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JERRY KELLAR
Wednesday, October 17, 2001     Page: 1B

For a coach, it’s a good thing when the majority of athletes on your team
are also responsible students and upstanding citizens.
   
It’s not always so good, though, when those character traits carry over to
the playing field.
    Therein rests the dilemma for Penn State’s football program the last two
years. Frankly, the Nittany Lions are too darn nice.
   
That’s not to say one has to be a thug, trash-talker or cheap-shot artist
to be successful in the game. Most of the time, players that engage in that
type of extracurricular bluster are simply covering up for a deficiency of
talent.
   
Ex-Oklahoma Sooner linebacker and NFL bust Brian “The Boz” Bosworth
immediately comes to mind.
   
There is, however, a huge difference between being an enforcer on the field
and simply acting the part. Lately, Penn State has had neither.
   
While the current Lions are an aggressive bunch with a genuine hunger to
put an end to their current slide, few, if any, members of the squad seem to
have that edge in their on-field persona – a chip on the shoulder that warns
the opposition it had better be prepared to fight and scratch for every yard.
   
“When I first came in as a freshman, all the big names were here,” corner
Bryan Scott said, referring to the Brandon Short/LaVar Arrington tenure.
“There was just so much fire.”
   
All the great Penn State teams of days gone by had that athlete or two –
almost always a defender – with a mean streak. By now, stories about past
greats such as Jack Ham, Greg Buttle and Matt Millen – take-charge players
with ornery personalities – have become the stuff of legend.
   
Here’s a few others:
   
Chet Parlavecchio (1979-81) probably is the most well known of the
nasty-boy Nits who played in a controlled rage. A middle linebacker,
Parlavecchio had a knack of firing up his team while getting under the
opponent’s skin. Truth be told, Chet’s volatile style didn’t sit well with at
least one PSU assistant coach, either.
   
The staff wasn’t all that giddy about the spirited antics of a pair of
‘backers named Trey Bauer and Mark D’Onofrio, either.
   
Bauer (1984-87) was the hands-down leader of Paterno’s second national
championship team, an overall ornery bunch that beat heavily favored Miami in
the ’87 Fiesta Bowl.
   
Bauer grew so agitated watching the ‘Canes strut around Tempe, Ariz., and
listening to them demean the Lions during virtually every press conference
leading up the game, Paterno imposed a gag-order on his linebacker until after
the contest.
   
Analysts agree Bauer and company won that game after just one series, when
they laid some particularly vicious hits on Miami’s receivers.
   
D’Onofrio (1988-91) might not have been the most physically imposing nor
the most athletically gifted of the all-time Lions’ tough-guy list, but it is
hard to imagine anyone with more passion for the game.
   
A true cop on the field, D’Onofrio wasn’t bashful about getting in the face
masks of his teammates – or the faces of opposing coaches. During one game
against Syracuse, he and Orangeman head coach Dick MacPherson came within
inches of coming to blows.
   
Coach Mac apologized to D’Onofrio after the game, and praised his
intensity.
   
Plenty of other past Lions exhibited that same kind of fire. That group
includes Wyoming Valley products Todd Moules (1982-85) and Harry Hamilton
(1980-83).
   
Whether all or some of these players teetered close to crossing the line of
good sportsmanship at times is debatable. What’s not is the respect Penn State
commanded because of their leadership.
   
It’s important to note that all of the above-mentioned ex-Lions were and
still are likable, decent people. They also enjoy successful post-football
careers.
   
It just goes to show that nice guys can indeed finish first.
   
Even ones with a dark side.
   
Jerry Kellar is a Times Leader sports writer. Reach him at 829-7243 or
[email protected].