It’s the most wonderful time of the year.
It is Christmas week, which
means we take a look at Santa’s list to see who’s been naughty and who’s been
nice. In today’s edition of Morelli OnLion, we’ll take a peek at the infamous
list and feature a Penn State football player that we’ll hate to see
go.
Let’s start with the list.
Daryll Clark deserves a shot on an NFL roster.
(Photo courtesy of Blue White Illustrated).
The List
Every year, we feature
Penn State’s finest and see what’s on their Christmas list. This year is no
exception.
Joe Paterno — A bowl victory against a Top 25 opponent. The
Nittany Lions haven’t beaten anyone of significance this season. On Jan. 1 in
Orlando, they get another shot. We’ll see if the icon can get it
done.
Navorro Bowman — A big, fat NFL contract. Hey, the guy deserves it.
He’s going to be a heckuva pro. For those of you hoping that he’ll come back to
Penn State in 2010, forget it. In fact, he’s already moved his stuff out of
State College.
Evan Royster — Another year at Penn State. The running
back needs it. With a solid senior campaign, he will be an early-round pick in
2011.
Sean Lee — A spot on the Pittsburgh Steelers. The struggling squad
needs linebacker help and the local kid would be a perfect fit. The Steelers
passed on Paul Posluszny in the 2006 NFL Draft. Hopefully, they learned a
lesson.
Daryll Clark — A job in the NFL. The QB has all the skills and
will be a solid backup somewhere in the league.
Kevin Newsome — Some
experience at the Capital One Bowl. Trust me, the kids gonna need it in
2010.
Nittany Lion and Lady Lion basketball fans — Better competition
than the non-conference cupcakes that were trotted into the Bryce Jordan Center
this season. (Yes, I realize the men played Virginia Tech and the women played
Pitt).
Penn State football fans — A renewal of the series with Pitt. You
shouldn’t have to sit through Akron, Temple, Syracuse and Eastern Illinois. You
deserve better. The Panthers would fill the non-conference slate
nicely.
Russ Rose — Another Coach of the Year Award. It never gets old,
does it coach?
Sean Lee is one of Penn State’s finest and will be missed.
(Photo courtesy of Blue White Illustrated).
Lee’s Farewell
For Sean Lee, the journey is almost
complete.
After five seasons, Lee will play his final game in the blue
and white on Jan. 1 when the Nittany Lions take on LSU in the Capital One Bowl.
It’s been a long and winding road for Lee, who has played in a bowl every season
since he’s been at Penn State.
At bowl media day on Dec. 11, Lee talked
about how he wanted to be remembered.
“I just want to be remembered as a
guy who from the day he got here, has worked extremely hard to try to help this
program improve, to win football games and not only improve on the field, but
improve off the field,” Lee said. “You know, try to be a leader off the field
who has kind of passed his leadership down to younger guys and try to improve
this program.”
The co-captain will be remembered as a poster boy for what
Penn State football is all about. Throughout his five years in Happy Valley, Lee
always kept his nose clean. He wasn’t involved in the apartment fight a few
years back and he never got a DUI.
Simply put, he’s just a good
kid.
The last time Lee appeared in a bowl game, he was selected as the
Defensive MVP of the Alamo Bowl. He was relegated to the sidelines for last
year’s Rose Bowl. He won’t be wearing a headset this season, something he’s
extremely thankful for.
He’s ready for contact against the 9-3
Tigers.
“How do I feel I’m playing right now? I feel I’ve gotten better
as the year went on. I think when I came back from my injury, I wasn’t
physically where I was at the beginning of the year, but if you watch me from
each game going on, I had gotten better and better and better. I hope to just
make that step and play even better in the bowl game,” Lee said.
Make no
mistake about it, Lee is completely recovered from the torn ACL he sustained on
April 11, 2008. He’s also completely recovered from a sprain to his left knee
that kept him out of several games.
And while injuries have kept him on
the sidelines during his career at Penn State, Lee did nothing but look at those
things as hurdles. He’s had no problems getting over those hurdles.
“My
freshman year, in camp I tore my MCL and was out for three weeks. I was
expecting to redshirt that year. I ended up playing, became a backup, playing
some on special teams, playing a little more as the year went on and then by the
Orange Bowl, I was the only linebacker on the field with a ton of great
linebackers,” Lee said.
The Orange Bowl was Lee’s coming out party. After
teammate Paul Posluszny went down (also with a knee injury), Lee stepped in and
was on the field for 49 snaps in the Nittany Lions’ 26-23 triple overtime
victory on Jan. 3, 2006.
After his performance in the Orange Bowl, Lee
followed that up with a stellar sophomore campaign. He racked up 90 tackles,
including 47 solo jobs. He had 5 1/2 sacks and recovered two fumbles. In 2007,
he registered 138 tackles, 54 of which were solo efforts. He had 3 1/2 sacks and
three fumble recoveries.
He was ready for a big year in 2008, but the
knee injury ended his season before it began.
Lee used the 2009 season to
audition for the next level. This season, he registered 80 tackles, including 43
solo efforts. He has 10 1/2 tackles for loss, a pair of sacks and one
interception.
He has one more game to showcase his talents for the big
show. It hasn’t hit him yet.
“I think it will be more once I’m done here
and I won’t be coming back to State College, I won’t be back and coming back to
my locker. RIght now, I got rid of my lease. I lived off campus. So now I’m
kinda homeless,” Lee said. “I’m sleeping on Mickey Shuler’s futon and living out
of my car. I’ve started to realize it right now that I’m starting to move out of
this place.”
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.
