PART 1 – Now that the Joe Paterno era of Penn State football has officially ended I wanted to have some fun and come up with my All Time Joe Paterno Penn State football team. There was actually a lot of thought that went in to this. I did a good bit of statistical research, used my long memory of Penn State football games and seasons gone bye and of course a lot of my opinion. I also tried to base my picks on their Penn State career and not their NFL career which leaves a few NFL Hall of Famers off the 1st Team. Please feel free to leave your comments. All positions can easily be disputed since there have been many great players to come through Happy Valley. I’ve even taken the liberty to add a few extra players because I couldn’t split the hair on who to pick. It was tough enough as it was. Part 1, I will pick the Offensive Line (5) and TE (1). Part 2, I will pick the WR (3) and QB (1). Part 3 I will pick the RB’s (3) and it was tough. Part 4 the DL (4), and DB’s (4) and Part 5 I will pick the LB’s (4), it was impossible and I may still change my mind at the last second, the kicker (1) and punter (1). I’ve added a 2nd Team and an Honorable Mention list.
On the offensive line 1st Team I selected what turned out to be 3 guards and 2 tackles in no particular order.
Jeff Hartings – 2 Time All American (94 & 95) Hartings is my center since he played there in the NFL. 1st round draft pick of the Detroit Lions. Played in the in NFL from 1996-2006 and made 2 Pro Bowls.
Steve Wisniewski – 2 Time All American (87 & 88) 2nd round pick of the LA Raiders. He played for the Raiders from 1989-2001. He was named to 8 Pro Bowls and was selected to the NFL 90’s Team of the Decade.
Sean Farrell – 2 Time All American (80 & 81) 1st round draft pick of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. He played in the NFL from 1982-1992.
Keith Dorney – 2 Time All American (77 & 78) A member of the College Football Hall of Fame. 1st round draft pick of the Detroit Lions. He received the Ed Brock Courage Award from the NFL.
Mike Munchak – 2nd Team All American (80). First round draft pick of the Houston Oilers and a member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame. He was selected to 9 Pro Bowls. Munch was selected to the NFL All Time 1980’s team. He received the Ed Brock Courage Award from the NFL.
Second Team:
Levi Brown – 2 time 2nd Team All American (05 & 06) and the #5 player taken in the 1st Round of the NFL draft by the Arizona Cardinals. He is presently still playing for Arizona.
Tom Rafferty – 1st Team All American (75). 4th round draft pick of the Dallas Cowboys. He played in the NFL from 1976-1989. He is a member of the Cowboys All Time Team.
Marco Rivera – 6th round pick of the Green Bay Packers. He played on the same line with Hartings on the greatest offense in PSU history. He played in the NFL from 1996-2006. He was inducted in to the Packers Hall of Fame.
Kareem McKenzie -3th round pick of the New York Jets in 2001 and is still playing for the New York Giants.
AQ Shipley – 2008 Rimington Award Winner. All American and Big 10 Offensive Lineman of the Year. Winning the award alone had to get him on the team. For one year he was considered the best player at his position in the country. He was drafted by the Steelers and played briefly with the Eagles. His grit and determination as a small center was excellent.
Honorable Mention:
Irv Pankey, Charlie Getty, Dave Szott, Andre Johnson, Brad Benson, Chris Conlin, Stephon Wisniewski , John Nessell, Dave Joyner, Bill Dugan, Todd Moules, Rich Ohrnberger, Jack Baiorunos, Rich Buzin, Keith Conlin, Bucky Greeley
Tight End:
1st Team:
Ted Kwalick – 2 Time All American (67 & 68) A member of the College Football Hall of Fame. Kwalick set the standard for what a TE should be. A 1st round draft pick of the San Francisco 49ers. He played professionally from 1969-1977. He played in 3 Pro Bowls.
2nd Team:
Kyle Brady – All American 1994. 1st round draft pick of the New York Jets. I thought Brady was a fantastic football player at Penn State and maybe one of my all time favorites but I couldn’t put him ahead of Kwalick. Brady played in the NFL from 1995-2007.
Honorable Mention:
Troy Drayton, Mike McCloskey, Andrew Quarles, Mickey Schuler Sr., Dan Natale, Tony Stewart
phillypressbox 
I love this stuff. I can’t tell you how many times we’ve gotten on this type of subject matter driving home from State College on a Saturday evening after a football game. We always forget guys and have to end up changing the list about ten times. It’s hard to argue with that first five at all. I would probably put Irv Pankey ahead of some players listed in that second group. He had a long NFL career blocking mostly for Eric Dickerson. You show some great objectivity putting Joyner on your honorable mention list. I am so down on this guy with the way he butchered the hiring process that I wouldn’t be able to put him on any list of great PSU players.
The tight ends are easy. Kyle Brady went to my High School (Cedar Cliff). He was an unbelievable blocker. It was almost like having an All American calibre lineman playing tight end. PSU definitely benefitted from this in 1994 when they had incredible skill people behind a great offensive line. The 1994 PSU offense is one of top 5 offenses to ever play College Football. Anybody that watched the games from that season knows it. They scored 47 points per game and Joe called off the dogs at halftime in probably half the games. Give that team to somebody like Jimmy Johnson, who would put the petal to the medal for 4 quarters, and they would have averaged 60 points per game.
Kevin,
I’m glad you like the teams so far. I thought long and hard about Pankey and Refferty both but tried to base it on college play. It’s tough to know about all the O & D Linemen so making 1st Team All American or winning major awards boosted them up. Pankey was a 2nd teamer but never made 1st. Rafferty was a beast but I couldn’t figure out who to move down.
If you click on the “follow” button on the article you should be able to get any updates automatically.
As far as Joyner, he was a great player. I’m not thrilled with anything that he’s done in this whole mess but that doesn’t take away from him as a player 40 years ago.
The LB’s were a real challenge and you’ll probably be surprised with what I came up with.
Thanks….Bill