When the Villanova University football program shut down in 1981, Al Harris trusted the Penn State University coaching staff with his last two years of eligibility.
That meant for two years, Harris, father of Elon senior running back A.J. Harris and junior wide receiver Chris Harris, got to experience the life of being a linebacker at "Linebacker U" under much-heralded defensive coordinator and linebackers coach Jerry Sandusky.
"I learned more in playing linebacker in two weeks at Penn State than I did in two years at Villanova," Harris said. "He just had it all figured out."
On Jan. 1, 1983, Harris became a national champion. In his last game as a college athlete, Harris' Nittany Lions beat the University of Georgia 27-23 in the Sugar Bowl. For a moment in history, Penn State was on top of the world.
In the grand scheme of things, none of that matters now. Not in State College. Not after a 23-page grand jury report released Nov. 5 charged Sandusky with sexually violating at least eight young boys.
"My heart just sank," Harris said of the November Saturday when things at Penn State changed for the worse.
Harris, now a dentist in Ocean City, N.J., read every word of the grand jury's indictment, completely unaware of how a man he had long considered a mentor could allegedly commit acts so heinous.
"I never had any inkling of any of this," Harris said. "I thought he was one of the smartest guys I knew."
But after reading the charges, Harris' opinion of the man he once looked up to took a 180-degree turn in the opposite direction.
"I don't even want to see him," Harris said. "I'm just really upset and distraught that this is happening."
While thinking about the current scandal, Harris can't help but reflect on his time as a college athlete. He said while you may think you know the people coaching you on a daily basis, things like this happen and show you can't know everything.
"I think these guys are great coaches," Harris said. "But for something like this to happen and knowing now that (Sandusky) probably had some skeletons in his closet, some hidden demons. It kinda makes you upset that he's not the person you thought he was."
One of the chilling details that came out of the grand jury's indictment was the revelation that Sandusky used his own charity to find his victims.
Sandusky founded The Second Mile in 1977 to provide assistance for at-risk children. As it turns out, Sandusky's charity did more harm than good. Six of the eight victims mentioned in the grand jury presentment were participants in The Second Mile.
"I would think if you have an organization like The Second Mile, which specifically deals with underprivileged kids, that he would take extra measures to take care of these kids if they're in your care," Harris said.
Joe Paterno, Harris' head coach at Penn State, was fired Nov. 10. After 46 years as the man in charge of the football program and two days before the Nittany Lions were to play their Senior Day game against the University of Nebraska, Paterno was let go after not doing more to end Sandusky's abusive actions.
"At this point, to offer any kind of condolence or anything like that? No. I don't have any intention of calling him," Harris said.
The real victims, Harris said, are the kids whose life Sandusky so negatively affected. While the public saw the students rioting over the firing of their football coach, Harris said that on game day the community paid their respects to those who deserved it.
"My father was at the (Nebraska) game," Harris said. "He said you could have heard a pin drop; 111,000 people, perfectly silent. Praying for these victims."
Eighteen years after graduating from State College, Harris said he's still proud to be a Nittany Lion and have a degree from Penn State, even if the football program will never be looked at the same way again.
"I'm not mad at the university," Harris said. "I'm just mad that this happened"