Daniel J. Brush - Penn State Football: An Interactive Guide to the World of Sports: Sports by the Numbers

O ne.

Sorry, Three Dog Night, but in this Penn State book, one is hardly the loneliest number. And we are not just talking about No. 1. Or Number One. Or #1. Although Penn State football has been there, done that, too. Two, actually:

National champion, college football, 1982.

National champion, college football, 1986.

For the Nittany Lions, those number ones were not the destination. They were just monuments along the journey. It is the road less traveled in college football that really matters.

Discipline. Humility. Sportsmanship. Scholarship. Community. They all matter.

So while the Nittany Lions may be successful, theyll never be flashy. No logo on the helmet or names on the jerseys. Black shoes, white hats, no stickers for doing what youre supposed to do. Players who go to class and graduate. A coach who wears a tie to work and scolds errant players, referees, newspapermen, and wayward drivers alike.

That plays well in Pennsylvania with Pennsylvanians. It did when Joe Paterno succeeded his boss, Rip Engle, as head coach in 1966 and it does to this very day. We really are a blue-collar state, still. Pennsylvania Dutch (a derivation of the German deutsche) are strong, stubborn, and honest. Steel, coal, and manure are on our hands and in our blood. We have a grimy work ethic, live our values, and are grateful for education. College remains the way out of the mines of Scranton, the steel mills of Pittsburgh, the farms of Manheim, and the small villes of Route 6. Right now, three out of ten students who enroll at Penn State are the first generation of their families to attend college. Ever. The American dream still lives. At Penn State and on the football field.

That is by design, thanks in part to Abe Lincoln. Penn States roots date back to 1855, when it was founded as an agricultural college. Its soul was cemented in 1862 when Lincoln signed the Land Grant Act, which pledged that higher education would be within the reach of Americans of average means while serving the public good. Nearly a century-and-a-half later, the character remains.

The result is an alumni base that appreciates the education it received and the football team that represents it. All for one and one for football.

For over a decade, Penn State has annually drawn over a million fans on the road and at home in Beaver Stadium. Until Michigan completes its renovations, Beaver Stadium has more seats than any other college football stadium in the country, with its 107,282 seats1,081 more than Michigan has. The Beav has to be that big to hold so many Penn Staters. There are a lot of us, you know:

• It has been reported that more high school students submit their SAT scores to Penn State than any other institution of higher learning.
• The Penn State Alumni Association is the largest dues-paying alumni group in the United States, with 160,742 members.
• Penn State ranks first among living alumni, with over 440,000.

Heres a number that says all you need to know about Penn State students: $7,490,114.87. Thats how much Penn State undergraduates raised for children with cancer in 2009 with its annual THON dance marathon, the most successful philanthropic effort in the country.

Penn Staters are proud of their football. But even prouder of how Joe Paterno has built the empire the right way. Not cheating, no NCAA violations, honest work in the classroom.

Sure, Joes teams have delivered victories by the basketful. Entering the 2009 season, Joe ranked No. 1theres that number againon the Division I college football all-time victory list, with 383 wins. But given that Penn State is first and foremost an academic institution, the numbers Paternos student-athletes have amassed in the classroom are even more impressive.

In the fall of 2008, a program record 55 football players earned a GPA of at least 3.0. And of that group, a record 19 made Deans List recognition with a GPA of 3.5 or higher. Since 1966, Penn State has had 15 Hall of Fame Scholar-Athletes, 31 first-team Academic All-Americans and 18 NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship winners. The Nittany Lions arent coasting on past success, either. Penn State has had at least one Academic All-American in each of the past seven seasons.

The purpose of college football is to serve education, Paterno once said, not the other way around.

At Penn State, football is an education. And not just for its players, either.

Mike Poorman

Senior Penn State Lecturer & Director of Alumni Relations