A poster signed by Penn State football legends sat beneath a tent behind the driving range at the Penn State Blue Course.

Former linebackers Greg Buttle and Lance Mehl added their signatures to it, before they quickly boasted about their golf games.

Buttle and Mehl were just two of the many football alumni that came back Saturday for the third annual Penn State Letterman's Club Golf Outing that brought players together from different decades for a day of reminiscing.

"We won it the first year, and now we're back to defend our title," Buttle said. "We expect to win."

Fran Ganter, Penn State associate athletic director for football said the tournament was about fun.

"It's not that competitive, everybody cheats on the course anyway," Ganter said. "We give a lot of individual prizes. The team prize is, we know they're cheating, so we kind of just stick to the individual prizes."

Ganter said the event has grown every year since it's inception, which welcomed about 120 golfers after averaging between 110 to 130 golfers the past two years. This year's event included former Penn State football players and members of the current coaching staff such as quarterbacks coach Jay Paterno and receivers coach Mike McQueary.

"It's good, luckily I don't have to golf in it because if I did, we'd be in trouble," Paterno said. "But it's really neat because [Friday] night, there were a lot of guys in town. We got to see a lot of guys."

The era's of players in attendance ranged from those who played in the 60s to some from this decade, Paterno said.

"They all share one common thing and that's Penn State," he said.

Ganter said it was the first year the event will not lose money. Prospector's Rib Company donated the food for the event, while the Family Clothesline donated t-shirts and hats. Ganter said it was the first time Athletic Director Tim Curley didn't help out with the costs.

"I told Tim that we were probably gonna lose a little bit of money last year and I wasn't sure if he wanted us to do it this year." Ganter said. "And he said. 'We're doing it.' He said we've got a good thing going here and so many guys look forward to it that it's gonna become an annual event."

But the event is not just about the golf or the food. It's about meeting with teammates they haven't seen in a while. Players didn't just swap stories of the glory days, but also shared life stories.

"Surprisingly little swapping stories," former running back Tom Donchez said. "We talk about what we're doing today, our kids. And every once in a while, we'll call somebody on some old tall story that they tell. But there's not a lot of swapping stories about our playing days."

There was however, a lot of good-natured humor.

"In my case, I get better every year we have one of these," former defensive end Greg Murphy said. "I was all-pro, by the time we have the next one, I'll probably be a five-time All-American.

There's also talk about the upcoming season and talk about the current version of the Nittany Lions from both the coaches and the old-timers.

"I look at two things when I look at Penn State," former defensive tackle Frank Ahrenhold said. "I look at their offensive line, and I look at their defensive front seven. And defensive front seven looks really, really, really good. The offensive line from what I understand has some gelling to do, but if they get it together I expect them to be really successful."

But this weekend was not about this year's team or golf or even football.

For Buttle and Mehl, two linebackers who were teammates with the New York Jets during the 1980s, the outing was more about seeing familiar faces than their golf games.

"There's guys I haven't seen since 1980," Mehl said. "It's pretty neat to come back and see everybody."