The Penn State football season is still about three months away, but that didn’t stop the Nittany Lions from making the news last week.
Captains were announced.
It should come as little surprise to Nittany Lion fans that Daryll Clark and Sean Lee were chosen as captains by their teammates. In today’s edition of Morelli OnLion, we’ll delve into the captain’s role and have another look at a member of the Class of 2009.
Let’s begin with Clark and Lee.
Sean Lee was selected as a captain by his teammates last week.
(Photo courtesy of Blue White Illustrated).
Oh Captain, My Captain!
Being a captain is an important role. And when it comes to Penn State football, there have been some excellent captains (Paul Posluszny) and some not so great ones (Anthony Morelli) in the recent past.
When the e-mail came from Penn State Sports Information on May 19, it was opened and revealed no surprises.
In fact, there was very little drama — seniors Daryll Clark and Sean Lee were selected as co-captains.
They were selected by their peers and the guess here is that coach Joe Paterno is delighted with the choices.
First, there’s Sean Lee. He’s the poster boy for everything Penn State. Since he arrived in Happy Valley five years ago, he’s done everything right. He’s kept his nose clean, has said all the right things, has been a leader on and off the field and has an unmatched work ethic. Heck, the kid doesn’t ever have a tinge of stubble.
Lee will be one of the few and proud, the two-time captains at Happy Valley. The last guy to do it? Lee’s mentor and friend, Paul Posluszny.
Lee was a captain last season as he rehabbed from his knee injury. He was one of five captains and although he didn’t play a single snap, his presence was felt on the sidelines and in the locker room. Since he knew he wouldn’t make it onto the field, he was shocked by the honor.
Because he didn’t have a presence on the field or in the huddle, the captain role put him right back in the loop, he said.
“When you’re doing rehab, you’re not working out with the team, you’re not running with them. You’re doing your own thing, so you’re somewhat out of the loop,” Lee explained. “That brought me back into the loop. It allowed me to help with the linebackers, to be on the sideline. It was the next best thing to playing. I wish I was playing, but I was still part of the team in some way. That was rewarding. To see your friends do well, it was great.”
Being selected as a captain gave Lee some confidence, despite being on the shelf.
“I didn’t really know where I stood at that point. For (coach Paterno) to do that, it gave me a lot of confidence. It gave me reassurance that I was going to be a part of the team,” Lee recalled.
After playing such an integral role in 2008, it was a no-brainer that Lee would be a captain again in 2009.
It’s a role that he takes very seriously. And the fact that he’s earned the title twice makes it all the more special, he said.
“That’s one of the biggest honors I can achieve up here, I feel. With all the great people we’ve had in the past, I see it as a great honor,” Lee said. “I see it as a responsibility to act a certain way, be a certain way. I see a responsibility to pass my role on to the younger guys. I take it very seriously.”
That’s important.
In the past, there have been players — and we won’t name any names here — who haven’t taken the role so seriously. Players who have had scrapes with the law. Players who didn’t know how to act when things turned sour, shouting expletives back at fans when they were being verbally abusive on the road.
There’s something to be said for winning with class. There’s even something more to be said for losing with class, which brings us to Daryll Clark.
After last season’s gut-wrenching 24-23 loss at Iowa, Clark stepped to the podium and took full responsibility for the upset. Sure, he threw a bad interception at a bad time. But what many people forget is the fact that the defense collapsed in the waning moments of that game to thwart Penn State’s chance at an undefeated season, which derailed its national championship hopes.
Still, there Clark was, tears welling in his eyes, shouldering the loss.
We can get pretty cynical in this business, but that scene made this reporter want to take on Robin Williams’ role in “Good Will Hunting.” I wanted to take Clark by the shoulders and say, “It’s not your fault. It’s not your fault.”
As I stood there watching Clark choke back tears, one thought kept going through my head — damn, this guy is a leader.
I love watching quarterbacks who are natural leaders. In the past 20 years, Penn State hasn’t many of them. Kerry Collins comes to mind, as does Michael Robinson. Ironically enough, those two are playing professionally.
It’s not by accident.
Clark will be the next PSU quarterback to land in the NFL, and that’s a testament not only to his athletic ability, but his leadership skills.
So, with the 2009 season months away, Lee and Clark probably remind you a lot of Posluszny and Robinson.
That’s also not by accident.
“We give a lot of credit to Mike Robinson and Paul Posluszny. It all started with them. Mike Robinson was always encouraging guys. He’d tell guys how we should work as a team,” Lee said. “To have a senior like that, who was so humble, was huge. I think we saw that and followed that.”
Adam Gress is from western Pennsylvania, but was born to be a Nittany Lion.
(Photo courtesy of Blue White Illustrated).
Class of 2009: Adam Gress
If there’s one member of the Class of 2009 who was meant to be a Nittany Lion, it’s Adam Gress.
After all, Gress did grow up in western Pennsylvania, and several members of his family had raised him to be a diehard Penn State fan.
But as he approached the Nittany Lions’ summer camp in June, he wasn’t sure that State College was necessarily where he wanted to spend his college years. He had picked up offers from Rutgers, West Virginia and Michigan at other camps, and was starting to hear from other schools as well.
“Really, a Penn State offer is one of those things that I dreamt about as a child,” Gress said last summer. “When I was a kid, I always loved Penn State, and wanted to play for Penn State and all that stuff. But that doesn’t really influence me that much today, because now it’s more of a reality perspective.”
Gress then pared his list to two schools following the completion of his camp circuit — West Virginia and Penn State. Following a visit to Morgantown, he came to a decision.
He decided to turn his lifelong dream into a reality and became the Nittany Lions’ 13th verbal commitment on July 2. It was the pinnacle of a long journey for Gress who added 50 pounds to his 6-foot-7-inch frame in just under a year.
Gress and West Mifflin struggled this season, finishing with a 2-7 record, but he was a second team all-state selection by the Associated Press. He was also named to the Patriot-News Platinum 33 team, and was selected to play in the Big 33 Classic in June.
He is ranked as the No. 74 offensive tackle prospect nationally, and checked in at No. 19 in the Rivals.com postseason Pennsylvania state rankings.
Chris Morelli is the award-winning editor of Blue White Illustrated, a weekly publication devoted to Penn State athletics. He is also a regular on “Sports Central,” which airs on ESPN Radio in Altoona and State College. E-mail him at morellionlion@gmail.com. This column does not necessarily reflect the views or opinions of BWI’s writers or publisher.
