Names of Student Athletes Signing Petition Supporting Paterno Lawsuit

Recently, more than 300 football Lettermen proclaimed their support for the lawsuit against the NCAA sanctions levied on Penn State’s Football program on July 23, 2012. We, the undersigned, are former Penn State student-athletes and coaches from sports other than football, who join to support the legal action against the NCAA. When we represented Penn State on the field, the court, the ice, the mat, the ring, the pool, or the track we championed a common culture pursuing Success With Honor in the classroom and in athletic competition.

The hasty and unjust actions of The NCAA surely penalize current and future football student-athletes and staff. However, they also negatively impact all former, current and future Penn State student-athletes and coaches in every sport. That is why we support illuminating the truth and the fight for Penn State—reclaiming the exemplary culture hard won by sacrifices we all made to compete with honor.

As others have noted, Penn State is the only public institution participating in major college football that has never been sanctioned for major NCAA violations in any sport. To this day we support the fight for that truth because this fact remains; Penn State has not committed any major NCAA violations in any sport. That is a statement that we all paid for with our own sacrifices and commitment, and is worth fighting for.

Finally, as proud former Penn State student-athletes and coaches not associated with the football program, we firmly reject the idea that there was a culture of reverence for the football program that compromised the values of this proud institution’s academic mission.

We are here to bear witness because we lived it. All athletes thrived, partnering with the football program to create a culture of athletic and academic excellence that even the NCAA itself lauded as the benchmark for other universities to emulate. As the football Lettermen’s statement noted, all we want is due process and the truth to be heard, no matter what form that takes.

MULTIPLE SPORTS

Glenn F. Thiel  - Wrestling/Lacrosse 1966

James Taylor – Soccer/Baseball 1972

Brian Masella – Swimming/Baseball 1973

Christine Kassab Powell - Field Hockey/Lacrosse 1974

Barbara Doran – Field Hockey/Lacrosse/Basketball 1975

Susan McCoy Fissinger – Field Hockey/ Lacrosse 1976

Hilary Graves Young - Field Hockey/Lacrosse 1977

Sharon Duffey  - Field Hockey/Lacrosse 1978

Karen Schnellenbach – Field Hockey/Lacrosse 1979

Sharon Scott Stewart – Field Hockey/Lacrosse 1979

Jody Field - Field Hockey/LaCrosse 1979

Debra L. Malone - Field Hockey/Softball 1980

Sharon Tinucci – Field Hockey/Lacrosse 1981

Jan E. Snyder – Field Hockey/Lacrosse 1982

Judy Mahaffey Busby – Field Hockey/Lacrosse 1983

Lauren Hoke Downs – Field Hockey/Lacrosse 1983

Laurie Gray Markle – Field Hockey/Lacrosse 1984

Karen Richards MacCrory - Field Hockey/Lacrosse 1984

Lynnie Mattson - Field Hockey/Lacrosse 1984

Tami Worley Kirby – Field Hockey/Lacrosse 1989

MaryAnne Foley Schiller – Field Hockey/Lacrosse 1991

Megan Smith Fizzano – Field Hockey/Lacrosse 1991

Elena Brazer Arthur – Field Hockey/Lacrosse 1991

Christine McGinley – Field Hockey/Lacrosse/Soccer 1995

Jennifer Webb – Field Hockey/Lacrosse 2000

MEN’S SOCCER

Ron Coleman 1952

Charles Messner 1971

Matt Chase 1979

Jeff Maierhofer 1983

Scott Maierhofer 1984

Jerry Moyer 1985

Troy Snyder 1986

Tim Maierhofer 1987

John Pascarella 1988

Bert Eckelmeyer 1990

Pete Shellenberger 2002

Andres Casais 2010

Vincent Salvatico 2010

WOMEN’S SOCCER

Karen Grove Hickey 1994

Erin Cochran Crispin 2002

Christie Welsh 2004

Carly Niness 2012

SOFTBALL

Carolyn DeWyckoff 1987

Donna Devanney 1989

Dena Tauriello 1990

Alisha Dorow 1992

Michele Hunter-Hill 1992

Marie Hawkins 1993

Lisa Waddington Barton 1993

WRESTLING

Richard L. Campbell  1963

Marty Strayer 1965

John Fritz 1979

Joe Bastardi 1978

John Hanrahan 1982

Jan Johnson 1986

Eric Brugel 1986

Gregory N. Elinski 1987

Stephen Smith 1987

Tim Flynn 1987

Mark Sidorick 1988

Jim Abbott 1990

Michael Bevilacqua 1990

John Yankanich  1990

Kerry McCoy 1997

Jonathan Long 2000

Doc Vecchio 2004

MEN’S TENNIS

Jerod Ford 1990

BOXING

Jack (John) Beiter 1952

FIELD HOCKEY

Debra Gorman Blount 1976

Connie Ehresman Angus 1990

Jill Radzinski 1990

Chelle Frates Tambroni 1991

Tracy Shilkret Capecci 1991

Julie Johnston Umberger 1991

Eleanor Stone Race 1992

Stacy Gilburg Rucci 1993

Michele Brennan Murphy 1993

Sharon Kuntz Herlocher 1994

Paulette Thompson 1995

Kirstie Benedect 1995

Kimberly Hicks Witmer 1997

Kiley Kulina Strohm 2002

Timarie Legel Rayburg 2004

Mary Schaefer Driscoll 2004

Neilye Stoner Garrity 2004

Amanda Eckert Gasparato 2005

Michele Rigby Mihok 2005

Carey Maser Burke 2007

Shaun Banta 2007

Brooke Hoffsmith 2010

WOMEN’S LACROSSE

Susan Wisniewski Ridgeway 1978

Karen Pesto Coder 1979

Lynn Thompson Anderson 1981

Tamara Crowe Bean 1997

Laura Lincicome 2009

Laura Stupar 2009

Kerry Shea 2009

Lauren Burke 2009

Suzanne Jones Stetson 1987

MEN’S LACROSSE

Joseph Carlozo 1974

Jim Rosecrans 1975

Jack Barry 1977

Scott McKeon 1987

Anthony Gerrato 1987

William Driscoll 2002

Chris Garrity 2003

Bill Farrell 2003

Brendan DeBow 2003

William Cutler 2005

Chris Gannett 2006

Scott Gehnrich 2006

Matthew Mulqueen 2007

WOMEN’S VOLLEYBALL

Leanne Kling Piscotty 1992

MEN’S VOLLEYBALL

Ricky Mattei  2004

Nathan A. Meerstein 2006

Matt Proper 2006

WOMEN’S GYMNASTICS

Jess Bastardi 1990

Janae Whittaker Ali 2000

Allie Southard 2010

CHEERLEADING

Kim Lewis Lombardi 1996

WOMEN’S TRACK AND FIELD

Kiernan O’Toole Pierce 1989

MEN’S TRACK AND FIELD

Thomas Kleban 1995

BASEBALL

Russ Menk 1970

Chris Rayburg 2004

MEN’S BASKETBALL

Mike Lang 1983

Craig L. Collins 1986

Brian Allen 1989

Ed Fogell 1990

Darrell Alton Ricks 1990

Tony Soskich 1991

Steve Wydman 1994

Peter Lisicky 1998

Joe Crispin 2006

SWIMMING

Gene Kolber 1952

Ken (Andy) Anderson 1981

COACHES

Bruce Parkhill - Men’s Basketball 1982 – 1995

Jess Bastardi - Women’s Assistant Gymnastics Coach 1991-2010 *

John Fritz - Wrestling Head Coach 1992-1998*

Glenn Thiel - Men's Lacrosse 1978-2010*

*Listed above as former players 

               

NITTANY LION MASCOT

Rob Sterling 1984-1986

Ricky Williams 1993-1995

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FOOTBALL PLAYERS SIGNING PETITION OF SUPPORT OF NCAA LAWSUIT

 

1950s
Ray    Alberigi

Robert Belus

Frank   Della Penna

Charles Chick  King

Ron     Markiewicz

Fran "Bucky"  Paolone

Bill      Russ

Don     Ryan

John Jack   Urban

Anthony J.  Orsini

1960s

George   Allen

Dick    Anderson

Steve   Bezna

Bob     Capretto

Thomas   Cherry

Alex    Chiara

Jack     Curry

Alan    Delmonaco

Gary    Eberle

Gerry   Farkas

Ed       Gabirel

Tony    Gebicki

James   Graham

Warren  Hartenstine

Michael Irwin

Robert Kline

George Kulka

John     Kulka

Jon       Lang

Ed       Lenda

Linc Lincoln    Lippincott

Jim       Litterelle

Thomas  Mairs

James   McCormick

Thomas  McGrath

Dave    McNaughton

Donald  Miller

Hank   Oppermann

Bill      Rettig

Dave    Rowe

Ted      Sebastianelli

Gary    Shaffer

Steve   Smear

Ed       Stewart

Tom     Templeton

Dave    Truitt

Frank   Waresak

Chris    Weber

 

1970s

Walt    Addie

Frank   Ahrenhold

Russell Albert

Kurt     Allerman

Ferris   Atty

Bob     Bassett

Jeff      Behm

David  Bland

Jeff H. Bleamer

Dr. Jim    Bradley

Tom     Bradley  **

Rod     Bratton

Dave    Brockway

Richard M. Brown

Chuck  Burkhart

John W. Bush

Greg    Buttle

Robert Campbell

John     Cappelletti

Michael  Cappelletti

Richard F. Caravella

Joseph V.  Carlozo

Charles  Chiampi

Thomas Greg Christian

Craig   Coder

Ron     Coder

Mike    Conforto

F. Len  Consalvo

Ron     Crosby

Bill      Crummy

Steven A.  Davis

Chris    Devlin

Joe       Diange

Thomas F. Donchez

Rocco  English

Scott    Fitzkee

Chuck  Fusina

Paul     Gabel

Steve   Geise

Doneal Gersh

Charles  Getty

Michael  Gilsenan

Bill      Glennon

Tony    Gordon

David F.  Graf

Mike    Guman

Brian   Hand

Franco Harris

Jim       Heller

Scott    Hettinger

Ron     Hileman

Ron     Hostetler

Thomas M. Hull

Neil     Hutton

David W.  Klock

Bob     Knechtel

Richard A. Knechtel

Joe       Lally

Philip F. LaPorta

Chris    Lavelle

John R.  Lewchenko

Larry J.   Ludwig

Mark J.  Markovich

Brian   Masella

Rich     Mauti

Richard  McClure

Lance  Mehl

D. Scott  Mitchell

Guy     Montecalvo

Robert Nagle

Daniel F. Natale

Richard N. Nichols

Thomas  Odell

Ed       O’Neil

Michael A. Orsini M.D.

Woody  Petchel, Jr.

Carlos  Quirch

Tom     Rafferty

Joel      Ramich

John M. Reihner

Paul     Renaud

Robert Rickenbach

James E.  Rosecrans

C. Douglas Rothgaber

George   SanFilippo

Carl     Schaukowitch

Bernard  Shalvey

Tom L.   Shoemaker

Micky  Shuler Sr

Tom     Shuman

John     Skorupan

Steven E. Stilley

John P. Susko

Bob     Swartz

Donald P. Tarosky

Raymond  Tesner

Mark    Thomas

Gary R.   Tyler

Alberto    Vitiello

Marshall   Wagner

Dan     Wallace

Alex    Wasilov

Franklin Frog  Williams

John     Williams

Thomas J.  Williams

Charles Wilson

Glenn  Zumbach

 

1980s 

Rogers Alexander

Michael  Arnold

Walker Lee Ashley

Mark    Battaglia

Trey     Bauer

Jeff      Bergstrom

Todd   Blackledge

Scott    Bouslough

Kirk     Bowman

Don     Brinsky

Tim      Bronish

Keith   Brown

Jeff      Brunie

Jeff      Butya

Drew   Bycoskie

Mark    Cherewka

Chris    Clauss

Stan     Clayton

Joel      Coles

Bill      Contz

Tom     Couch

Troy     Cromwell

Peter    Curkendall

Rich     D’Amico

John     DePasqua

Dwayne  Downing

D. J.     Dozier

Michael  Dunlay

Thomas   Durant

Eric      Etze

Craig   Fiedler

Tim      Freeman

Mark    Fruehan

Brennan  Gaertner

Mark    Galimberti

Mike    Garrett

Gene    Gladys

Scott    Gob

John W. Greene

John     Gurski

Nick    Haden

Lance  Hamilton

Albert  Harris

Greg    Hay

Stu       Helgeson

Joseph Hines

John     Hornyak

Randy Huttenberger

Timothy  Janocko

`Joe      Johns

Eddie  Johnson

Greg    Jones

Keith   Karpinski

Ken     Kelley

Matt    Knizner

Rich     Kuzy

Massimo  Manca

Kirk     Martin

Carmen  Masciantonio

Brian   McCann

Matt    McCartin

Mike    McCloskey

Donald Jay      McCormick

Shawn McNamara

Mike    Meade

Rob     Mikulski

Dan     Morgan

Robert Mrosko

Scott    O’Donnell

Bob     Ontko

Aoatoa   Polamalu

Bobby Polito

Ed       Pryts

Scott    Radecic

Terry    Rakowski

Kevin  Romango

Dwayne   Rush

Michael  Russo

Rich     Schonewolf

John     Shaffer

Brian   Siverling

Patrick Slater

Rob     Smith

Pete     Speros

Joseph Strycharz

Mike    Suter

Tim      Sweeney

Blair    Thomas

John     Walsh

Darryl  Washington

Steve   Wisniewski

Jeff      Woofter

1990s

Jeff      Anderson

John     Andress

Steve   Babinchak

Michael  Barninger

Tom     Bill

Dave    Brzenchek

Mike    Carroll

Ki-Jana  Carter

Robert Ceh

Kerry   Collins

Brett    Conway

Bob     Daman

Maurice Daniels

Daniel  Drogan

Adam  Fahrer

Douglas  Farren

Gerald Filardi

Derek  Fox

Aaron  Gatton

Reggie Givens

Rudolph  Glocker

Ryan    Grube

Shelly  Hammonds

Jeff      Hartings

Leonard  Humphries

Greg    Huntington

Corey  Jones

Chad   Linnon

Rob     Luedeke

Mike    Malinoski

Joe       Markiewicz

Christian          Marrone

Tony    Matesic

OJ        McDuffie

Tom     Molnar

Christian Molnar

Joe       Nastasi

Kevin  O'Keefe

Brian   O'Neal

Brandon  Parmer

Derick Pickett

Ryan    Seese

Brandon  Short

Dave    Smith

Terry    Smith

Brian   Stairs

Vincent Stewart

2000’s 

Tyler    Ahrenhold

Lance  Antolick

Drew   Astorino

Jason   Bisson

Mike    Blosser

Jeremy Boone

James   Boyd

John     Bronson

Brian   Brozeski

Dorian Burton

Gino    Capone

Daryll  Clark

Brennan  Coakley

Dan     Corrado

Jeremiah   Davis

Scott    Davis

Steven Delich

Larry   Federoff

Gus      Felder

Shamar  Finney

Eric      Flohr

Mike    Fuhrman

Joshua Gaines

Phil      Gardill

Nathan  Glunt

Ryan    Gmerek

Tom     Golarz

Andrew  Guman

Benjamin  Gummo

Joe       Hartings

Erik     Holt

Tom     Humphrey

Justin   Ingram

Joe       Iorio

Cedric Jeffries

Bryant Johnson

Michael Johnson

Bobby Jones

Jim       Kanuch

Brad    Karson

Ethan   Kilmer

Ben      Lago

Kevion  Latham

Tyler    Lenda

Mike    Lukac

Jordan Lyons

Nick    Marmo

Mike    Mauti

Shawn Mayer

James   Millon

Anthony  Morelli

Jordan Norwood

Michael   Pawlikowski

Anwar Phillips

Andrew  Pitz

Paul     Posluszny

Curt     Reese

J.R.      Refice

Matthew Rice

David  Royer

Bryan Scott

Ryan    Scott

AQ      Shipley

Mickey   Shuler

Jonathan   Stewart

Nick    Sukay

Tyler    Valoczki

Casey Williams

Thomas  Williams

Michael  Yancich

Alan    Zemaitis

Coaches & Staff

Dick Anderson**

John Bove

Booker  Brooks

Craig   Cirbus

Frank   Rocco

Mike    Boyer

Don     Carlino

Fran     Fisher

Raymond J. Horan

George  Salvaterra

 

Player & Coach Participants in the Lawsuit

Anthony  Adams

Gerald   Cadogan

Shamar Finney

William  Kenney *

Justin   Kurpeikis

Richard Gardner

Josh     Gains

Patrick Mauti

JayPaterno  **

Anwar Phillips

Michael Robinson

Adam  Taliaferro

Over 500 PSU Student-Athletes Sign In Support of Lawsuit vs. NCAA

July 11, 2013

Nearly Two Hundred More Penn State Student-Athletes Sign In Support of Lawsuit Versus The NCAA

List of Supporters Adds Student-Athletes from 17 Sports; 

Including 37 All-Americans from 7 Sports

Overall List Eclipses the 500 Mark

On June 17^th a large number of Penn State football student-athletes voiced their support of a lawsuit brought against the NCAA by former Penn State student-athletes, coaches as well as current faculty and Trustees. Since the initial announcement our list of supporters continues to grow.   

Denied use of the University’s database for alumni student-athletes, our group was still able to enlist the support of nearly two hundred additional Penn State Student-Athletes and Coaches; bringing together a total of over 500 student-athletes representing 17 sports spanning 7 decades to defend Penn State against the unjustified NCAA sanctions.

Among new football student-athletes adding their support are 1973 Heisman Trophy Winner John Cappelletti, All-Americans Ed O’Neil (1973), Charlie Getty (1973), D.J. Dozier (1986), Ki-Jana Carter (1994) and Michael Mauti (2012).

Michael Mauti, a criminal justice graduate wrote, “I signed on because I have faith in justice and due process. I spent the last year fighting for it in the media and I’ll continue to fight for it with the men who built the program we all love. We all want what’s best for our program.”

Wanting to add their voices, former Student-athletes and coaches from sixteen additional sports have joined our support of the lawsuit. Among them are 2-time National Champion and Olympic Wrestler Kerry McCoy, National Soccer Player of the Year Christine Welsh, long-time Penn State Coaches Bruce Parkhill (Men’s Basketball), Glen Thiel (Men’s Lacrosse), John Fritz (Wrestling) and newly elected Penn State Trustee Barbara Doran; a 3-sport athlete and 3-time Lacrosse All-American. Four-time All-American Wrestler Greg Elinsky heads a list of All-Americans from Wrestling (8), Field Hockey (10), Women’s Lacrosse (9), Men’s Volleyball (2), Women’s Soccer and Men’s Soccer. Also joining the group is the legendary voice of Penn State Fran Fisher.

Make no mistake; our group is sympathetic to and supportive of the victims of one man’s deeds. The actions of Penn Staters and Penn State students, in raising money and awareness for these issues, speak volumes. But we recognize this fact; the NCAA’s actions will not promote healing and will cause harm to current and future Student-Athletes through these punitive sanctions. Supporting the victims and supporting due process are not mutually exclusive goals.

The former student-athletes signing on in support posted this letter.

 Recently, more than 300 football Lettermen proclaimed their support for the lawsuit against the NCAA sanctions levied on Penn State’s Football program on July 23, 2012.  We, the undersigned, are former Penn State student-athletes and coaches from sports other than football, who join to support the legal action against the NCAA.  When we represented Penn State on the field, the court, the ice, the mat, the ring, the pool, or the track we championed a common culture pursuing Success With Honor in the classroom and in athletic competition.

The hasty and unjust actions of The NCAA surely penalize current and future football student-athletes and staff. However, they also negatively impact all former, current and future Penn State student-athletes and coaches in every sport.  That is why we support illuminating the truth and the fight for Penn State—reclaiming the exemplary culture hard won by sacrifices we all made to compete with honor.

As others have noted, Penn State is the only public institution participating in major college football that has never been sanctioned for major NCAA violations in any sport.  To this day we support the fight for that truth because this fact remains; Penn State has not committed any major NCAA violations in any sport. That is a statement that we all paid for with our own sacrifices and commitment, and is worth fighting for.

Finally, as proud former Penn State student-athletes and coaches not associated with the football program, we firmly reject the idea that there was a culture of reverence for the football program that compromised the values of this proud institution’s academic mission.  

We are here to bear witness because we lived it.  All athletes thrived, partnering with the football program to create a culture of athletic and academic excellence that even the NCAA itself lauded as the benchmark for other universities to emulate.  As the football Lettermen’s statement noted, all we want is due process and the truth to be heard, no matter what form that takes.

 

submitted by

 

Brian Allen

Student Athlete Support

 

Brian Masella

Football Support

Tom In Paine: Rubin Slams Media for Maltreatment of Paterno

Mark Rubin, at Tom In Paine, provides an accurate account of what drives today's media - their own self-interest.

He shows the lack of media coverage of the Milwaukee archdiocese knowingly covering up child sexual abuse for more than 80 years, while it demeaned and shamed Joe Paterno for making a report of suspected abuse to his superiors within 24 hours receiving it from Mike McQueary.

From the article:

On July 1, pursuant to a judge's court order as part of a bankruptcy settlement over law suits against the church by victims of church child sexual abuse,the Milwaukee archdiocese released online a trove of previously secret documents that chronicled in great detail and specificity, priest by priest, the wide spread, persistent child sexual abuse committed by priests in the Milwaukee archdiocese with the full knowledge of local church hierarchy that according to the documents, span more than 80 years.

This comes on the heels of over 30,000 pages of church documents from the Los Angeles archdiocese also  released by court order, describing sexual abuse of children covered up and allowed to continue by the church.

The Milwaukee documents, like those in Los Angeles chronicle horrific and sordid detailed descriptions of child abuse including sodomy and rape that the church hierarchy  knew about and did nothing to stop, remove or punish the priests involved.

But there is one thing missing from these disclosures and that is, there has not been so much as a word from any of the major news media outlets about these documents or their horrific contents or the gross and even criminal negligence of those who failed to  report or stop the abuse.  No headlines. No major news stories leading TV broadcasts on cable or network TV news. No outrage. None of the usual suspects who show up on cable news to debate controversial issues. No full page newspaper front page pictures with the word "Shame".  Nothing.

Read more here.