebicki
Warren Hartenstine
Bryan Hondru
Mike Irwin
Martin Karsh
Robert Kline
John Kulka
Jon Lang
Ed Lenda
Bill Lenkaitis
Lincoln Lippincott
Jim Litterelle
Thomas Mairs
Thomas McGrath
Dave McNaughton
Donald Miller
Ed Odorisio
Henry Oppermann
Jack Sain
Steve Schreckengaust
Ted Sebastianelli
Gary Shaffer
Neal Smith
Edward Stewart
Thomas Stuartuart
Bud Torris
John (Jack) Urban
Frank Waresak
Anthony Wayne
Chris Weber
Jack White
Joe Zelinsky
1970′s
Don Abbey
Walt Addie
Franz Ahrenhold
Kurt Allerman
John Andress
Jack Baronas
Jeff Behm
Chuck Benjamin
Rod Bratton
Steve Brezna
Dave Brockway
Chuck Burkhart
Greg Buttle
Robert Campbell
Michael Cappelletti
Joseph V. Carlozo
Thomas Cherry
Ron Coder
Mike Conforto
F. Len Consalvo
Ronald Crosby
Bill Crummy
Ken Deutsch
Joe Diange
Thomas Donchez
John Dunn
Michael Farkas
Chuck Fusina
Paul Gabel
Doneal "Don" Gersh
Bill Glennon
Anthony Gordon
Dave Graf
Franco Harris
James Heller
Scott Hettinger
Ray Horan
Neil Hutton
Phil LaPorta
John Lewchenko
Larry Ludwig
Brian Masella
Richard McClure
Lance Mehl
Lydell Mitchell
Scott Mitchell
Robert Nagle
Ron Pavlechko
Doug Pysher
Tom Rafferty
Joel Ramich
John Reihner
Paul Renaud
George SanFilippo
Carl Schaukowitch
Tom Shoemaker
Mickey Shuler
Tom Shuman
John Skarzynski
John Skorupan
Steve Smear
Michael Smith
John Susko
Marshall Wagner
Dan Wallace
John Williams
Anthony Williott
Charlie Zapiec
1980′s
Rogers Alexander
Michael Arnold
Doug Badali
Mark Battaglia
Trey Bauer
Jeff Bergstrom
Dan Biondi
Todd Blackledge
Scott Bouslough
Jeff Brunie
Jeff Butya
Drew Bycoskie
Mark Cherewka
Bruce Clark
Chris Clauss
Stan Clayton
Jim Coates
Joel Coles
Shane Conlan
Chris Conlin
Bill Contz
Eufard Cooper
Tom Couch
Troy Cromwell
David Crummy
Peter Curkendall
Daniel Delligatti
John DePasqua
Dwayne Downing
DJ Dozier
Michael Dunlay
Tom Durant
Eric Etze
Sean Farrell
Craig Fiedler
Pat Flaherty
Tim Freeman
Mark Fruehan
Mark Galimberti
Gregg Garrity
Tim Gearhart
Darrell Giles
Don Ginnetti
Gene Gladys
Scott Gob
Michael Guman
John Gurski
Nick Haden
Ron Hileman
Lance Hamilton
Eric Hamilton
Brian Hand
Al Harris
Greg Hay
Stu Helgeson
Randy Huttenberger
David Jakob
Joe Johns
Gregg Johnson
Matthew Johnson
Greg Jones
Keith Karpinski
Ken Kelley
Matt Knizner
David Laubebe
Massimo Manca
Tim Manoa
Carmen Masciantonio
Jon Masorti
Brian McCann
Mike Meade
Rob Mikulski
Daniel Morgan
Robert Mrosko
Scott O'Donnell
Brad Pantall
Jay Paterno
Aoatoa Polamalu
Bobby Polito
Ed Pryts
Rodger Puz
Bill Quinn
Scott Radecic
Kevin Romango
Dwayne Rush
Michael Russo
H. Rand Scott
Brad Scovill
Rob Seitz
John Shaffer
Bernie Shalvey
Brian Siverling
Rob Smith
Pete Speros
Joseph Strycharz
Mike Suter
Tim Sweeney
Blair Thomas
Chris Thorpe
Micky Urquhart
John Walsh
Darryl Washington
Tom Wilk
Jon Williams
Leo Wisniewski
Steve Wisniewski
John Wojtowicz
Jeffrey Woofter
1990′s
Jeff Anderson
Bill Anderson
Lavar Arrington
Michael Barninger
Tom Bill
Cuncho Brown
Dave Brzenchek
Ki-Jana Carter
Craig Cirbus
Keith Conlin
Brett Conway
Maurice Daniels
Brian Dozier
Matthew Evancho
Adam Fahrer
Doug Farren
Frederick Fields
Gerald Filardi
Derek Fox
Ivory Gethers
Reggie Givens
Rudolph Glocker
Basim Grant
Ryan Grube
Peter Hadgimallis
Mike Heller
Clint Holes
Leonard Humphries
Greg Huntington
Brad Johnson
Bradley Jones
Corey Jones
Scott Kauffman
Anthony King
Brad Koontz
Josh Kroell
Todd Kulka
Rich Kuzy
Chad Linnon
Rob Luedeke
Michael Malinoski
Christian Marrone
Anthony Matesic
OJ McDuffie
Sean Moffitt
Christian Molnar
Brandon Noble
Kevin O'Keeffe
Keith Olsommer
Doug Ostrosky
Brandon Parmer
Derick Pickett
Stephen Pitts
Mark Ritter
Joe Rose
Rick Sayles
Brad Scioli
Brandon Short
Jerry Slagle
Terry Smith
Richard Stankewicz
Vincent Stewart
Ray Tarasi
Mark Tate
Willie Thomas
LeRoy Thompson
Kevin Thompson
Barry Tielsch
Antonio Twymon
Jerrod Vance
Floyd Wedderburn
Justin Wheeler
Justin Williamss
2000′s
Askari Adams
Anthony Adams
Tyler Ahrenhold
Jesse Alfreno
Lance Antolick
Tim Argiriadi
Chase Bacon
Quinn Barham
Kevin Blanchard
Rick Bolinsky
Jeremy Boone
James Boyd
Brett Brackett
John Bronson
Dorian Burton
Gerald Cadogan
Brad Caldwell
Gino Capone
Brent Carter
Rashard Casey
Mike Cerimele
Daryll Clark
Brennan Coakley
Chris Colasanti
Dan Corrado
Dave Costlow
Andrew Dailey
Eric Dare
Jeremiah Davis
Scott Davis
Steven Delich
Kirk Diehl
Nick Downs
Lou Eliades
Shamar Finney
Eric Flohr
Travis Forney
Joshua Gaines
Phil Gardill
Rich Gardner
Aaron Gatten
Bani Gbadyu
Nathan Glunt
Ryan Gmerek
Tom Golarz
Ron Graham
Benjamin Gummo
Matt Hahn
Austin Hinton
Erik Holt
Kirk Humilovich
Tom Humphrey
Justin Ingram
Cedric Jeffries
Bryant Johnson
Eric Johnson
Damone Jones
Brad Karson
Kevin Kelly
Tom Kelso
Kasey Koontz
Andrew Kubic
Justin Kurpeikis
Ben Lago
Kevion Latham
Dan Lawlor
Tyler Lenda
Mike Lucian
Mike Lukac
Tom Lundquist
Jordan Lyons
Russ Manney
Nick Marmo
Peter Massaro
Josh Matzkin
Patrick Mauti
Shawn Mayer
Shelton McCullough
Marcus Mills
Cordell Mitchell
Anthony Morelli
Mac Morrison
Ross Muir
Jesse Neumyer
Michael Pawlikowski
Anwar Phillips
Nick Pinchek
Andrew Pitz
Ryan Primanti
James Pursley
Curt Reese
Douglas Rheam
Matthew Rice
Brett Robinson
Michael Robinson
Chris Rogers
Mark Rubin
Andrew Ryland
Tyrell Sales
Christopher Santini
Matt Schmitt
Anthony Scirrotto
Bryan Scott
Adam Senk
Andrew Shilling
AQ Shipley
Scott Shirley
Mickey Shuler
Frank Spano
Brandon Steele
Jonathan Stewart
Lonnie Stobert
Geoffrey Stryker
Conlan Swope
Joseph Toriello
Anthony Tortorelli
Gio Vendemia
Collin Wagner
Matthew Waldron
Tim Ward
Kenny Watson
Casey Williams
Stefen Wisniewski
Alan Zemaitis
Graham Zug
Total Signatures: 425
