Thorpe family epitomizes PSU's legacy recruit tradition

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By Lou Prato

Blue White Contributor

This started out as a column that was solely about the history of Penn State’s legacy recruits and the origination of the succinct terms that refer primarily to sons who have followed their fathers to play football for the Nittany Lions.

And then I talked to Chris Thorpe.

Even if you’re a longtime Penn State football fan, as I am, you may not remember Chris Thorpe. I didn’t. Although I may have heard or seen his name back in the mid-1980s when he played for Joe Paterno, it had been erased from the crevices of my mind in the decades that followed.

But in early February, his name came up in connection with Penn State’s 2017 recruiting class. He is the father of one of James Franklin’s prized recruits, four-star offensive lineman C. J. Thorpe. Rivals.com and others noted that C.J. was a legacy recruit and that his father had been on the Penn State teams of 1985-88.

Having seen nearly all of Penn State’s home and away games during those seasons, I was perplexed. My first reaction was that Thorpe may have been one of those unsung walk-ons who never played in a game, or maybe he saw just enough action on special teams to earn a letter. I knew that Paterno sometimes gave letters to such walk-ons and other players in particular circumstances, so I went to my shelf of Penn State media guides dating to the mid -1960s, and, sure enough, there was Thorpe, listed as a letterwinner in 1988. I did further research in the 1985-89 media guides, combing through my paper files on those seasons to learn more about him. Then I called him on the telephone.

I now see Chris and C.J. Thorpe as the epitome of Penn State’s legacy recruit concept and tradition.

A STORIED PAST

First, a little of that history. Although the word “legacy” was not paired with the word “recruit” at Penn State until about 10 years ago, I have traced this tradition back to 1924. I first wrote about my research for a magazine in 2008 and subsequently have updated the history.

To this day, I have not found any legacy recruit earlier than Earl Hewitt Jr., a reserve on the freshman team in 1924 who was not on scholarship and earned a varsity letter in his senior year of 1927 as a backup at right halfback. His father, Earl Hewitt Sr., was a flashy running back and punt returner on Penn State’s teams of the late 1890s. He is most famous to historians for his winning 65-yard punt return for a touchdown that beat Army, 6-0, at West Point in the first game between the two teams. The rules were different in that era, and Earl Sr. was a starter throughout his five seasons of eligibility and captain of the 1901 squad that posted the team’s best record (5-3) in seven years. He later played two years of pro football with Connie Mack’s team in Philadelphia.

Earl Jr. may have been a mediocre football player but he was one of the five golfers on Penn State’s intercollegiate teams in 1926 and ’28. As an aside, I knew both Hewitts as a kid growing up in Indiana, Pa. Earl Sr. had a coal and real estate business and spent 20 years as Indiana County’s representative in the state Legislature; Earl Jr. handled some of my family’s insurance needs.

Without any official records, one cannot be certain if there was another father-son legacy combination before the Hewitts, nor is it clear who precisely followed them. My research led to the Suhey and Petchel families and widened the legacy group to include grandfathers. The Suhey legacy should be familiar to most Penn State football fans. Steve Suhey was captain of coach Bob Higgins’ great undefeated Cotton Bowl team of 1947, becoming a first-team All-American at guard in the process and later gaining entry into the College Football Hall of Fame. He married one of Higgins’ daughters, Ginger, and three of their sons – Larry, Paul and Matt (the most famous after an NFL career with the Chicago Bears) – played for Paterno in the 1970s. Three decades later, Paul’s son Kevin and Matt’s son Joey were in Penn State uniforms. One of Steve Suhey’s teammates on the 1946 and ’47 teams was dual-threat tailback Elwood Petchel, and in 1975 his son Woody was on the same team as Larry and Paul Suhey.

The other best-known members of the grandfather lineage are the Garritys. Gregg Sr. became a Penn State icon after his diving reception for the winning touchdown in the Sugar Bowl, which gave the Nittany Lions their first national championship in 1982. But it was his father, Jim, a standout end and place-kicker, who started it on coach Rip Engle’s 1952-54 teams, with Gregg Jr. following his grandfather and dad. Primarily a punt returner, Gregg Jr. finished his career this past season.

This column is too short to list all the legacy families in addition to the Suheys, Petchels and Garritys. But here are some of the most prominent father-son combinations, with the years they lettered in parenthesis: tailback Charlie Pittman (1967-69) and son Tony (1992-94), offensive tackle Dave Joyner (1969-71) and sons Andy (1993-94) and Matt (1996-98), and strong safety Michael Zordich (1982-85) and son Michael (2010-12). All three of those fathers were All-Americans. Two sons selected All-Americans were guard Stefen Wisniewski (2007-10) and father Leo (1979-81) and linebacker Michael Mauti (2008, 2020-12) and father Rich (1976-76). Rich’s oldest son, Patrick (2009), preceded Michael as a walk-on.

One of the teammates of both the Mauti brothers and Stefen Wisniewski was Nate Stupar (2008-11), whose father, Steve, played alongside Stefen’s father in 1979, and here is where uncles are added to the Penn State legacy recruit mix. Stefen’s uncle Steve was a two-time All-America guard in 1987-88, and Nate Stupar’s three uncles from his mother’s side also played for Penn State. They are the Hostetler brothers: Ron (1975-77), Doug (1976-78) and Jeff (1980).

INJURIES TAKE THEIR TOLL

With the Wisniewskis, the Stupar-Hostetlers and more recently the Reihners – father George, brother John and son Kevin – the definition of Penn State’s legacy recruits has broadened to other progeny and could even include daughters playing on other Nittany Lion varsity teams. There is at least one, Leah Knizner, a sophomore reserve on the women’s basketball team, whose father, Matt, was the backup quarterback on Penn State’s 1986 championship team and the starter in ’87.

Which brings me back to Chris Thorpe. He was a teammate of Knizner, the senior Zordich and Steve Wisniewski, as well as Terry Smith, a star wide receiver (1988-91) and now a Penn State assistant coach with his own legacy recruit offspring, stepson Justin King (2005-07).

Before calling Chris at his home in the Pittsburgh suburb of Glenshaw, I consulted my Penn State media guides for information about his career. On page 51 of the 1988 edition, I found an entry that sums it up. Alongside a photo of the then-young man smiling is his profile. He is listed as a 6-foot-2½, 220-pound outside linebacker wearing jersey No. 43.

“An outstanding running back at Fox Chapel HS,” the profile states. “He rushed for 1,745 yards and scored 28 touchdowns his senior year… He had 134 carries for 786 yards and eight TDs (as a junior)… He was a member of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Fabulous 22 and was a two-time state champion in the 110 hurdles.” Seemingly Thorpe couldn’t miss. The summary under his “Lion Career” told me why he did: “1985 – He sat out his first season with a shoulder injury and retained freshman eligibility… 1986 – Was injured in a preseason scrimmage and missed the entire year… 1987 – Making a comeback from a serious neck injury, Thorpe appeared in nine games [and 30 plays] as a fullback and member of special teams… but did not carry the ball.”

By the spring of 1988, Thorpe had been switched to linebacker and had three solo tackles and one pass defended in the Blue-White Game. He was listed as the third-team outside linebacker but, according to the media guide, “had the potential to assume a larger role in the defense.”

That didn’t happen. In 1989, Thorpe’s name did not appear in the media guide, except in a listing of the previous year’s lettermen. So I checked my file of newspaper and magazine clippings and discovered that he had been listed in the game summary of the season opener at Virginia as a backup safety (then known as the “hero”) behind junior Brian Chizmar (whose son Max is now another legacy recruit as an invited walk-on linebacker). Thorpe’s name was nowhere to be found for the rest of the ’88 season.

'THE WORST PAIN I EVER FELT IN MY LIFE'

I learned all about those injuries and that consequential Virginia game when I reached Chris on the phone and was stunned when he told me about the debilitating effects of his injuries 30 years later. He talked easily and matter-of-factly about what happened and in a pleasant tone and manner that made it seem like we had been friends for years.

“Everything stemmed from my shoulder injury as a freshman,” he said. “I tore all the ligaments in my right shoulder and they had to put a plastic cup over the bone just to hold it in. After that came the neck injury [in 1986]. I moved two of the bones in my neck when I hit with Ray Isom in a scrimmage.” Isom was a three-year starting defensive back known for his hard-hitting tackles, and when I brought that up, Chris and I chuckled in our gallows humor. “They weren’t sure what had happened,” he said. “I tried to come back twice, first in ’86 and then when I moved to linebacker the next season. I got hit in that Virginia game and knew something wasn’t right.

“I think it was at the Tuesday practice after that Virginia game. I was hit and I felt something in my body. I took my helmet off and started walking off the field, and Joe walked by and said, ‘Hit the locker room.’ I met with him afterward and he told me, ‘It’s not worth it.’ We had a squad meeting the next day when Joe announced it. Joe said, ‘Chris Thorpe is done just because of his neck injury and we’ve decided his career is over. But one thing I know about Chris is I’m not worried about him and his success. He’ll be OK.’ That’s the one thing that stayed with me throughout my life and motivated me, that comment from Joe that whether it was football or whatever, I was going to find some success.”

We went on to talk about his life after Penn State and the recruitment of his son, but it wasn’t until the end of our conversation that he told me how that initial neck injury 32 years ago still affects him. In late February, he had a spinal fusion performed on his neck, and he is house-bound and heavily restricted in what he can do until sometime in May.

“They just put in two plutonium rods in my upper neck where the original injury was,” Thorpe said. “This was the worst pain I ever felt in my life. My surgeon told me my neck bones are very small and my neck muscles were compensating for the size of the bones. Over time, the muscles and nerves have been so overworked that I started losing feeling in my hands. They had to go in and put the rods in my neck just to take some pressure off my muscle. My surgeon said, ‘You’re really lucky that you made it this far. If someone was looking at those X-rays today, they wouldn’t even allow you to play soccer. You’re extremely lucky.’ ”

As he recovers from the surgery, he is virtually immobile. “I literally have to just sit here,” Thorpe said. “They moved my office into my bedroom, so I have my computer and everything. But I can’t move a lot. I do nothing.” He paused. Then with a laugh one can describe as another example of his indomitable spirit and gallows humor, he said, “I watch a lot of Netflix.”

Thorpe now understands he could have been paralyzed years ago, or worse, and it makes him appreciate Paterno and Penn State even more. He was heavily recruited in high school and narrowed his choices to Penn State, Michigan State, Iowa, Georgia and Tennessee. Tom Bradley was the Lions’ point man in his recruitment, and Thorpe also had a relationship with Frank Rocco, a former Fox Chapel coach who went on to become Penn State’s head of football operations. But it was Paterno’s visit to his home that clinched it all.

“Paterno came to my house and sat with my parents,” Thorpe recalled. “His big thing in the conversation wasn’t about football but more on the academics. He [told] my dad he couldn’t guarantee an NFL career, but said, ‘I promise you he will graduate.’ ”

Thorpe graduated with a degree in telecommunications and eventually became a successful entrepreneur and businessman, but fresh out of school he wasn’t sure what he wanted to do. He applied for a sales position at Shaw Industries, one of the leading flooring companies in the world, with Paterno as a reference, and therein is another reason why Chris is so loyal to Paterno and Penn State. When the owner of the company, Bob Shaw, heard about the neophyte with Paterno’s name on the application, he didn’t believe it.

“Bob was a big sports fan. So he calls the number,” Chris said, laughing as he related what happened. “Bob later told this story in every meeting we had. Joe wasn’t in the office but called him back that night. Joe said, ‘I know what Chris Thorpe can do. Tell me why he should work for Shaw Industries.’ Bob said, ‘The next thing I know I’m trying to sell my million dollar company to Joe Paterno on why Chris Thorpe should come work for us.’ ”

PENN STATE LIFER

Thorpe spent a couple of years with Shaw, and in the early 1990s, he hooked up with another Penn State teammate, wide receiver Ray Roundtree, and started a company building private cable TV systems. He bought out Roundtree in 2001 and still runs the reorganized company, CMG Media Ventures.

Around the time Thorpe and Roundtree were getting their business up and running, he met his future wife, Nikki, at a church convention. C.J. is the youngest of their three children. Daughter Christin graduated from Hampton University and will receive her master’s degree in social work from Pitt this spring. Their other son, Nicholas (nicknamed Niko), is preparing for his senior year at Fordham, where he is a starting linebacker. And, yes, Joe Moorhead, the former Fordham head coach who is now Penn State’s offensive coordinator, recruited Niko and helped Franklin and Terry Smith pursue C.J.

Chris is obviously a Penn State lifer, and all his children came under the unique spell of Nittany Lion football. But he said he didn’t push C.J. toward the Lions. “I probably pushed other schools more than Penn State,” he said. “C.J. was familiar with the whole atmosphere. [The family would] go up for spring games, all the big games. My kids have grown up with the guys I played with – Blair Thomas, Quintus McDonald, Leroy Thompson, all those guys. They’re like uncles to [my children]. When Coach Smith met C.J., he was in the eighth grade. Terry came over to the house, looked at C.J. and [kidded] him, ‘You’re just a fat kid on the field.’ (Laughs) And that’s just the kind of relationship he’s had with everybody up at Penn State. Those guys are just honest with him. They’re like family.

“But I didn’t want C.J. to be swayed to think that his experience was going to be the same as my experience. He would say, ‘Dad, what do you think?’ And I would say, ‘You have to go somewhere where if you weren’t playing football you would still want to go there.’ I said, ‘I got injured early. When my football career was over, I had no thought of leaving Penn State. That is where I wanted to be regardless of whether I played football or not. You have to find your own path.’ And he did.”

By now, readers should understand why I believe Chris and C.J. Thorpe epitomize the concept of Penn State’s legacy recruit tradition. It started long before Joe Paterno and will continue into the decades ahead. You don’t have to be a Penn Stater yourself to appreciate it, but if Penn State is in your blood or heritage, as it is in mine, you are an extended part of it all.

*****

What else is in our April issue of Blue White Illustrated's magazine? Let's take a closer look at some of the feature stories, news and notes, here!

THE RUNDOWN:

FOOTBALL - Get ready for the Blue White Game with our complete spring practice coverage. BWI editor Matt Herb kicks off the section with a look at the ways this year's Blue White Game can be another way to continue the momentum the program built through the course of the 2016 season. Features include Saeed Blacknall, Penn State's defensive ends and more!

PHIL'S CORNER - BWI publisher Phil Grosz identifies the players that could hold the key for the Nittany Lions if they aim to make another run at a Big Ten Championship. You won't want to miss his keen insight into the Lions' most important positions for the season ahead.

RECRUITING - As always, BWI recruiting analysts Ryan Snyder and Tim Owen have your Penn State football recruiting fix. In this issue, they look at the ways Penn State has expanded its recruiting base beyond the region, assess the fast start to Class of 2018 recruiting, feature an in-depth Q&A with committed prospect Ricky Slade, and have Up Close and Personal features on Sean Clifford, Yetur Gross-Matos, Robert Martin and D.J. Brown.

HOOPS - BWI men's basketball beat writer Nate Bauer checked in with Penn State head coach Patrick Chambers to gauge where the program stands heading into an offseason many consider extremely important to establishing an upward trajectory.

WRESTLING - Blue White Illustrated's Tim Owen has an in-depth look at how the Nittany Lions once again rose to the top with yet another team national championship at the NCAA Tournament.

And these are just a few of the many stories and features that come with every edition of Blue White Illustrated's magazine, including an inside look at the hockey program, Varsity Views notebook, Scorecard, The Last Word, and more! Be sure to grab yours by ordering a subscription below or picking one up at newsstands all over Pennsylvania!

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