Posted on 12/10/2003 11:44:59 AM PST by FlJoePa
Edited on 04/13/2004 1:41:35 AM PDT by Jim Robinson. [history]
"They say I've shown courage on the football field, but for me it's only on the field, and only in the fall. Joey lives with pain all the time. His courage is 'round the clock."
With those simple words, and a few more from the heart, John Cappelletti became revered not only for winning the Heisman Trophy, but also for embodying the essence of it. Always, there has been a durable quality to the rugged 25-pound bronze sculpture, but it was the message that Cappelletti delivered that December evening 30 years ago that proved to be indestructible.
(Excerpt) Read more at usatoday.com ...
Here is the actual text from John's speech:
"A week ago, or ten days ago, when the Heisman Trophy was announced, I hadnt had too much time to think about what it has meant. I think listening to former Heisman Trophy winners tonight and seeing everyone here to share in it and congratulate me on it is one of the first steps I have taken in the meaning of this trophy. Im sure that the people behind me know much more than I do, and Im happy for any advice they have given me tonight on what to expect from the future with this trophy.
I have had time to think about some of the things that have put me up here tonight, things that have happened in my life and Id like to reflect on them now.
I think the first thing that happened is that God blessed me with a great deal of talent and a lot of people to compliment that talent. My family, as everyone has, mostly I guess, are great people and Im very happy to have shared in my lifetime with them. My brothers and sisters have been wonderful. Just being with them the past few years, they have always been behind me and I cant express that enough.
My mother and father - there isnt a greater couple around. I know my mother always cries at these affairs, so I want to try not to. Shes a very, very strong woman and dedicated, not only to her children and husband but also to God, and I think this helped her out with putting up with us and going through all she has gone through. I think one small example of this, a personal thing with me that I think a lot of people may have noticed, is that my legs are straight as arrows and I have no trouble walking now, or running, but one time in my life I couldnt walk without tripping. My mother not only brought me through this, but she brought just about every member of our family through something like this.
My father is a very quiet man; hes been a great father to all of us. He asked me the other day when I was home what I thought of him as a father. I wouldnt say much to him then because its hard to express things like that, but there is no greater person I have more respect for than this man.
I think the next event that was most important to me in my life was when I went to high school and I was fortunate enough to be coached by a man who dedicated himself, not only to his players on the field, but very much so off the field. Hes a great lover of football. Hed sacrifice anything for a teammate or a player when he was playing and when he was coaching. He passed away this summer, Jack Gottshalk, but I think in the 43 years he was on this earth, he did more for young people and people he was associated with than most of us get a chance to do in our lifetime.
The next step, I think, was going to Penn State. It was a hard decision making a choice of colleges. At the time, I didnt know much about it, but I think the one thing that swayed me was the man sitting to my right, and that is Coach Paterno. When I was being recruited, he came down to my house. I think he was not only on a recruiting trip, but he was looking for a good meal, an Italian meal. When he came in the door, he looked over, and on the couch was my brother, Joseph, lying there. He was very ill at the time, more so than usual, and instead of - that is no joke - Coach Paterno was more concerned and talked more about what he could do for my brother than what he could do to get me at Penn State. For this, I am very thankful, and Im glad I had the chance to show some appreciation to this man the past four years.
I think everyone here knows mostly about his coaching accomplishments at Penn State. His record is a great one, probably the greatest in the country. He has carried on a great tradition at Penn State, I think, which started with Rip Engle. Hes more concerned with young people after they get out of school than when they are in school; what he can do for them to make better lives for them not only on the football field, but in life itself.
I think Vice President Ford said, You cant compare life to a football game but you can compare a football game to life, and I think this is what he (Paterno) has tried to show us in my four years there and in the years he has been coaching and teaching. I dont think there is a more dedicated man anywhere concerned with young people and a better teacher of life on and off the field.
The next group of people Im going to talk about, Ive been with for four years and Ive played with them. They are my teammates, this year, the seniors and co-captains whom you have met down here. I dont think I have ever been closer to a group of people who Ive worked with, sweated with, and done more with in four years than with anybody else in my lifetime. I dont think I could have gotten any closer to the group than I have been with and I think that it takes a lot of hard work to do what weve done this year. Im just glad that I did my part for my teammates and that weve had the season weve had, the closeness that weve had, and for them Im thankful just for that.
Also, there is a coach here tonight who I am very proud of. Hes our backfield coach at Penn State. His name is Bob Phillips. I think hes mainly responsible for a lot of the attitude that goes on at Penn State among the players. Hes a very dedicated man to his work, but he goes about it with a healthy and bright attitude. He relays this to the players to the point where you want to do things for him and you take the attitude that you are not out there just to get finished and go in and take a shower, but you are out there to accomplish something. People like him are the reason that I think a lot of the players, and I know myself, were out there this year doing the things we did, and Id like to thank him for that.
(tearfully)
The next part - Im very happy to do something like this - I thought about since the Heisman was announced ten days ago, and this is to dedicate a trophy that a lot of people have earned, Ive earned, my parents and all the people Ive mentioned and numerous other people that are here tonight and (have) been with me for a long time.
The youngest member of my family, Joseph, is very ill. He has leukemia. If I can dedicate this trophy to him tonight and give him a couple of days of happiness, this is worth everything. I think a lot of people think that I go through a lot on Saturdays and during the week as most athletes do, and you get your bumps and bruises and it is a terrific battle out there on the field. Only for me it is on Saturdays and its only in the fall. For Joseph it is all year round and it is a battle that is unending with him and he puts up with much more than Ill ever put up with, and I think this trophy is more his than mine because he has been a great inspiration to me.
Id just like to thank everyone here tonight for putting up with me, the Downtown Athletic Club for having this affair and the way theyve treated myself, my parents and guests from Penn State the past few days. I dont think Ill ever forget this night."
That was winter term of my senior year.
(PSU was on a quarterly trimester system back then.)
Handheld calculators were new, but strictly verboten for quizes and exams since they were too expensive and considered unfair to students who couldn't afford 'em. I didn't buy my first one ($200) until I entered grad school the following year. Cappy was a member of FIJI, where my younger brother was a pledge. I didn't really know him, but met him at a couple parties.
Dang I'm gettin' old. Doesn't seem that long ago.
Selfishly, I wish more people here would take the time to read this thread and maybe take something from it.
The book "Something For Joey" is invaluable in teaching our children. The movie, while it was a TV movie and not technically perfect, is still a tear-jerker that rivals Brian's Song.
Maybe since Hollyweird loves to re-do old stuff, they could take the time to re-do this story. The story is not only legendary, but timeless as well.
Well yes and no. They didn't have an official dorm of their own. But the majority did have a tendency to live in West Halls or the frats near Rec Hall. I spent two years in East Halls, one in an apartment off-campus, one in the old Nittany dorms and my grad years in Atherton. (not counting the odd summers I rented a room in a frat or in town.)
Franco was pretty easy to spot walking across campus, but I most remember Lydell Mitchell working out on the rings in the South Gym of Rec Hall on a Saturday night after winning a home game. Everybody else is out partying and drinking, and there's old Lydell "relaxing" doing Iron Crosses and other gymnastics stuff.
Good grief, are you SURE you graduated only 3 years ahead of me?
I don't know of ANY fraternities that would have abided by that rule.
In fact, during my freshmen year (70~71) even the women's dorms had 24-hour "visitation".
Yeah, you had to have an escort and sign a sheet to get in after a certain time of evening. But(LOL!), while I may have been "living" in East Halls at the time, that doesn't necessarily mean I always slept there.
;^)
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