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football player but he was one of the five golfers on Penn State's intercollegiate teams in 1926 and '28. As an aside, I knew both Hewitts as a kid growing up in Indiana, Pa. Earl Sr. had a coal and real estate business and spent 20 years as Indiana County's representative in the state Legislature; Earl Jr. handled some of my family's insurance needs. Without any official records, one can- not be certain if there was another fa- ther-son legacy combination before the Hewitts, nor is it clear who precisely fol- lowed them. My research led to the Suhey and Petchel families and widened the legacy group to include grandfa- thers. The Suhey legacy should be famil- iar to most Penn State football fans. Steve Suhey was captain of coach Bob Higgins' great undefeated Cotton Bowl team of 1947, becoming a first-team All- American at guard in the process and later gaining entry into the College Football Hall of Fame. He married one of Higgins' daughters, Ginger, and three of their sons – Larry, Paul and Matt (the most famous after an NFL career with the Chicago Bears) – played for Paterno in the 1970s. Three decades later, Paul's son Kevin and Matt's son Joey were in Penn State uniforms. One of Steve Suhey's teammates on the 1946 and '47 teams was dual-threat tailback Elwood Petchel, and in 1975 his son Woody was on the same team as Larry and Paul Suhey. The other best-known members of the grandfather lineage are the Garritys. Gregg Sr. became a Penn State icon after his diving reception for the winning touchdown in the Sugar Bowl, which gave the Nittany Lions their first na- tional championship in 1982. But it was his father, Jim, a standout end and place-kicker, who started it on coach Rip Engle's 1952-54 teams, with Gregg Jr. following his grandfather and dad. Pri- marily a punt returner, Gregg Jr. finished his career this past season. This column is too short to list all the legacy families in addition to the Suheys, Petchels and Garritys. But here are some of the most prominent father- son combinations, with the years they lettered in parenthesis: tailback Charlie Pittman (1967-69) and son Tony (1992- 94), offensive tackle Dave Joyner (1969-71) and sons Andy (1993-94) and Matt (1996-98), and strong safety Michael Zordich (1982-85) and son Michael (2010-12). All three of those fathers were All-Americans. Two sons selected All-Americans were guard Stefen Wisniewski (2007-10) and father Leo (1979-81) and linebacker Michael Mauti (2008, 2020-12) and father Rich (1976-76). Rich's oldest son, Patrick (2009), preceded Michael as a walk-on. One of the teammates of both the Mauti brothers and Stefen Wisniewski was Nate Stupar (2008-11), whose fa- ther, Steve, played alongside Stefen's fa- ther in 1979, and here is where uncles are added to the Penn State legacy recruit mix. Stefen's uncle Steve was a two- time All-America guard in 1987-88, and Nate Stupar's three uncles from his mother's side also played for Penn State. They are the Hostetler brothers: Ron (1975-77), Doug (1976-78) and Jeff (1980). Injuries take their toll With the Wisniewskis, the Stupar- Hostetlers and more recently the Reihn- ers – father George, brother John and son Kevin – the definition of Penn State's legacy recruits has broadened to other progeny and could even include daughters playing on other Nittany Lion varsity teams. There is at least one, Leah Knizner, a sophomore reserve on the women's basketball team, whose father, Matt, was the backup quarterback on Penn State's 1986 championship team and the starter in '87. Which brings me back to Chris Thorpe. He was a teammate of Knizner, the senior Zordich and Steve Wis- niewski, as well as Terry Smith, a star wide receiver (1988-91) and now a Penn State assistant coach with his own legacy recruit offspring, stepson Justin King (2005-07). Before calling Chris at his home in the Pittsburgh suburb of Glenshaw, I con- sulted my Penn State media guides for information about his career. On page 51 of the 1988 edition, I found an entry that sums it up. Alongside a photo of the then-young man smiling is his profile. FUTURE LION Thorpe was one of the top of- fensive linemen in the country in the Class of 2017. He signed with Penn State in February. Photo courtesy of Ri- vals.com

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