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P E N N S T A T E F O O T B A L L >> yelling, 'Gregg! Gregg! Gregg!' When he caught the ball in the end zone, it just became pure pandemonium. … By then, the people in the seats around us already knew who we were, so we became these instant celebrities, high-fiving everyone in sight." The sweet smell of success The madcap adventures of the Phi Gam brothers on Bourbon Street figure into what is perhaps the best part of the book, a revealing and entertaining chap- ter entitled "The Sugar Bowl Timeline." It's a mini-diary of sorts from inside the locker room, the kind that fans rarely, if ever, read or even hear about. Contz's timeline begins on the morning the Nit- tany Lions leave Harrisburg on Dec. 26 and continues through the celebratory parade down the snow-plowed streets of State College on Jan. 15. Not only are there daily entries, but Contz inserts many illuminating segments on New Year's Day, especially during the cham- pionship game as the clock ticks off the last few minutes of Penn State's 27-23 victory. This is also the chapter in which readers will learn many things even I didn't know, especially about two star players – one who broke curfew on New Year's Eve and apparently hit the noisy, boozy streets of New Orleans, and another who peed his pants during the last two minutes of the game because he was too crucial to what was happening on the field at that mo- ment to run to the locker room. Contz pays homage to his head coach in two insightful chapters – "The Se- crets of Our Success" and "Reflections on Paterno" – that are filled with color- ful tales from players and assistant coaches about Paterno's unique, some- times erratic personality and his straight-laced coaching philosophy. One story in particular had me chuck- ling. As a player, Tom Bradley may have thought he knew everything about Pa- terno, but he was a relatively new assis- tant coach in 1981 when he learned a lesson about bad-mouthing an oppo- nent in front of a recruit. While driving back to the Greater Pittsburgh Interna- tional Airport following a recruiting visit with Michael Zordich's family in Youngstown, Ohio, Paterno lectures Bradley on the subject. Then he makes Bradley divert for a surprising after- midnight stop at the Pitt Cathedral, whereupon Paterno praises the aca- demic and athletic attributes of Penn State's No. 1 rival. "The common bond most former Nit- tany Lion players share is Joe's Grand Ex- periment," Contz writes, "which meant competing at the highest level without compromising your principles and win- ning with players who would work hard, graduate on time, respect tradition, and would not embarrass the university." Contz was typical of those Paterno- coached players, and like most, he was not a star. Few fans will recall that Contz was a starting tackle in every 1981 and '82 game. He was born and raised in Belle Vernon, Pa., a small town about 25 miles south of Pittsburgh, in the heart of the once-thriving steel mill and coal region known as the Mon Valley. Contz didn't start playing football until eighth grade. By the time he graduated, he was the biggest player on the team at 200-plus pounds, and with his good grades, he was recruited by several schools, including Pitt and Penn State. In his book, Contz writes about miss- ing out on a national championship in 1983 after reneging on his initial com- mitment to Clemson. The son of a long- time car dealer, he vividly remembers driving Clemson coach Danny Ford's Jaguar during that recruiting trip. He also recalls a seemingly distracted and indifferent Bo Schembechler calling him Bob, which confirmed Contz's "decision against attending school in Siberia." Impressed after watching Penn State's national championship game against Al- abama in the 1979 Sugar Bowl, and not deflated by the 14-7 loss, Contz signed with the Nittany Lions and enrolled in computer science, eventually switching to business. He was good enough on the field to be the second-team long tackle in his sophomore year and then start 24 consecutive games as a junior and sen- ior. The 1983 Penn State media guide cites Contz as one of the keys to the team's offensive success in 1982 and calls him "a stabilizing force" in the de- velopment of the new, rebuilt line. Life after football Unfortunately, the ironman offensive tackle who avoided injuries at Penn State could not do the same in the NFL. He also had the misfortune of being the fifth-round selection of the Cleveland Browns, another fate worse than death for a Pittsburgh area guy with a birthright as a Steelers, Pirates and Pen- guins fan. After serving as a backup in his rookie year, he started nine games for a Browns team that went 4-12 in 1984. It all came crashing down on Dec. 9 at – of all places – Three Rivers Stadium, just down Route 51 from Contz's hometown. "My mom and dad were in the stands and I had 40 friends and family there, and in the second quarter I tore three ligaments," Contz recalled. "That was one of the most disappointing days in my life. I recovered and started 13 games the next year, but I was never the same." Contz wound up playing 3½ seasons for the Browns and 3½ for New Orleans, starting a total of 25 games (and recov- ering two fumbles) before leaving the NFL. "Your body just wears out," he said. By this time he had married his high school sweetheart, Melanie Cac- cimelio, and he went on to a career with an investment company before spend- ing 12 years in medical device sales. After that, he said, "I left the workforce and began concentrating on my tough- est schedules data." There is one more tidbit about Contz that you will learn in his book. Although he's been called Bill most of his life, his given first name is not William. Penn State's equipment manager, Tim Shope, learned the truth in 1979 and mocked him publicly in the locker room, with Contz's teammates joining in. Ever since then, the members of those '81 and '82 teams have been calling him by his real name. What is that name? Let's just say Julius Caesar would be proud. ■

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