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Pastimes : College Football: Nits, Gators, Bruins, Vols - Whoever! -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Nittany Lion who wrote (4402)	9/18/2001 2:24:14 PM
From: MythMan	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 11146

Joe Paterno press conference recap -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1. The team hasn't discussed the travel situation yet. Joe is having a very difficult time getting back to focusing on football because his background is all around the WTC. His grandfather used to take Joe to work with him occasionally and he walked those streets all around that area. He's tried to stay focused and get the team to where it needs to be in order to become a good football team. Joe has talked with the team about some personal experiences such as having his life threatened at halftime of a Pitt game when the FBI didn't want him to come back out for the 2nd half. Chuck Fusina and his mother also had their lives threatened. There are support personnel in place at the university to help the players if they need it. Seeing the crowd reactions at the baseball games last night might help everyone. 2. When the attacks first occurred, Joe thought the worst regarding the death toll and the hundreds of people he knows that live and/or work in NYC. He doesn't want to speculate on whether everyone associated with the football program made it through this tragedy unscathed. 3. Ron Graham has not stepped up yet. He is much too heavy and can't get control of his weight. He's nowhere near the player he could be because he's currently 270 lbs instead of around 240 where they'd like him to be. Tom Williams will start at one outside LB. Benfatti and Toles will share time at the other LB spot. Tim Johnson is back and will help at MLB. Lamar Stewart is really doing a good job and will help at OLB. Jimi Mitchell has been moved to OLB and is learning the position. Joe is not discouraged and thinks the LB situation will be ok. 4. Joe Iorio has done well and just needs to stay healthy. The same goes for the rest of the OL. 5. Tom Williams is a good football player. He's a smart, tough kid, very conscientious. He needs to be more reckless, but he's getting much more comfortable at OLB. 6. Joe was asked to compare these terrorist attacks with Pearl Harbor and the Kennedy assassination. He remembered being at home listening to a Redskins-Giants game on the radio when they broke in and said Pearl Harbor has been attacked. For the Kennedy assassination, they were on the practice field when Rip Engle came over and told Joe that Kennedy had been shot. The amazing thing is that Rip, a staunch conservative, didn't like Kennedy but couldn't hold back the emotion and was devastated. 7. Penn State will do something in remembrance of the victims. They're trying to work something out with Wisconsin so that both teams can be involved. Suggestions are being taken for something that would be appropriate. They don't want to take anything away from the excitement of being involved in a big football game while at the same time showing proper respect for the victims. 8. Joe didn't want to play against Virginia and had agreed with Al Groh that the game shouldn't be played. It was very inspiring for Coach Paterno to be around his team during this situation. Some of the players came to Joe and said it was time for them to lead the team. They were anxious to play last week to get the Miami game behind them. 9. The team has responded well to the long layoff. It's like having another preseason practice. They haven't always practiced as well as Joe would like, but overall, they've handled things well. Joe got them into a normal game week routine beginning this past Saturday. They've practiced well the past couple of days. 10. Joe was in a staff meeting with the offensive coaches when Mike McQueary came in and told the coaches about the attacks. They were stunned and didn't know what to do, so they continued making plans for UVA. Once Joe got to see what had happened, he knew how bad things were. 11. Wisconsin lost to 2 good football teams in 2 great games. They have tremendous speed. Their RB(Anthony Davis) doesn't have the size that Ron Dayne did, but he has great speed as does Nick Davis. Evans is a good football player. Their secondary has as much speed as Miami's secondary. 12. The staff had all the game film they wanted because they had a tv tape of the Fresno St game. The problem is that Wisconsin has played 3 games to PSU's one and PSU has been off so long they don't know where they are as a team. 13. Joe is friends with former President George Bush and his wife. He's tried not to watch too much tv because it is difficult for him emotionally and he wants to help. Current President Bush is doing a great job. He thinks that Bush will do what has to be done. He was glad that Bush called on the American people to not show hatred towards the Muslim population in the US. You don't want to get into a situation where everyone is looking at how people look and what they wear. Bush has asserted his leadership and we should be proud that we have him leading our country. 14. Joe has told the team that once they cross the blue line onto the practice field, you have to be focusing on getting better as a football player. You have to leave all the other distractions in life behind once you step onto the practice field. That's how he has approached getting the team ready for this game following the attacks. 15. He thinks the players have to be distracted to some degree seeing people their age signing up for the military and being questioned as a generation as to whether they will stand up and fight for their freedom. They're human beings. They have the same feelings everyone else has. 16. When Joe's life was threatened, he was more concerned with the safety of his family and that of Chuck Fusina's mom than he was with his personal safety. If he was threatened tomorrow, he would feel completely different than he did that day in Pittsburgh because of what happened last Tuesday. There's such a different mentality now. Before, he never thought anything would really happen and that it was just some kook. Now, he would be much more sensitive to the situation. 17. Joe will wait and see how things play out with TC Cosby and RJ Luke. 18. We can't let what happened change the way we live. Joe hopes that the university is on special alert Saturday and do the best they can to secure the stadium, but at the same time allow the fans to enjoy the game the way they always have. Joe hopes his players will not let terrorists take the enjoyment of playing football away from them. 19. Joe didn't see the HBO special on him. 20. The team will have flag decals on their helmets and the coaching staff will be wearing red, white and blue ribbons. Looks like nobody is focused, starting with the coach.