Lee

CHICAGO — It might have been the worst afternoon of college football ever at Beaver Stadium, a 6-4 loss to Iowa on Penn State's 2004 homecoming weekend, a game that redefined offensive ineptitude.

But to Sean Lee, then a senior at Upper St. Clair and a defensive guy, the game was like a picturesque autumn scene or a beautiful painting. He wanted to be a part of a defense that could play that way.

His dilemma: Which defense?

"I was between the two," Lee said Tuesday at the final session of Big Ten football media days. "I took a visit to Iowa because Coach (Kirk) Ferentz is from my high school. He's an unbelievable guy and an unbelievable coach. I had a great time out there. They're very similar schools, but I wanted to be closer to home."

Ferentz's loss was Joe Paterno's gain, and Penn State found someone who has added to the legacy of the place known as Linebacker U., and will carry on this season after missing 2008 with a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee.

Even though he didn't play last season, Lee tried to stay involved by helping the coaches at practice and during games, and giving players advice or "screaming and yelling and trying to encourage them," he said.

But what he learned about Penn State linebacking after he first arrived on campus came from Paul Posluszny, who had impressed him during that Iowa game and became his model at the position.

"I played safety in high school, and I had no clue how to play, so I just kind of latched on to him," Lee said. "I'm sure it was annoying. He never had any problem with it. He was a great guy. If ever I had a question, he answered it.

"I watched him in practice, how detailed he was, how he always was working hard, how disciplined he was off the field when it came to his diet and taking care of his body.

"He brought me along. Just watching him helped me a ton," he added.

Unfortunately, Lee experienced his first extended playing time as a freshman after Posluszny tore his ACL in the Orange Bowl against Florida State. Posluszny then sat out what would have been his senior year and came back the following season.

So Lee had someone to whom to turn for advice in preparing for his delayed senior season.

"He just said, 'Relax, don't be uptight, don't worry about your knee, don't worry about anything, just go play football,"' Lee said.

Lee insists he has no concern about his knee. He suffered the injury when he tried to cut, and he said he has not had any problems while cutting without a brace.

However, Paterno, who compares Lee to Jack Ham because of his intelligence on the field, plans to proceed with caution when the Nittany Lions begin preseason camp Aug. 10.

"We'll have to see how it goes," Paterno said. "He'll be a little sore to begin with. I don't know how much work he needs. He's going to be a little rusty. Until he gets hit a couple of times ... you don't come off knee injuries like that without having a little concern about the first time you get hit. But after we bang him around a little bit, we'll see."

Lee, elected as a co-captain, enters his final season with a chance at joining Posluszny and Dan Connor, another former teammate, as the top tacklers in Penn State history. More important to him is joining Navorro Bowman, a Big Ten all-conference selection last year, and Josh Hull to create one of the nation's finest linebacking units.

"We compete, that's the biggest thing," Lee said. "We compete in lifts, in runs, in everything. We're always talking trash to each other when it comes to who's benching more, who's winning the runs, who's looking the quickest.

"But at the same point, I think that it's we all root for each other. We try to pass down leadership to those guys to keep that tradition going. It started with Paul and Danny and it goes from there."