More sad news from the 1970s PSU teams - Gary Petercuskie

Bob78 said:

Sad news to report - Gary Petercuskie, PSU Safety who played from 1974-1977, passed away yesterday. As told to me, he had dementia, uncertain if it could be CTE related. He was 70.

Cuskie was a fraternity brother of mine, an excellent athlete from an interesting football family. Last I knew, he was living in Massachusetts. Cape Cod, maybe?

His father, John, was a legendary HS football coach at Neshaminy HS in Langhorne, PA. (Same HS that James Franklin went to, but long before James's time). Gary's brother Jerry was, and maybe still is, an assistant college coach. He was a GA for a couple seasons when Gary was in school here, then had a few jobs in colleges. Virginia, BC, Liberty, I think, among them.

Gary had some NFL and CFL tryouts, maybe USFL as well. I think he eventually was an administrator in the USFL Offices or for one of the teams for a short while.

If memory serves, he may have been the first true freshman to start for Joe - that would have been in 1974 if so. He played Free Safety, returned a few punts, and was reliable because he had great instincts. He was built more like a WR, so he was constantly diving at runners' legs to make the tackles. He earned some All-East and All-America recognition as well.

RIP to another good guy gone too soon.

Click to expand...

Bob78 said:

Sad news to report - Gary Petercuskie, PSU Safety who played from 1974-1977, passed away yesterday. As told to me, he had dementia, uncertain if it could be CTE related. He was 70.

Cuskie was a fraternity brother of mine, an excellent athlete from an interesting football family. Last I knew, he was living in Massachusetts. Cape Cod, maybe?

His father, John, was a legendary HS football coach at Neshaminy HS in Langhorne, PA. (Same HS that James Franklin went to, but long before James's time). Gary's brother Jerry was, and maybe still is, an assistant college coach. He was a GA for a couple seasons when Gary was in school here, then had a few jobs in colleges. Virginia, BC, Liberty, I think, among them.

Gary had some NFL and CFL tryouts, maybe USFL as well. I think he eventually was an administrator in the USFL Offices or for one of the teams for a short while.

If memory serves, he may have been the first true freshman to start for Joe - that would have been in 1974 if so. He played Free Safety, returned a few punts, and was reliable because he had great instincts. He was built more like a WR, so he was constantly diving at runners' legs to make the tackles. He earned some All-East and All-America recognition as well.

RIP to another good guy gone too soon.

Click to expand...

Bob78 said:

Sad news to report - Gary Petercuskie, PSU Safety who played from 1974-1977, passed away yesterday. As told to me, he had dementia, uncertain if it could be CTE related. He was 70.

Cuskie was a fraternity brother of mine, an excellent athlete from an interesting football family. Last I knew, he was living in Massachusetts. Cape Cod, maybe?

His father, John, was a legendary HS football coach at Neshaminy HS in Langhorne, PA. (Same HS that James Franklin went to, but long before James's time). Gary's brother Jerry was, and maybe still is, an assistant college coach. He was a GA for a couple seasons when Gary was in school here, then had a few jobs in colleges. Virginia, BC, Liberty, I think, among them.

Gary had some NFL and CFL tryouts, maybe USFL as well. I think he eventually was an administrator in the USFL Offices or for one of the teams for a short while.

If memory serves, he may have been the first true freshman to start for Joe - that would have been in 1974 if so. He played Free Safety, returned a few punts, and was reliable because he had great instincts. He was built more like a WR, so he was constantly diving at runners' legs to make the tackles. He earned some All-East and All-America recognition as well.

RIP to another good guy gone too soon.

Click to expand...

Bob78 said:

Gary went to HS in Mass. Hollister, maybe?
John's record at Neshaminy was something like 59-1-7(?). Going on memory from reading about it long ago. However long he was there, he had 1 loss. Incredible.

@LionJim - Hello to a fellow 1974 HS grad. If you're also a '56er like me, we turn 70 this year. My birthday was Tuesday the 15th.

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LionJim said:

I’ll be 70 in June. For the rest of the posters here, be forewarned that your hearing is the first thing to go.

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Bob78 said:

Sad news to report - Gary Petercuskie, PSU Safety who played from 1974-1977, passed away yesterday. As told to me, he had dementia, uncertain if it could be CTE related. He was 70.

Cuskie was a fraternity brother of mine, an excellent athlete from an interesting football family. Last I knew, he was living in Massachusetts. Cape Cod, maybe?

His father, John, was a legendary HS football coach at Neshaminy HS in Langhorne, PA. (Same HS that James Franklin went to, but long before James's time). Gary's brother Jerry was, and maybe still is, an assistant college coach. He was a GA for a couple seasons when Gary was in school here, then had a few jobs in colleges. Virginia, BC, Liberty, I think, among them.

Gary had some NFL and CFL tryouts, maybe USFL as well. I think he eventually was an administrator in the USFL Offices or for one of the teams for a short while.

If memory serves, he may have been the first true freshman to start for Joe - that would have been in 1974 if so. He played Free Safety, returned a few punts, and was reliable because he had great instincts. He was built more like a WR, so he was constantly diving at runners' legs to make the tackles. He earned some All-East and All-America recognition as well.

RIP to another good guy gone too soon.

Click to expand...