Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/557480
W hen, in midsummer, head coach James Franklin reinstated the revered Penn State football tradi- tion of no names on jerseys, no one was happier than the legion of former players who made the tradition possible. "The reaction has been all positive," said Wally Richardson, executive director of the Penn State Football Letterman's Club and the Nittany Lions' starting quarterback in 1995 and '96. "It was well received by lettermen in general, and from the feedback I received, everybody was really happy." Mark Battaglia, the starting center on the 1982 national championship team, may have summed it up best for all the lettermen. "I thought it was the best de- cision that has come out of Penn State in four years because it literally is the first decision [in that time] that has tried to embrace the rich history and tradition of the football program," said Battaglia, now resident director of a Merrill Lynch office in suburban Pittsburgh. "The strength of the Penn State football program is the former players, coaches, equipment man- agers, trainers and administrators who have all helped build the legacy of the program. Over the last four years, too many decisions at Penn State separated the past from the present. That's why I was so pleased to see Coach Franklin make the decision to em- brace the past." Richardson was one of several for- mer players who Franklin furtively recruited to help break the potentially upsetting news to the 2015 team. The group included Hall of Fame linebacker Jack Ham and two- time All-America wide receiver Kenny Jackson. He also involved former equipment man- ager Spider Caldwell, whose popularity and intimacy with the players for nearly 30 years made him the ideal person to K I C K O F F I S S U E NO NAMES, ALL GAME H I S T O R Y Lettermen applaud return of traditional jerseys | ADDITION BY SUBTRACTION Many Penn Staters supported the de- cision to remove the names from the Lions' football jerseys. From left to right: Todd Kul- ka, Bob White, Justin Kurpeikis, Spider Caldwell, Wally Richardson, James Franklin, Kenny Jackson, Keith Conlin, Jack Ham, Todd Rucci. Photo by Steve Manuel/ Penn State Athletics