The story of how Penn State reeled in Anthony Morelli had everything: drama, dinner - and cannolis.
Don't forget the cannolis.
It was January 2004, and the Nittany Lions were scrambling to find a top-ranked high school quarterback after Chad Henne spurned Penn State for Michigan a month earlier.
Anthony Morelli, though, was an in-state quarterback as highly regarded as Henne, from Wyomissing, Pa., and the Pittsburgh native had just de-committed from Pitt. He called up Penn State's football offices, expressed his interest, and soon after took an official visit to the State College campus. He even had his picture taken with coach Joe Paterno.
But signing day was nearing, and on this particular Saturday - the last day college coaches could be in a recruit's house - Paterno; his son, Jay; and defensive coordinator Tom Bradley were invited to Anthony Morelli's uncle's home.
The men - the three coaches; Anthony; his father, Greg; and his uncle - sat at the dining-room table while the women served dinner from the kitchen.
"It was like a scene out of The Godfather," Jay Paterno said. "It was all men, and we talked business."
For years, the business of producing top-notch quarterbacks at Penn State has been a dubious enterprise. And with Anthony Morelli's career all but over - save for a yet-to-be-named bowl game - it's safe to say that it's still business as usual in Happy Valley.
When he arrived as the five-star recruit with the golden right arm, Anthony Morelli was supposed to be the one too good to mess up. Joe Paterno had a long history of stifling his quarterbacks, never trusting them enough to give them the keys to his offense.
But Paterno and son Jay, the quarterbacks coach, had quickly earned Anthony Morelli's trust, and when the dinner came around the shy kid from Penn Hills High was fairly certain he was signing with Penn State. But a few details had to be ironed out.
"When we finished dinner, we went into another room, and they asked all the questions they wanted to ask and got everything out on the table," Jay Paterno said. "Then, we went back in the other room and had cannoli."
After dessert, the coaches headed for the door, but before they left, Anthony Morelli handed the head coach a package and told him not to open it until he got home. Paterno waited until they got in the car, unsealed the gift, and found the photo of him and Anthony Morelli taken a few weeks earlier.
On the back of the picture, it said: "Coach, it will be an honor to play for you."
"It was a good night," Anthony Morelli said recently. "Let's leave it at that."
The next four years or so haven't been quite as good. While Anthony Morelli is the only Penn State quarterback to throw for more than 2,000 yards in multiple seasons, his record as a two-year starter (17-8) and his more damaging mark against Michigan and Ohio State (0-4) have fallen far below expectations.
It's difficult to say who was at fault. More often than not, Jay Paterno is the lightning rod for those who believe nepotism played the only role in his lofty position. When Henne snubbed Penn State, his parting shot was a dart at the younger Paterno.
"I just felt a lot more comfortable here with [Michigan quarterbacks coach] Scot Loeffler and him developing me as a quarterback than with Jay Paterno," Henne said then.
The 39-year-old Paterno insists the Anthony Morelli years have been good ones, and beneficial to his own development.
"Yeah, I think I'm a better coach for having coached him," he said.
For Anthony Morelli, his relationship with Paterno was like that of two paisanos.
"I was able to talk to him about off-the-field things, about football, whatever it was," Anthony Morelli said. "He was just always there for me whenever I needed him."
If Jay Paterno was Morelli's good cop, Joe Paterno was the bad cop, as is the 80-year-old coach's modus operandi.
"I've always been tough on the quarterbacks," Paterno said. "If I'm not tough on them, then they might be too thin-skinned when the fans get tough on them."
In his early years as head coach, Joe Paterno seemed to treat his quarterbacks the way Alfred Hitchcock treated his actors - as "cattle," the famous director once remarked. Paterno's quarterbacks were entrusted not to lose games while a ferocious defense and a ball-control offense won them.
Over the last 25 years, though, Paterno seemingly handed the reins over on three occasions: to Todd Blackledge in 1982, Kerry Collins in 1994, and Michael Robinson in 2005.
"They had a tremendous amount of trust in [Robinson]," said Deon Butler, Penn State's junior wide receiver. "Once he stepped into the huddle as a quarterback, that trust carried over into our play-calling and just our offensive swagger as a whole."
While Anthony Morelli earned some of the coaches' trust this season, it never turned into full-blown confidence, and the offense sputtered, especially in the losses to Michigan and Ohio State.
But with one final salvo left in Anthony Morelli's career, the next quarterback is only a season away. Junior Daryll Clark and redshirt freshman Pat Devlin, from Downingtown West High, will vie for the open spot and will surely endure the same rigors.
Penn State is also a finalist for quarterback Terrelle Pryor, the nation's No. 1 high school recruit. More of a Robinson-type athlete, the Jeannette, Pa., resident will have the same facts to consider when it comes to choosing the Lions or not.
Anthony Morelli knows what kind of advice he would give any aspiring Penn State quarterback.
"I would be serious and honest with him," he said. "I would tell him, 'You're going to have your ups and downs. You're going to face a lot of adversity. . . . It's all about getting that W, no matter how you have to do it. That's the only thing that matters.' "
