Five Stories: Part 2

This is part 2 of my 5 part series, Five Stories.  Each post will examine the career of a different Penn State football player.  There are many lessons to be drawn from each story, but I’ll let you take from them what you will.  Today’s story is one I know every Penn Stater holds near and dear to their heart: Michael Mauti.

How exactly does one even go about telling the epic tale of Michael Mauti?  I guess it’s best if I just start from the beginning.  A highly touted linebacker recruit out of Lousiana, Mauti gained almost instant notoriety on campus due to his family name.  Like numerous others, especially in the latter days of the late Joe Paterno, Mauti’s family had a history of producing great football players for the legendary coach.  His father Rich Mauti (1975-76) had a nice NFL career after excelling at Penn State, and his brother Patrick Mauti (2005-09) even played with Mike for a season.  Mauti was rated as a 4-star recruit, ranked #58 in the ESPNU 150, and the 3^rd best linebacker in the country.  He was a huge get for Paterno, who was always looking for the next great linebacker to make his way to Penn State.  Still, despite his hype as a recruit, Mauti soon realized that it would take more than just a high star rating to crack the starting rotation at Linebacker U.  In addition to playing behind guys like Sean Lee, Navarro Bowman, Nate Stupar, and Josh Hull, Mauti also found himself competing with injuries.  During his time at Penn State, Mauti would go on to suffer 3 ACL tears.  Yet, each summer, he would show up on the depth chart, and each season, we the fans would hear rumors about the incredibly talented linebacker who would surprise everyone if he could just stay healthy.  He started out the 2011 season on several All-American and All-Big ten watch lists, as well as the watch list for multiple national awards.  After an impressive start, however, it was all cut short in the fourth game by yet another knee injury, this time to the opposite leg as his first ACL tear.  2011 also happened to mark the season that the Jerry Sandusky scandal broke.  Within months of Sandusky’s arrest, the entire football program at Penn State was thrown into utter turmoil.  Joe Paterno was fired, along with athletic director Tim Curly.  The team, under interim head coach Tom Bradley, was crushed in 3 of their final 4 games, including a 30-14 loss to Houston in the Ticket City Bowl.  Houston QB Case Keenum went an astounding 45/69 for 532 yds and 3 TDs against a normally stout Penn State defense.  A new head coach, Bill O’Brien was hired and immediately did away with all but two members of the former coaching staff.  Only weeks after the bowl game, Joe Paterno would pass away due to complications from cancer.  The campus went into mourning.  Everything was changing and almost none of it seemed to be for the better.  Penn Staters needed something, anything at all, to cling to as the world seemingly began to crumble around them.  These were some of the darkest times in Penn State history.

Unbeknownst to anyone, though, it was precisely during this time that something changed in Michael Mauti.  It wasn't drastic, or all that noticeable to onlookers, but it was there.  Latent leadership skills that had been hidden up to this point, started to surface.  You could see it in his reaction to the scandal.  You could see it in his poise during Joe’s funeral and memorial, where Mauti was asked to speak on behalf of the current players.  You could see it in his eyes when he met Bill O’Brien.  Something was growing inside him.  Yet, even with all the signs, no one could have ever guessed what would happen next, nor just how important this one player, this still very young man, would become to his team, his school, and an entire community.  No one knew, but a legend was about to be born.

Mike Mauti addresses the crowd at Joe Paterno’s memorial ceremony.

July 23, 2012.  Mark Emmert, president of the NCAA, goes on national television only weeks after the release of the Freeh Report and issues a series of sanctions against the Penn State football program.  Penn Staters grew to memorize them by heart.  A $60 million fine, the loss of 10 recruiting scholarships for 4 years, the loss of 20 total scholarships also for 4 years, the right of any player to transfer to another school without penalty, and a 4 year bowl ban.  Many analysts around the country called them the worst sanctions levied against a football program since the Death Penalty issued to SMU in the mid 80s; some even said this was worse than that.  Even the best predictions called for an immediate drop off in program success, followed by a minimum 10 year lull.  The NCAA’s goal was clear, even if the reasons weren't.  They wanted to dismantle the football program at Penn State and send a message to the rest of the college football world.  Within 24 hrs, free agency was declared in State College and coaches from around the country descended upon the small, quiet town in the middle of nowhere Pennsylvania.  Players were harassed outside their classes and dorms as each coach hoped to land a few of Penn State’s best players to make their own teams better.  Some players did leave, but shockingly, most who did were backups or rarely used situational players.  The overwhelming majority of the starting talent on Penn State’s roster stayed.  A few days later, Bill O’Brien and a small contingent of players, including Mauti, went to Chicago for Big Ten Media Days.  Mauti didn't shy away from the questions, and gladly let the entire world know just how he felt about the NCAA, the sanctions, and the coaches who had tried to pick apart his team.  It was almost amusing to watch.

Mauti and Zordich give a passionate speech to the media only a few days after the sanctions are announced.

Mauti at Big Ten Media Days expressing his feelings about the NCAA, the sanctions, and the coaches who came to campus to poach players.

Exactly what happened behind closed doors, and how O’Brien, along with players like Mauti, held the team together may never be known.  Then again, that mystery probably just adds to the legend.  Author John U. Bacon, in his book Fourth and Long, had unprecedented access to the football program in the aftermath of the NCAA sanctions.  If you really want to know the ins and outs of what happened, or at least as close as anyone may ever come, I would highly suggest reading that book.  In the meantime, the guys over at OnwardState did a good job of summing it up.  Let’s just say, if it weren't for Michael Mauti and Michael Zordich, there might not even be a Penn State football program today.  The leadership that Mauti showed throughout those incredibly difficult summer months leading up to the 2012 season may never again be seen in a college football player.  It was almost inhuman how much pressure he was able to take on his own shoulders, while simultaneously uniting a fan base decimated by everything that had happened.  Mauti became the unofficial symbol of the program, and of Penn State’s strength and determination to get through even the hardest times together.  His spirit embodied the famous “We are!” chant.

The story of the 2012 season could take up an entire blog by itself (not just post, but a blog).  After losing their first 2 games to teams they had no business losing to, many in the media wondered if Penn State could manage even 1 win that season.  Then, something clicked.  Maybe O’Brien got over his nerves, maybe the players remembered how to just have fun and play, maybe the losses took some of the pressure to win off the team.  Frankly, who cares?  Next thing anyone knew Penn State rattled off 5 wins in a row and won 8 of their final 10.  Against Illinois, the most documented poachers in the conference, Mauti let out all his aggression, leading the team in tackles and recording 2 interceptions.  The previously disgraced Nittany Lions were now the quintessential feel good story of the college football world.  Everyone was riding high and Mauti was watching his draft stock soar as he put together an All-American caliber season… until it happened.

Indiana University came to town in Penn State’s second to last game of the season.  On a routine run, an IU player was tackled and rolled up on Mauti’s leg.  He tore his ACL again.  The stadium fell silent and the television announcer’s loss for words was evident to those watching from home.  It was as if someone had reached into the collective chest of Nittany Nation and ripped out their heart.  Zordich reached out and clasped the hand of his best friend as he was carted off the field.  Mauti, with his helmet still on, just dropped his head in disappointment.  Penn State went on to crush Indiana 45-22, but the damage was done, and next week brought the eventual Big Ten champions, Wisonsin, to Beaver Stadium.

In a tribute to their fallen leader, every Penn State player wore #42 on their helmet against Wisconsin.  Mauti’s linebacking teammate and roommate, Gerald Hodges, wore #42 on his jersey.  Before the game, Penn State honored the 2012 team by placing the number “2012” on the ring of honor under the suite boxes, an honor previously reserved for undefeated or championship teams.  It was Senior Day, and this would have been Mauti’s last game in a Penn State uniform.  Instead, he stood by on the sidelines, cheering his brothers on.  It didn't start out well, but inspired by the crowd and the moment, the team managed to take the game into overtime.  After scoring a field goal, the defense held Wisconsin to a field goal try of their own.  Nervous does not begin to describe how every player, coach, and fan felt at that very moment.  The kick was no good.  Cheers erupted from throughout the stadium and pandemonium ensued down on the field.  Hugs were in order for everyone, but especially for Michael Mauti.  His father, his teammates, his coach, they all took their turn, attempting to show the Lion’s undisputed leader how they felt.  Of course, a hug can’t do that kind of emotion justice, but on that night, it would have to do.

Mauti’s Journey.

Although his injury caused him to fall all the way to the 6^th round of the NFL draft, Mauti was eventually taken by the Minnesota Vikings.  In an incredibly perfect turn of events, the Vikings also drafted Gerald Hodges, and both linebackers eventually made the roster together.  But even the passionate Vikings fan base will never be able to appreciate the love that Nittany Lions everywhere have for Michael Mauti.  There will simply never be another player like him again… ever.