by Laura Nichols

A Heisman Trophy winner and a NFL rookie are just two of the latest group of former Penn State football players who have come out in support of the Paterno family’s lawsuit against the NCAA.

The voice of Penn State, the legendary Fran Fisher, also lent his support to the lawsuit.

In June, more than 300 lettermen publicly backed the lawsuit, and say with the new support, they now have more than 500 men and women endorsing the case against the NCAA. On May 29, the Paterno family, along with 20 other plaintiffs including former Penn State football players, coaches, trustees and faculty members, sued the NCAA. They asked a judge to abolish the consent decree which would reverse Penn State’s sanctions.

The plaintiffs sued the NCAA for breach of contract, civil conspiracy, defamation and commercial disparagement.

In a news release, former Nittany Lion Brian Masella says although the supporters were denied access to Penn State’s database for alumni student-athletes, they used their own resources to enlist 200 more former Penn State student athletes and Coaches, which brings the total support to 500 student athletes representing 17 sports and spanning 7 decades. The athletes and coaches have expressed their support to “defend Penn State against the unjustified NCAA sanctions.”

Penn State’s was penalized in July 2012 and its sanctions include a $60 million fine, a four-year football postseason ban, a significant loss of football scholarships and all wins vacated that had been earned under former football coach Joe Paterno between 1998-2011.

Among new football student-athletes lending their support are 1973 Heisman Trophy winner John Cappelletti, All-Americans Ed O’Neil (1973), Charlie Getty (1973), D.J. Dozier (1986), Ki-Jana Carter (1994) and Michael Mauti (2012).

“I signed on because I have faith in justice and due process. I spent the last year fighting for it in the media and I’ll continue to fight for it with the men who built the program we all love,” Mauti says in the news release. “We all want what’s best for our program.”

The support is coming from other areas, too. Former student athletes and coaches from sixteen additional sports have joined our support of the lawsuit. Among them are two-time national champion and Olympic wrestler Kerry McCoy, national soccer player of the Yyar Christine Welsh, former Penn State men’s basketball coach Bruce Parkhill, former men’s lacrosse coach Glen Thiel and former wrestling coach John Fritz.

Newly-elected Penn State trustee Barbara Doran, a former three-sport athlete and three-time lacrosse All-American also added her name in support of the lawsuit. Former All-American athletes supported the lawsuit, including eight wrestlers, 10 former field hockey players, nine women’s lacrosse players, two men’s volleyball players, and former men and women’s soccer players.

“Make no mistake; our group is sympathetic to and supportive of the victims of one man’s deeds,” Masella says in the news release. The actions of Penn Staters and Penn State students, in raising money and awareness for these issues, speak volumes.

“But we recognize this fact; the NCAA’s actions will not promote healing and will cause harm to current and future student athletes through these punitive sanctions.Supporting the victims and supporting due process are not mutually exclusive goals,” he says.

A list of the former student athletes who most recently added their names in support of the Paterno lawsuit are listed below. Potter County Judge John Leete was assigned to preside over the Paterno family lawsuit but no court date has been set.

Football:

Frank Ahrenhold

Tyler Ahrenhold

Ray Alberigi

George Allen

Drew Astorino

Bob Bassett

Staff Mike Boyer

Rod Bratton

Dave Brockway

John Bronson

John Cappelletti

Ki-Jana Carter

Thomas Cherry

Alex Chiara

Stan Clayton

Ronald Crosby

Scott Davis

D. J. Dozier

Gary Eberle

Staff Fran Fisher

Mike Fuhrman

Aaron Gatten

Charles Getty

Michael Gilsenan

John W. Greene

John Gurski

Corey Jones

Ethan Kilmer

Chris Lavelle

Mike Mauti

Mike McCloskey

James Millon

Christian Molnar

Robert Mrosko

Scott O’Donnell

Ed O’Neil

Anthony J. Orsini

Michael Pawlikowski

Derick Pickett

J.R. Refice

Bill Rettig

Coach Frank Rocco

C. Douglas Rothgaber

Bill Russ

Brian Stairs

Ed Stewart

John P. Susko

Robert M. Swartz

Tom Templeton

Mark R. Thomas

Glenn Zumbach

Multiple Sports

Glenn F. Thiel – Wrestling/Lacrosse 1966

James Taylor – Soccer/Baseball 1972

Brian Masella – Swimming/Baseball 1973

Christine Kassab Powell – Field Hockey/Lacrosse 1974

Barbara Doran – Field Hockey/Lacrosse/Basketball 1975

Susan McCoy Fissinger – Field Hockey/ Lacrosse 1976

Hilary Graves Young – Field Hockey/Lacrosse 1977

Sharon Duffey – Field Hockey/Lacrosse 1978

Karen Schnellenbach – Field Hockey/Lacrosse 1979

Sharon Scott Stewart – Field Hockey/Lacrosse 1979

Jody Field – Field Hockey/LaCrosse 1979

Debra L. Malone – Field Hockey/Softball 1980

Sharon Tinucci – Field Hockey/Lacrosse 1981

Jan E. Snyder – Field Hockey/Lacrosse 1982

Judy Mahaffey Busby – Field Hockey/Lacrosse 1983

Lauren Hoke Downs – Field Hockey/Lacrosse 1983

Laurie Gray Markle – Field Hockey/Lacrosse 1984

Karen Richards MacCrory – Field Hockey/Lacrosse 1984

Lynnie Mattson – Field Hockey/Lacrosse 1984

Tami Worley Kirby – Field Hockey/Lacrosse 1989

MaryAnne Foley Schiller – Field Hockey/Lacrosse 1991

Megan Smith Fizzano – Field Hockey/Lacrosse 1991

Elena Brazer Arthur – Field Hockey/Lacrosse 1991

Christine McGinley – Field Hockey/Lacrosse/Soccer 1995

Jennifer Webb – Field Hockey/Lacrosse 2000

Men’s Soccer

Ron Coleman 1952

Charles Messner 1971

Matt Chase 1979

Jeff Maierhofer 1983

Scott Maierhofer 1984

Jerry Moyer 1985

Troy Snyder 1986

Tim Maierhofer 1987

John Pascarella 1988

Bert Eckelmeyer 1990

Pete Shellenberger 2002

Andres Casais 2010

Vincent Salvatico 2010

WOMEN’S SOCCER

Karen Grove Hickey 1994

Erin Cochran Crispin 2002

Christie Welsh 2004

Carly Niness 2012

Softball

Carolyn DeWyckoff 1987

Donna Devanney 1989

Dena Tauriello 1990

Alisha Dorow 1992

Michele Hunter-Hill 1992

Marie Hawkins 1993

Lisa Waddington Barton 1993

Wrestling

Richard L. Campbell 1963

Marty Strayer 1965

John Fritz 1979

Joe Bastardi 1978

John Hanrahan 1982

Jan Johnson 1986

Eric Brugel 1986

Gregory N. Elinski 1987

Stephen Smith 1987

Tim Flynn 1987

Mark Sidorick 1988

Jim Abbott 1990

Michael Bevilacqua 1990

John Yankanich 1990

Kerry McCoy 1997

Jonathan Long 2000

Doc Vecchio 2004

Men’s Tennis

Jerod Ford 1990

Boxing

Jack (John) Beiter 1952

Field Hockey

Debra Gorman Blount 1976

Connie Ehresman Angus 1990

Jill Radzinski 1990

Chelle Frates Tambroni 1991

Tracy Shilkret Capecci 1991

Julie Johnston Umberger 1991

Eleanor Stone Race 1992

Stacy Gilburg Rucci 1993

Michele Brennan Murphy 1993

Sharon Kuntz Herlocher 1994

Paulette Thompson 1995

Kirstie Benedect 1995

Kimberly Hicks Witmer 1997

Kiley Kulina Strohm 2002

Timarie Legel Rayburg 2004

Mary Schaefer Driscoll 2004

Neilye Stoner Garrity 2004

Amanda Eckert Gasparato 2005

Michele Rigby Mihok 2005

Carey Maser Burke 2007

Shaun Banta 2007

Brooke Hoffsmith 2010

Women’s Lacrosse

Susan Wisniewski Ridgeway 1978

Karen Pesto Coder 1979

Lynn Thompson Anderson 1981

Tamara Crowe Bean 1997

Laura Lincicome 2009

Laura Stupar 2009

Kerry Shea 2009

Lauren Burke 2009

Suzanne Jones Stetson 1987

Men’s Lacrosse

Joseph Carlozo 1974

Jim Rosecrans 1975

Jack Barry 1977

Scott McKeon 1987

Anthony Gerrato 1987

William Driscoll 2002

Chris Garrity 2003

Bill Farrell 2003

Brendan DeBow 2003

William Cutler 2005

Chris Gannett 2006

Scott Gehnrich 2006

Matthew Mulqueen 2007

Women’s Volleyball

Leanne Kling Piscotty 1992

Men’s Volleyball

Ricky Mattei 2004

Nathan A. Meerstein 2006

Matt Proper 2006

Women’s Gymnastics

Jess Bastardi 1990

Janae Whittaker Ali 2000

Allie Southard 2010

Cheerleading

Kim Lewis Lombardi 1996

Women’s Track and Field

Kiernan O’Toole Pierce 1989

Men’s Track and Field

Thomas Kleban 1995

Baseball

Russ Menk 1970

Chris Rayburg 2004

Men’s Basketball

Mike Lang 1983

Craig L. Collins 1986

Brian Allen 1989

Ed Fogell 1990

Darrell Alton Ricks 1990

Tony Soskich 1991

Steve Wydman 1994

Peter Lisicky 1998

Joe Crispin 2006

Swimming

Gene Kolber 1952

Ken (Andy) Anderson 1981

Coaches

Bruce Parkhill – Men’s Basketball 1982 – 1995

Jess Bastardi – Women’s Assistant Gymnastics Coach 1991-2010 *

John Fritz – Wrestling Head Coach 1992-1998 *

Glenn Thiel – Men’s Lacrosse 1978-2010 *

* listed above as former player athletes

Nittany Lion Mascot

Rob Sterling 1984-1986

Ricky Williams 1993-1995