STATE COLLEGE, Pa. - July 25, 2012 (WPVI)More than 30 Penn State football players say they're staying in Happy
Valley despite NCAA sanctions that will keep the Nittany Lions out of a
bowl game for the rest of their careers.
Flanked by more than two dozen teammates, seniors Michael
Mauti and Michael Zordich vowed to restore Penn State to greatness after
an unprecedented child sex abuse scandal that shattered the program's
image as a place where "success with honor" was the rule. "We
want to let the nation know that we're proud of who we are," Zordich
said Wednesday. "We're the true Penn Staters, and we're going to stick
together through this. We're going to see this thing through, and we're
going to do everything we can for the university. We know it's not going
to be easy, but we know what we're made of."Quarterback Matt McGloin also tweeted that he planned to stay.

Neither Zordich nor Mauti - both sons of former Penn State players - mentioned former assistant coach Jerry Sandusky by name.


"We take this as an opportunity to create our own legacy," Mauti
said. "This program was not built by one man and it's sure as hell not
going to get torn down by one man. This program was built on every
alumni, every single player that came before us, built on their backs."
The Nittany Lions will not be able to play in a bowl game until the
2016 season, and the scholarship reductions they'll receive could make
it difficult for new coach Bill O'Brien to field a competitive squad
during the next few seasons. That's why support will be needed from fans
and alumni more than ever, the players said. "We're going to
do everything in our power to get this place back on track," Zordich
said. "I'm personally calling out every member of Nittany Nation - all
the students, faculty, fans and family members, alumni, everything that
there is. Please, please come support us through this, because we need
you just as much as you need us. And together we're going to get through
this thing to the end." Mauti is expected to be a leader on
the defensive side while fellow senior McGloin won the starting
quarterback job during spring practice. McGloin tweeted that he intended to stay at Penn State despite NCAA penalties he called "extremely harsh."


"I am a Nittany Lion and will remain one," he tweeted. "I believe in
the core values I have learned in this program. It is not Nittany Lion
Football. It is Nittany Lion family." Soon after the players
spoke, Penn State announced that no players would be made available for
Big Ten media days, which are Thursday and Friday in Chicago.
It's been less than two weeks since an investigation by former FBI
director Louis Freeh concluded former coach Joe Paterno and other
high-ranking university officials covered up abuse allegations involving
Sandusky, who awaits sentencing on charges he abused 10 boys, some of
them in team facilities. In that time, Paterno's bronze
likeness has been removed from outside Beaver Stadium and the NCAA
imposed harsh sanctions that include a $60 million fine and a four-year
bowl ban. The NCAA also erased 14 years of Paterno's victories,
stripping him of his standing as the winningest coach in the history of
big-time college football. "No sanction, no politician is ever
going to take away what we've got here," Mauti said. "None of that's
ever going to tear us apart. Right now all we can do is put our heads
down, and we're just going to work. That's all we can do. We're going to
fight for Penn State, fight for each other, because this is what Penn
State's about - fighting through adversity."



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