CHICAGO -- There wasn't a fiery speech or a crowded team meeting to anoint Terrell Golden as a leader of the 2007 Penn State football team.
However, the senior wide receiver always aimed to be first in line for drills during this year's spring practice. And when the team had to report for weightlifting, he'd try to be there before anyone else.
Before long, the rest of the offense detected his efforts.
"He stepped up to the front," quarterback Anthony Morelli said. "His work ethic has been top-of-the-line."
The team will report for the first day of preseason practice Monday, and head coach Joe Paterno still hasn't publicly named the team's captains.
But that doesn't bother Golden.
Having spent spring practice showing the rest of the offense what it means to work hard, he's now in a position where he can tell them when they need to pick up the slack.
"When you go out there, and you show them, what else can you do besides respect that?" Golden said yesterday at the Big Ten's preseason media gathering.
His quest to show leadership on this year's team began just hours after last season ended with the Nittany Lions' 20-10 win against Tennessee in the Outback Bowl on New Year's Day.
Golden, who caught one pass for 35 yards in the game, was in the team's hotel, talking with defensive tackle Jay Alford. Alford had just played his last game as a Lion, starting on defense at left tackle, and had some advice for Golden.
Alford pointed out that the Lions would have a talented offense coming back for 2007 -- eight starters from the 2006 squad will return. Though Golden wasn't a starter at wide receiver last year, Alford still pictured him taking a leadership role.
But it wasn't going to be easy.
"You're not gonna always be able to be the nice guy," Golden recalls Alford saying.
Unpopular decisions would have to be made, and Golden knew that to make them, he would need his teammates' respect. Spring practice was the perfect time for him to show them he was a leader -- not tell them.
"I don't talk that much," Golden said.
However, when he sees a teammate having a bad day at practice, he won't hesitate to tell him, "I know you're better than this," or "you can work harder than that," he said.
Golden hopes his strong showing in spring will carry into the team's first practice on Monday.
"I think I can just keep doing what I've been doing -- just being myself," Golden said. "I don't want to step outside of who I am to try to do something that's not within my character."
Golden has emerged as one of many leaders on offense, Morelli said, adding that he's seen everyone work hard.
"A lot of guys are going to surprise you," Morelli said. "I think the offense, overall, will be a lot better than last year."
Two other prospective captains, seniors Morelli and Dan Connor, were also present in Chicago and didn't seem to be panicking about the late team captain choices.
"I have no control over that," Connor, a linebacker, said. "That's up to coach Paterno. He'll make the right decision, whatever he chooses. Whether I am or I'm not, I have the same role on the team."
Connor, who finished fifth in the Big Ten with 113 tackles in 2006, is the only senior on the Nittany Lions' projected starting defense, so he'll have a leadership role, whether he's the captain or not.
"There's a lot of young guys on the team," Connor said. "I've been playing since my freshman year, so I know those guys are going to be looking at me just like when I was a freshman."
Morelli had another way of looking at it.
"As you can see, the three of us are here," Morelli said, pointing to Connor and senior wide receiver Terrell Golden, the three Penn State players who traveled to Chicago for the Big Ten's media days.
"This is pretty much the three that's been doing all the so-called leadership-type things this summer," Morelli said. "I'm pretty sure, when it's all said and done, it's probably gonna be what you see here."
