Psu Captains Striving For A Sharper Image Paul Sokoloski Opinion

Penn State’s squeaky-clean football program suddenly has an image problem.
Nothing can change public perception faster than two big brawls, a rape allegation, a couple of assault charges and a few underage drinking citations thrown in for good measure during the past year.
What in the name of Joe Paterno is going on in Happy Valley?
Oh, wait, the legendary Lions coach couldn’t keep himself out of the police reports, either. He was accused in that humorous, on-campus road rage incident last October.
Go ahead, laugh it all off. But it has become serious enough that Penn State president Graham Spanier and athletic director Tim Curley asked Paterno directly if the program has a real problem during casual talks this spring.
“They think we’re a bunch of thugs now,” is how Penn State’s senior defensive end Josh Gaines said he believes the Lions are being viewed by their public.
It is up to Gaines, Sean Lee, Anthony Scirrotto, A.Q. Shipley and Derrick Williams to change that perception.
They are the captains for the 2008 Penn State football season.
And their biggest task this year will be to restore Penn State’s good name.
It is why, Lee said, the Lions will have a zero-tolerance policy this season. And even if it was Paterno who instituted it, his captains are in full support of it.
“We know now that if you mess up, you’re not going to be on the team,” said Lee, who will spend this season redshirting with a torn ACL. “If you want to be part of the team, you better get with us. Or get out.”
There is just too much at stake for Penn State.
Paterno spent too much of his life building his program into a model of how college sports are supposed to be played to watch it come crashing down now.
“It’s frustrating,” Lee said. “Because we all work very hard and all try to do the right thing. We’re trying to represent Penn State. And we understand how special it is to play here.”
That’s why it was so alarming to find a police blotter of Penn State football names during the last year.
Last spring, Scirrotto rounded up some of his teammates for some off-campus retaliation and all of them found trouble on the wrong side of the law. Tight end Andrew Quarless was involved in two underage drinking incidents. Former running back Austin Scott faced a rape charge that was recently dropped.
Defensive lineman Chris Baker was charged in two fights, including the one that involved Scirrotto. Blue-chip wide receiver Chris Bell allegedly pulled a knife on a teammate following this past season, before transferring to Norfolk State. Heck, even Paterno found himself on the end of a complaint when he stopped his car near the campus to admonish another motorist’s driving.
“I think everybody’s learned a lesson,” Scirrotto said.
It will be up to this year’s captains to make sure of it.
“If anything happens in this program, I’m definitely liable and responsible,” Gaines said.
He and his fellow 2008 captains are in leadership roles at Penn State because they proved how much influence they can have on a game. Now they get a chance to impact a program.