Blue White Illustrated

all, had been his dream. Guys like Baney were Pennsylvania boys with Penn State hearts long before Franklin coined the phrase in his introductory press confer- ence. Baney is like the other former walk-ons who were honored before the game: Jordan Dudas, Jack Haffner, Albert Hall, Colin Harrop, Charles Idemudia, Brandon John- son, Dominic Salomone and, of course, Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year Carl Nassib, players who passed up other op- portunities in order to walk – or run – on with the Nittany Lions when there was a premium put on nonscholarship players. While the majority have never started a game, and a couple have barely even played in one, their presence on the team has helped maintain a baseline competitiveness on the practice field and in the weight room. There might not be stats to quantify their impact on the program, but un- doubtedly they've helped hold it together through their daily, unheralded efforts. When Baney first opted to transfer from St. Francis (Pa.), a decision he made after driving past Beaver Stadium on Interstate 99, riding on the team bus back to Loretto from a game in New England, that's simply what he had aimed to do. "That's all I cared about," Baney said. "I'm a team- first guy. I'll do whatever I can do to help the team – whether it's scout team, running second string [or] watching the linebacker play during the game." Then there was Zettel, who spurned of- fers from home-state Michigan and Michi- gan State to become an All-Big Ten lineman for the Nittany Lions. As he sat at the media room dais, he was representing classmates Kyle Carter, Ben Kline, Angelo Mangiro and Matt Zanellato, the final re- cruits to commit and then play (as red- shirting freshmen) for Joe Paterno. Zanel- lato even wrote "J.V.P." and "409" in black ink on his taped wrists for the Beaver Sta- dium finale. Zanellato, Zettel, Carter, Mangiro and Kline will go down in history at Penn State, although not for the reasons they might have hoped for when they graduated high school in 2011. They, along with members of last year's graduating class, are the only Nittany Lion football players to have ever played under three head coaches. They've also seen firsthand, from start to near-finish, the full effects of the NCAA penalties. And, as Zettel said, "I wouldn't change a thing." Finally, there was Hackenberg, a symbol and guiding light for all those highly rated recruits who've made a commitment since then. Hackenberg was one of the first to take a leap of faith amid Penn State's darkest hour. Even after the sanctions were issued, when other commits and recruits were running away from the fire, Hackenberg ran toward it, sign- ing his letter of in- tent and sticking by it to not only play for the Nittany Li- ons, but also to en- dure some of the worst punishments a college sports team had ever received. Since then, he's become Penn State's all-time leading passer and touchdown leader – while also being sacked more CURTAIN CALL For his final home game at Penn State, Zanellato (above) wrote "409" and "J.V.P." on his wristbands in honor of the coach who had re- cruited him, Joe Paterno. Baney (right) fulfilled a lifelong dream when he trans- ferred to PSU. Photos by Bill An- derson > >

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