Collegiate career
Recruited out of Edmondson High School in Baltimore, Maryland, Pittman was a member of Joe Paterno's first recruiting class as head coach. A crafty, oversized running back on defensive-minded teams, he rushed for 2,236 yards and 30 touchdowns in his career with the Nittany Lions. In his junior and senior seasons, Penn State went 22–0, with wins over Kansas and Missouri in the 1969 and 1970 Orange Bowls.
Pittman led the Nittany Lions in rushing in 1969 with 706 yards and 10 touchdowns on 149 carries, caught 10 passes for 127 yards and topped the team in scoring with 66 points. He was named All-American following the 1969 season and was selected by the St. Louis Cardinals in the third round of the 1970 NFL draft (#58 overall).
Father/son connections
Conversely, Pittman's son Tony Pittman starred as an undersized defensive back on the high-powered offense of the 1994 Penn State Nittany Lions football team.
Father and son were both starters for the Nittany Lions. Despite playing on three of Joe Paterno's five undefeated teams, both were denied national championships that could have been awarded their teams, but were given to other squads.
Charlie Pittman never lost a game he started in high school and neither he nor Tony ever lost a game they started at Penn State. Their combined college records are 45-0-1. In the sports world, that is almost a miraculous number. In elite college football, there is no father-son tandem better at their game, record-wise, than the Pittmans. Both father Chalie and son Tony Pittman were also academic all-Americans while attending and playing football for Penn State.
New York Giants general manager Ernie Accorsi, who spent decades guiding NFL teams notes, "it's unprecedented; it's hard to believe," Accorsi said. "That record for a father and son at the same university—and the son played in the Big Ten—that is something mind-boggling."
Leonard Edward Moore is an American former football halfback and flanker who played in the National Football League (NFL) for the Baltimore Colts from 1956 to 1967. He played college football for the Penn State Nittany Lions. He was named the NFL Rookie of the Year in 1956 and was selected to the Pro Bowl seven times. Moore was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1975.
Charles Anthony Fusina is an American former football quarterback who played for seven seasons in the National Football League (NFL) and United States Football League (USFL) from 1979 to 1986. He played college football for the Penn State Nittany Lions, and was recognized as an All-American. Fusina played for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the Green Bay Packers of the NFL, and the Philadelphia / Baltimore Stars of the USFL.
Todd Alan Blackledge is an American former professional football player who was a quarterback in National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Penn State Nittany Lions, leading them to a national championship. A member of the famed Class of 1983, he played for the Kansas City Chiefs and the Pittsburgh Steelers and is largely considered a draft bust. Blackledge is a college football television broadcaster, working for ABC Sports from 1994 through 1998, for CBS Sports from 1999 to 2005, ESPN from 2006 through January 2023, and NBC since February 2023.
Zachary Eric Mills is a former American football quarterback. He was an All-Big Ten selection and four-year starter at Penn State University.
Kenneth Leonard "Ki-Jana" Carter is an American former football running back who played in the National Football League (NFL) for eight seasons. He played college football for the Penn State Nittany Lions, where he earned consensus All-American honors and was MVP of the 1995 Rose Bowl. Carter was selected first overall in the 1995 NFL draft by the Cincinnati Bengals, but after suffering a knee tear during his first preseason game, he struggled with injuries for the remainder of his career. Missing most of his five seasons with the Bengals due to injury, Carter played his final three seasons in a limited role for the Washington Redskins and New Orleans Saints.
John Cappelletti is an American former football running back who played in the National Football League (NFL) with the Los Angeles Rams and the San Diego Chargers.
Lydell Douglas Mitchell is an American former professional football running back who played in the National Football League (NFL) from 1972 to 1980. During his nine-season NFL career, Mitchell played for the Baltimore Colts, San Diego Chargers and Los Angeles Rams. He played college football at Penn State.
Derrick Williams is an American former professional football player who was a wide receiver in the National Football League (NFL). He was selected by the Detroit Lions with the 18th pick of the 3rd round of the 2009 NFL draft. He was a wide receiver and 2008 team captain for the Penn State Nittany Lions.
Tony Johnson is a current American football coach for the Ohio State Buckeyes. He played wide receiver collegiately at Penn State from 2000 to 2003. Entering the 2008 season, he was ranked 10th all time in receptions for the Nittany Lions with 107, and 9th in receiving yards with 1,702. Johnson was listed at 5'11, 209 lbs. and wore number 11. His older brother is former NFL running back Larry Johnson. Tony was also Larry's manager.
The Penn State Nittany Lions team represents the Pennsylvania State University in college football. The Nittany Lions compete in the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision as a member of the Big Ten Conference, which they joined in 1993 after playing as an Independent from 1892 to 1992.
The 2006 Penn State Nittany Lions football team represented the Pennsylvania State University in the 2006 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The team's head coach was Joe Paterno. It played its home games at Beaver Stadium in University Park, Pennsylvania.
The 2002 Penn State Nittany Lions football team represented the Pennsylvania State University in the 2002 NCAA Division I-A football season. The team's head coach was Joe Paterno. It played its home games at Beaver Stadium in University Park, Pennsylvania.
The 1969 Penn State Nittany Lions football team represented Pennsylvania State University in the 1969 NCAA University Division football season. Despite posting its second consecutive undefeated, untied season, the Nittany Lions did not have a shot at the national championship. President Richard Nixon said that he would consider the winner of the December 6 matchup between the Texas Longhorns and the Arkansas Razorbacks, then ranked at the top of the polls, and the real voters do not seem to have differed. Paterno, at the 1973 commencement, was quoted saying, "I'd like to know how could the president know so little about Watergate in 1973 and so much about college football in 1969?" Then Pennsylvania Governor Raymond P. Shafer got the White House's attention with Penn State's two-season undefeated streak. A White House assistant called Paterno to invite him and the team to the White House to receive a trophy for their accomplishment. Paterno has stated many times that he responded with, "You can tell the president to take that trophy and shove it."
The 1967 Penn State Nittany Lions football team represented the Pennsylvania State University in the 1967 NCAA University Division football season. The team was coached by Joe Paterno and played its home games in Beaver Stadium in University Park, Pennsylvania.
Richard E. Anderson is a former American football player and coach. He served as the head football coach at Rutgers University from 1984 to 1989, compiling a record of 28–33–4. His highlight victory during that span was 21–16 win over Penn State in 1988—Rutgers' first win over the Nittany Lions in 70 years. He played college football at Penn State, and served there as an assistant football coach for many years under Joe Paterno.
The 2008 Penn State Nittany Lions football team represented the Pennsylvania State University in the 2008 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The team was coached by Joe Paterno and played its home games in Beaver Stadium in University Park, Pennsylvania.
Charles Anthony Pittman is an American former college football player. He was a second-team All-Big Ten cornerback at Penn State after graduating from Phillips Academy in 1990. Pittman grew up in Erie, Pennsylvania and also attended McDowell High School, where he would have been in the 1989 graduation class had he not transferred to Phillips Academy.
Robert Craig Bolden, Jr. is a former American football quarterback. After attending St. Mary's Preparatory School in Orchard Lake, Michigan, he played college football for the Penn State Nittany Lions from 2010 to 2011. He transferred to Louisiana State University and was a member of the LSU football team from 2012 to 2013. Bolden transferred again and finished his college football career as a member of the 2014 Eastern Michigan Eagles football team.
The 2011 Penn State Nittany Lions football team represented the Pennsylvania State University in the 2011 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The team was coached by Joe Paterno for the first nine games until he was fired in the wake of the Penn State sex abuse scandal, with defensive coordinator Tom Bradley taking over as interim head coach for the remainder of the season. The team played its home games in Beaver Stadium in University Park, Pennsylvania, US. They were members of the Big Ten Conference in the newly formed Leaders Division. They finished the season 9–4, 6–2 in the Leaders Division to be co–division champions with Wisconsin. Due to their head-to-head loss to Wisconsin, they did not represent the division in the inaugural Big Ten Championship Game. They were invited to the TicketCity Bowl where they lost to Houston 14–30.
The 1969 Orange Bowl was the 35th edition of the college football bowl game, played at the Orange Bowl in Miami, Florida, on Wednesday, January 1. The final game of the 1968–69 bowl game season, it matched the independent third-ranked Penn State Nittany Lions and the #6 Kansas Jayhawks of the Big Eight Conference. Favored Penn State rallied to win with a late touchdown and two-point conversion, 15–14.
