Joe Paterno was never fond of retiring jersey numbers, so it makes sense that only after his death did the Nittany Lions retire a one. It’s a good one too, given that it’s the number of Penn State’s only Heisman winner. John Cappelletti won the Heisman in 1973, leading Penn State to one of its six undefeated seasons in school history. Cappelletti ran for 1,522 yards and 17 touchdowns.
Cappelletti dedicated his 1973 Heisman to his younger brother Joey, who was battling leukemia. It’s one of the most emotional moments in the award’s history and later inspired the TV movie Something for Joey.
Ray Isom wore No. 22 in Penn State’s second national championship season, returning six punts for 42 yards, with three interceptions for 47 yards.
Evan Royster held the rushing yards record for 15 seasons, only being broken last season by Krytron Allen, at 3,932 yards. Akeel Lynch*, the last Nittany Lion to wear No. 22, kept the number at Cappelletti’s own request, rather than being pulled immediately in 2013. Lynch hadn’t originally wanted #22 (he’d hoped for #5), but once he learned the history, he kept it, even joking with Cappelletti that he’d “return the number when he was finished with it.”
Less than a month until the Stripeout
*We will ignore some of the, uh, other stuff that happened since.