UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Around the time they signed their national letter of intent, Joe Paterno was sitting in his office learning how to operate Skype, using the video conferencing service to make the former football coach’s version of a recruiting visit.
The players came to Penn State in that 2011 recruiting class in part because of the program’s history, but nobody could’ve known what was in store for the six fifth-year seniors who will be honored today in Beaver Stadium before the Lions’ regular-season home finale against No. 14 Michigan. The six players are the last to have been recruited by Paterno and his staff and are the final ones on the roster who remained for the entirety of the program’s most tumultuous times, standing firm as Paterno was fired and died and the team sifted through unprecedented NCAA sanctions and coaching changes stemming from the fallout of the Jerry Sandusky child sexual abuse scandal.