H I S T O R Y
Photo courtesy of the Paterno Pattee Library Archives
|
n the 40 years since he won the
Heisman Trophy in leading the
1973 team to an undefeated season, John Cappelletti has come
to personify all that is good about
Penn State and college football.
Cappelletti's emotional acceptance speech, in which he dedicated
the trophy to his dying younger brother
Joey, turned what is still a routine an-
nual award given to the best player in
college football into a legend of sometimes mythical proportions.
Cappelletti's teammates have been
overshadowed in the wake of his growing legend, including his fellow AllAmerica co-captains: defensive tackle
Randy Crowder and linebacker Ed
O'Neil (first team) and guard Mark
Markovich (second team). And no one
is more forgotten than the inexperienced
junior quarterback who handed the
ball to Cappelletti and had his own
breakout season that was almost as
impressive as Cappelletti's.
His name is Tom Shuman, and many
Penn Staters still get him confused
with another Nittany Lion passer of
that era with a similar name, Tom
Sherman, quarterback of coach Joe
