They didn't play on the same team -- some didn't even play in the same decade.
But most of the former Penn State football players gathered at last weekend's Letterman's Club Golf Outing have one thing in common: They all played for Joe Paterno.
The experience of playing for Paterno was a common topic of conversation at the event, as players used stories about the legendary coach to bond and relate to each other.
Frank Ahrenhold played defensive tackle for Paterno from 1968-1971, just a few years after Paterno took over for Rip Engle in 1966. He remembered then how Paterno was a stickler for details.
Ahrenhold recalled driving from Long Island to Harrisburg to catch the team shuttle to the Orange Bowl. At the time, Paterno required players to wear a shirt and tie.
When Ahrenhold walked into the airport with a loosened tie, Paterno took quick notice.
"I get into the airport in the lobby, and as I'm walking in there I'd forgotten to tie up my tie," Ahrenhold said. "I heard a loud, nasally voice: 'Ahrenhold, you look like a bum. Tighten your shirt. Tighten your tie up.' He could always catch you that one time, when you weren't ready. He likes to lay in the weeds for you."
Ahrenhold was just one of the many lettermen back in State College last weekend, as players from different eras reminisced and met up with old friends.
It didn't matter whether they played during the '60s, '70s or the National Championship years of the '80s. As the players came and went, Paterno didn't. As the training changed and so did the players, Paterno remained constant.
"The guy was always a stickler for details, but that's what built the program, what built the successes," Ahrenhold said. "It was all about detail organization. It's about as what he used to say, 'Take care of the little things; the big things will take care of themselves.' At the time it would drive you nuts. It would drive you nuts with that level of detail and what you had to do in preparation."
The stories made it clear that Paterno was never afraid to do what he felt he had to do. It didn't matter whom a given situation involved; Paterno did what was best for the team. Former assistant coach and defensive coordinator Jerry Sandusky worked with Paterno from 1966 to 1999. Sandusky said Paterno once threw him off the field when he was a graduate assistant because he wasn't leading a drill right.
Running back from 1976-1979 Mike Guman remembered when Paterno tried to reel in former defensive end Matt Millen after he had been getting in fights during practices. Only this time, it didn't have the same result as it did with Sandusky.
Guman said Paterno asked Millen to leave the field after Paterno had broken up a fight involving Millen. Millen refused, saying "no" to Paterno's face.
"Matt stares at him... he goes up to him and he goes 'No.' " Guman said. "And Joe didn't know what to do. No one says 'no' to Joe Paterno. So he took a couple of steps back, stood there, and he says 'Well, well, go stand over there.' "
But the one thing that shined through all the alumni stories is the love and respect they have for Paterno, even years after they played for him.
Ahrenhold now has two children who both go to Penn State. His daughter Rachel was on the swim team until 2007, while his son Tyler is a reserve safety on the football team. He's playing for Paterno the same way his father did almost 40 years ago.
"Your work ethic, your sense of pride in what you were doing -- it just carried over." Ahrenhold said. "It took me a while to appreciate it, but as the distance got further, you looked at it and you kind of said, 'Wow,' which is why I wanted my son around something like this."
When Paterno turned down a head coaching job in the NFL with the New England Patriots in January 1982, a year before Penn State won its first national championship, he was quoted in the New York Times about where his future lay.
"You'll always be able to find me at Penn State," Paterno said in the 1982 Times article, "where I'll be for a long time."
It's 2009 and he's still at Penn State and still the head coach of the program he brought to national prominence. And for a few of his former players that gathered together on a warm August afternoon, he still carries the same resonance he did when they played for him.
"Joe's been a friend and a father figure for 40 years for me," said Greg Murphy, defensive end from 1971-74. "I can't believe his longevity, I can't believe it."
