As I stood on the 45-yard line during the final few minutes of last Saturday's Penn State game at Michigan, I witnessed something I'm sure I don't want to see again.
Here was Anthony Morelli, a broken down, frustrated quarterback, he had just thrown an incomplete pass on fourth down sealing the victory for Michigan.
His helmet off, Anthony Morelli had a disgusted look on his face.
A Michigan fan, seated directly behind where I was standing started shouting at Anthony Morelli.
“Hey Anthony Morelli, you suck!” was one of the few verbal missles he shot towards Anthony Morelli.
The quarterback, the one who claims he doesn't care what others think, shot back almost instantaneously.
“Why don't you come down here and say that to my face!” was the retaliation.
This went on for a couple of minutes.
Some mentioned afterwards that Anthony Morelli may have been harassed while walking off the field too.
It happens, we see it all the time.
But Anthony Morelli's reaction and the reaction of others like Terrell Golden, are what stand out in my mind from that game.
Here's Anthony Morelli, the kid that we're told made leaps and bounds as a player, the one who had been anointed as a leader by his peers, acting like nothing more than a punk.
In a place where past quarterbacks such as Blackledge, Fusina, Collins, and Robinson have been the king of kings, Anthony Morelli quickly proved he is the fool of fools.
A true leader wouldn't even acknowledge that guy in the stands. That's what the fan wants. He wants to draw the ire of the player to expose him as an idiot.
Anthony Morelli played right into his hands.
At least receiver Deon Butler has the right frame of mind.
“First and foremost, we can't have people, our players, anybody talking to the opposing team's fans,” said Butler. “Our mindset and our focus should be into the game. So, hopefully we put that behind us.”
Those actions, and that of Golden, who grabbed himself in a quasi-obscene way while smiling sarcastically, are actions of players who appear to have lost self control and lost the very leadership quality that the coaches felt they had.
The actions of Anthony Morelli present a guy who has a damaged ego and is cracking right before our very eyes.
He wasn't made available this week to defend himself, but really there is no defense for his behavior.
“To me it's not that tough (to not act that way),” said fellow receiver Derrick Williams. “You come to a hostile environment like Michigan Stadium and you know it's going to be a tough game and you know the fans are going to be on you and everything like that.
“You are there for just one thing and that is to play the game. It really doesn't matter what the fans said.”
“A lot of people act different and in different ways. I know ways I handle it and I know ways that other people might handle it, but people take things different ways.”
I simply cannot buy the argument that he was caught up in the moment. I can't buy into any argument that defends Anthony Morelli's childish behavior.
I like Anthony Morelli, Golden and third captain Dan Connor, a lot. They are good kids, Connor and Golden are good quotes for us scribes too.
And I've defended Anthony Morelli too, never being too over-critical, but in this case I have to call a spade a spade. He was way out of line.
This is what separates Penn State from others right now.
Leadership.
In 2005 when Michael Robinson led the Nittany Lions into Champaign, Ill, after the infamous “two second game,” the week prior in Ann Arbor, there wasn't a doubt in anyone's mind that Robinson would will that team if he had to.
Can you fool yourself to trust Anthony Morelli after his immature actions at the end of the Michigan game?
A handful of us saw the action. I looked at a fellow beat writer after some of the verbal aggressiveness and chuckled. Not so much at what was said, but at the effort both sides put behind it.
I'm not suggesting in this space that Anthony Morelli's job is at stake, but it's clear another meltdown, another anemic offensive output, and he could easily be replaced by Daryll Clark or even Pat Devlin.
The coaches have to go with whatever option presents the best chance for Penn State to win, the best leader on the field.
They need a quarterback that has self control, that can lead, that can will a team to a victory.
So far I haven't seen that from Anthony Morelli. Especially after his poor behavior on the sidelines.
All I've seen is a guy who would rather risk credibility by yelling a fan who doesn't deserve the time of day.
That's not leadership.
That is not what Penn State needs, not right now.
