Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1187122
H I S T O R Y State game at Raleigh, four players were named All-Americans: Pittman, defen- sive tackle Mike Reid, linebacker Dennis Onkotz and defensive back Neal Smith. The nationally televised game followed the traditional Army-Navy game on ABC. Penn State's 33-8 victory was its 21st in a row, but some luster was taken off the Lions' performance by the ABC sports- casters, including analyst Bud Wilkinson, the legendary former Oklahoma coach. Throughout the game, the broadcasters constantly promoted the following Sat- urday's Texas-Arkansas game "for the national championship." When Paterno was interviewed during the telecast, he said a championship should be won on the playing field, and for the first time he pushed publicly for a playoff. The biggest insult was yet to come. Wilkinson was also an advisor on physi- cal fitness to Richard Nixon. Nixon thought of himself as "the nation's No. 1 sports fan." Wilkinson convinced Nixon it would be a political asset to attend the game in Austin as a climax to the 100th anniversary of college football and to present a national championship presi- dential "trophy" to the winner in the locker room. After Texas had won, 15-14, on a daring two-point conversion, Nixon delivered his championship plaque to Darrell Royal in a noisy Longhorn dress- ing room, and a photograph of the pres- entation was printed in the nation's newspapers the next day. During the network presentation, Nixon said he intended to honor Penn State with a plaque for having the longest winning streak in college football. Pa- terno fumed, and later issued a statement rejecting the award, saying "it would seem to me to be a waste of his very valu- able time to present Penn State with a plaque for something it already indis- putably owns." Nixon tried to make amends with pub- lic remarks the following Tuesday at the annual College Football Hall of Fame in- duction dinner in New York, but he al- ready knew how Paterno felt from that earlier telephone call. "You tell the president to take that tro- phy and shove it." ■ !&## %'&&&)## ##&$' %!"(#+&)!%)*'+ No. 37 in Lou Prato's book - , Autographed copies available via louprato@comcast.net or through Lou Prato & Associates at 814-954-5171 Price: $16.95 plus shipping, handling and tax where applicable Also available with autograph: Lou's book "We Are Penn State: The Remarkable Journey of the 2012 Nittany Lions" Price: $19.95 plus shipping and tax where applicable