Five decades of Penn State lettermen to celebrate Joe Paterno in private event

The defining moment of Tom Donchez’s time at Penn State was not on a football field.

“Really, it was the day that Joe Paterno came and met my mother,” said the former fullback, who played for the Nittany Lions in the mid-1970s. “Because they formed a friendship that was incredibly strong. My mother (Helen) was a single mother, and did a great job raising a family by herself. And Joe thought she was an outstanding person, and he really understood what she was all about. I had never met a coach who, in recruiting, ever did that. Even after he got me (to the school), he understood what she was about. It wasn’t a recruiting ploy, he really meant it.”

It’s part of the reason why Donchez collaborated with Sue Paterno, wife of Joe, and a few lettermen on an upcoming celebration of the longtime head coach.

On Friday evening, several hundred Penn State lettermen will come together at Medlar Field at Lubrano Park to hold their own commemoration event for Paterno, and what he still means to them.

“It’s purely a celebration of the 50th anniversary of what Joe Paterno called ‘The Grand Experiment,’” said Donchez via phone call on Thursday afternoon. “He began using that term as a young coach at Penn State, and the Grand Experiment, in our view, means that you can have success with the honor of knowing that he graduated players at high levels, and he followed the rules. It’s as simple as that.”

The event’s inception came after Sue Paterno sent a message in late January to a circle of lettermen to remind them of the 50th anniversary of Paterno’s first game as head coach of the Nittany Lions, occurring this weekend. From there, said Donchez, plans began to form. The event will be in mixer format, with a few brief speakers and a video. Mostly, he said, it will be about players, about 500 in total and spanning five decades, being together again.

“We’ve got people coming back from Alaska, and London and everywhere in between,” said Donchez.

“…I said this to others, you know, Joe loved his players. He absolutely loved his players. It didn’t matter whether you were a first team, or a fourth team,” he said. “What mattered more is that we kept each other in each other’s lives. … So we’ve got it all coming together. We are celebrating our participation and our memories of 50 years of ‘The Grand Experiment,’ and we’re doing it together. I think he would be really happy with that.”

Donchez said that the group had extended the invitation to current head coach James Franklin.

“We would love to have him there. I think everyone in the lettermen group supports what he’s doing and wants this program to be a success under him; wants him to continue to graduate players and play good football,” said Donchez.

The invitation was also extended to Temple coach Matt Rhule, a Nittany Lions letterman himself. Temple athletics could not confirm whether Rhule would be in attendance.

When asked this week if he would attend, Franklin declined to answer directly, instead commenting, “I think it’s great. That’s one of the things that obviously makes us special, when we’re able to get this type of support and guys come back and feel a real strong connection to the university and the football program.”

The event is not affiliated with the university itself, and is not in association with the plans by the university to honor Paterno’s first game as head coach at Penn State, a 15-7 win against Maryland. The athletic department announced its intent for commemoration as a part of its promotions email released last month, and its official plans on Thursday afternoon.

Co-captains of the 1966 team, Mike Irwin and John Runnells, will participate in the on-field coin toss, according to a written statement from athletic director Sandy Barbour. Additionally, in-game introductions of other players will occur as well as video presentations of “the impact to student athletes.”

“Coach Paterno wanted academic success not only for his players but also for every student who came through Penn State,” Barbour said in a statement. “Together with his wife, Sue, they helped countless students become leaders and earn a Penn State diploma. Our plans are consistent with the wishes of the Paterno family as well, with a focus on the players and their accomplishments at Penn State and beyond.”

Sue Paterno released her own statement, which commended the university on its plan to keep the commemoration “focused on the players.”

Both the original announcement and the following commemoration release caused a strong reaction both in the community and nationally, based on the fallout from the Jerry Sandusky child sex abuse scandal in 2011. Paterno was fired shortly after, and died in 2012.

“We would do this for Joe whether or not anything happened,” said Donchez. “He’s our coach. We are a part of this program. ‘The Grand Experiment’ really did exist and it lasted for a long time, and it still exists. We are proud to have been a part of it and we’re celebrating it. It’s really as simple as that. Everybody has been through a lot. And this weekend is intended to put all of that aside, enjoy ourselves and each other’s company, and remember what we were a part of.”

This story was originally published September 15, 2016 at 5:06 PM with the headline "Five decades of Penn State lettermen to celebrate Joe Paterno in private event."