Paterno honored in Big Ten championship trophy

Along with the much anticipated announcement today of the Big Ten logo and division names, the conference unveiled what will be the new Big Ten Championship Game Trophy--The Stagg Paterno Championship Trophy.

But Paterno wasn't the only Penn Stater to have a trophy named in his honor. The Smith-Brown Defensive Lineman of the Year trophy is named for Michigan State's Bubba Smith and Penn State's Courney Brown. The Kwalick-Clark Tight End of the Year is named for Penn State's Ted Kwalick* and Iowa's Dallas Clark.

Jim Delaney:

“These trophies will honor our legends and leaders for generations to come,” said Delany. “The names on these trophies are fitting tributes to the hundreds of thousands of student-athletes and coaches whose hard work and dedication have contributed to the legacy of the Big Ten Conference over the past 115 years.”

Uh huh. It seems the conference went a bit overboard on the Leaders & Legends them.

*By the way, Ted Kwalick never played in the Big Ten. He was an All-America tight end for Penn State in the late 60s, more than 20 years before the university joined the conference.

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