Penn State lettermen ask for return of Paterno's statue

• More than 200 PSU lettermen want Joe Paterno's statue returned outside of Beaver Stadium.
• The lettermen also want an apology given to Sue Paterno.
• Joe Paterno was fired in the aftermath of the Jerry Sandusky child sex abuse scandal.

More than 200 Penn State football lettermen have issued a formal request of the university to return Joe Paterno’s statue and the players’ wall outside of Beaver Stadium.

The request has also asked for an apology to Sue Paterno "for the way in which Paterno’s legacy has been unfairly tarnished in the aftermath of the Jerry Sandusky saga."

Paterno was fired in 2011 in the aftermath of the Sandusky child sex abuse scandal. His statue outside of the stadium was removed in 2012. He died in 2012 of cancer.

Most of the lettermen represented the five decades when Joe Paterno coached at PSU.

Brian Masella, former tight end and punter, and 1975 PSU graduate, is acting as spokesman for the group. The letter was sent to PSU president Eric Barron, as well as every PSU trustee.

“We have been told during the last four-plus years that the board and administration are waiting for the appropriate time to repair the damage they created. Now is the appropriate time. Enough is enough,” Marsella said. "... Our program has always been one of integrity, honesty, and respect. Under coach Paterno, we strove for academic excellence and made an ongoing commitment to becoming better men. We deserve to have that respect reciprocated by Penn State and its leadership."

Penn State athletics has not yet responded to requests for comment.

The Penn State lettermen and former coaches who signed the petition are listed below:

1950s: Robert Belus, Frank Della Penna, Charles Koval, Daniel Maddigan, Fran Bucky Paolone, James Scott, John Storer.

1960s: Ronald Adams, Alex Chiara, Peter Cimino, Jack Curry, Alan Delmonaco, Gary Eberle, John Eppensteiner, Gerry Farkas, Ed Gabriel, Chuck Gambone, Warren Hartenstine, Robert Kline, George Kulka, Jon Lang, Lincoln Lippincott, Thomas McGrath, Dave McNaughton, Pete Ochsner, Bill Rettig, Jack Sain, Ted Sebastianelli, Gary Shaffer, Thomas Stuart, Jack White, Gary H. Wydman, Joe Zelinsky.

1970s: Frank Ahrenhold, Russell Albert, Kurt Allerman, Ferris Atty, John Balena, Bruce Bannon, Dave Brockway, Richard M. Brown, Chuck Burkhart, John W. Bush, Bobby Campbell, John Cappelletti, Michael Cappelletti, Joseph V. Carlozo, Thomas Greg Christian, Craig Coder, Ron Coder, F. Len Consalvo, Bill Crummy, Steven A. Davis, Gary W. Debes, Thomas F. Donchez, William Ericsson, Morris Fansler, Chuck Fusina, Michael Gilsenan, Bill Glennon, Tony Gordon, David F. Graf, Gary Gray, Mike Guman, Brian Hand, Jim Heller, Scott Hettinger, Ron Hostetler, Thomas M. Hull, John Huttenberger *, Gary Klossner, Bob Knechtel, Richard A. Knechtel, Joe Lally, Ron LaPointe, Philip F. LaPorta, John R. Lewchenko, Kevin Lyden, Brian Masella, Peter Michaelson, Robert Nagle, Joe Navin, John Nessel, Richard N. Nichols, Ed O'Neil, Michael A. Orsini M.D., Ron Pavlechko, Woody Petchel, Jr., Gary Petercuskie, Charles Pittman, Carlos Quirch, Tom Rafferty, Joel Ramich, George Reihner, John M. Reihner, James E. Rosecrans, C. Douglas Rothgaber, George SanFilippo, Bernard Shalvey, Tom L. Shoemaker, Tom Shuman, Derek Smith, John P. Susko, Gary R. Tyler, Michael Urquhart, Kip Vernaglia, Marshall Wagner.

1980s: Roger Alexander, Mark Battaglia, Jeff Bergstrom, Kirk Bowman, Tim Bronish, Jeff Brunie, Bruce Clark, Bill Contz, Tom Couch, Peter Curkendall, Rick D'Amico, John DePasqua, Dean DiMidio, Michael Dunlay, Eric Etze, Craig Fiedler, Tim Freeman, Brennan Gaertner, Gene Gladys, John W. Greene, Nick Haden, Greg Hay, Stu Helgeson, Joseph Hines, John Hornyak, Robert Jagers, Joe Johns, Ken Kelley, Massimo Manca, Carmen Masciantonio, Jay McCormick, Mike Meade, Rob Mikulski, Robert Mrosko, Aoatoa Polamalu, Kevin Romango, Michael Russo, Rich Schonewolf, Brian Siverling, Patrick Slater, Rob Smith, Pete Speros, Tim Sweeney, Blair Thomas, Darryl Washington, Jeff Woofter.

1990s: John Andress, Michael Barninger, Dave Brzenchek, Robert Ceh, Keith Conlin, Brett Conway, Daniel Drogan, Adam Fahrer, Chafi Fields, Derek Fox, Rudolph Glocker, Ryan Grube, Mike Heller, Leonard Humphries, Greg Huntington, Corey Jones, Scott Kaufmann, Jeffrey Koontz, Chad Linnon, Mike Malinoski, Christian Marrone, David Miller, Bradley Pantall, James Scourtis, Dave Smith, William Spoor, Brian Stairs, Justin Williams.

2000s: Tyler Ahrenhold, Drew Astorino, Jason Bisson, Nick Daise, Steven Delich, Tom Humphrey, Justin Ingram, Cedric Jeffries, Andrew Kubic, John Kuceyeski, Justin Kurpeikis, Ben Lago, Nick Marmo, Shawn Mayer, James Mitchell, Michael Pawlikowski, Andrew Pitz, Paul Posluszny, Ryan Primanti, Curt Reese, Matt Schmitt, Bryan Scott, Ryan Scott, Mickey Shuler, Alan Zemaitis.

2010s: Jesse Alfreno, Larry Federoff, Patrick Flanagan, Eric Flohr, Stephen Obeng-Agyapong

Coaches and Staff: John Bove, Booker Brooks, Don Carlino, Craig Cirbus, Raymond J. Horan, Allen Meyer, George Salvaterra, Keith Richeal.

*requested by John’s family