Edward Sirianni loves Penn State football. For the past 41 years and counting, nothing has stopped the Schuylkill Haven man from seeing his beloved Nittany Lions play in person.
The 74-year-old New Philadelphia native attended his 500th consecutive Penn State football game Nov. 11 when the Lions lost to Michigan. He was honored on the field as a Penn State “Hometown Hero” during halftime.
“It’s been a long run,” Sirianni said. “People always ask me, ‘What is the attraction as far as Penn State?’ It’s very simple … Joseph Vincent Paterno.”
Sirianni is a 1967 Nativity graduate who served in the Air Force from 1968-72 during the Vietnam War. He worked in Detroit in the computer industry for three years — where he said he was robbed twice and assaulted once — before coming back to Pennsylvania. He worked for Carlisle Tire & Rubber and Control Data Corp. in Harrisburg.
Control Data did tickets for Penn State and Sirianni was able to get tickets through a friend, Bud Meredith.
The Penn State streak got its roots Sept. 25, 1982, when Sirianni was the best man at a co-worker’s wedding at the Carlisle War College. The bridal party watched Penn State take on Nebraska prior to the wedding, but never saw the ending.
Penn State was losing when the wedding started, but ended up beating Nebraska 27-24.
“We went to the chapel and I stayed outside. I kept asking people how it was going, and they were like …” Sirianni recalled. “There was less than two minutes left and I had to go in. They told me Nebraska had just gone up by 3. We had Matt Bahr as our field goal kicker and I was like, ‘We can tie this.’
“They all conspired against me. I had my Penn State cowboy hat on at the reception, we went to a couple of bars afterward and nobody broke. They all told me that Penn State lost. I stayed at their house and got up the next morning and there was the (Harrisburg) Patriot (newspaper) on the front porch.
“It was probably one of the greatest games. We won with 7 seconds left and went on to win the national championship. I missed probably the greatest game ever played at Penn State and I was never, ever going to let that happen again.”
Two weeks later, on Oct. 9, 1982, Sirianni attended the Lions’ loss at Alabama and the streak began.
Through it all he’s endured broken ribs, shoulder surgeries, his foot in a boot and the transmission of his van catching on fire on the way to a game in Iowa in 1993, but has still managed to attend every game since. He couldn’t find a ticket to a game at Ohio State five years ago, but went on TV in search of one and was able to purchase one 5 minutes before game time.
He’s been to Penn State’s two national championship victories, every bowl game since 1982 and even traveled to Ireland to see Penn State play Notre Dame in 2014. He said the best game he’s ever seen was the Fiesta Bowl against Miami in 1987 when Penn State won the national championship.
During COVID, when fans weren’t allowed to attend games, Sirianni traveled to each game and stayed outside the stadium.
“It’s almost ended lots of times,” said Sirianni, who in 1993 attended a game in every Major League Baseball stadium. “But I’m a very determined guy.
“Unless I’m in the ICU, I’m going to be there.”
Sirianni and his wife, Cheryl, have worked at Beaver Stadium since 2003, first starting as security workers at Gate B and now serving as ushers at the top entrance to Section NH. He was on the field when Paterno beat Alabama and Bear Bryant and for Paterno’s 409th victory.
Edward and Cheryl were married on Sept. 15, 2007, at the 50-yard line of Beaver Stadium.
“I would do it for free … but they want to pay me,” Sirianni said of working at Penn State home games.
Cheryl, 67, who attends the games with her husband but has been unable to continue her streak, makes all the arrangements to the away games. She uses the money the couple earns from working at Beaver Stadium to purchase the next year’s tickets.
Since they are both retired, the couple drives to all of the away games. Sirianni has estimated he’s driven 238,000 miles, flown 15,000 miles and traveled 5,000 miles by train during his Penn State game streak.
“I find the cheapest way to get there,” Cheryl said. “That’s my obsession.”
Leroy Boyer is sports editor of the Republican-Herald.
Source: Berkshire mont
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