Charles Vernon Pittman (born January 22, 1948, in

Baltimore, Maryland Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...

) is a former professional

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

player. He was an

All-America The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed upon an amateur sports person from the United States who is considered to be one of the best amateurs in their sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an All-Am ...

n halfback at

Penn State #Redirect Pennsylvania State University The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a Public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related Land-grant university, land-grant research university with campu ...

and played in the

NFL The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the major ...

for the St. Louis Cardinals and the

Baltimore Colts The Baltimore Colts were a professional American football team that played in Baltimore from its founding in 1953 to 1984. The team now plays in Indianapolis, as the Indianapolis Colts. The team was named for Baltimore's history of horse breed ...

Collegiate career

Recruited out of

Edmondson High School Edmondson-Westside High School is a public high school located in the southwest area known as Edmondson Village of Baltimore, Maryland, United States. The school is made up of two buildings, the Edmondson Building (located on Athol Avenue) which ...

in Baltimore, Maryland, Pittman was a member of Joe Paterno's first recruiting class as head coach. A crafty, oversized running back on defensive-minded teams, he rushed for 2,236 yards and 30

touchdowns A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron football. Whether Rush (gridiron football), running, Forward pass, passing, returning a Kickoff (gridiron football), kickoff or Punt (gridiron football), punt, or recovering a Turno ...

in his career with the

Nittany Lions The Penn State Nittany Lions are the athletic teams of Pennsylvania State University, except for the women's basketball team, known as the Lady Lions. The school colors are navy blue and white. The school mascot is the Nittany Lion. The interc ...

. In his junior and senior seasons, Penn State went 22–0, with wins over

Kansas Kansas () is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its capital is Topeka, and its largest city is Wichita. Kansas is a landlocked state bordered by Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the ...

and

Missouri Missouri is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee ...

in the 1969 and 1970

Orange Bowl The Orange Bowl is an annual American college football bowl game played in the Miami metropolitan area. It has been played annually since January 1, 1935, making it, along with the Sugar Bowl and the Sun Bowl, the second-oldest bowl game in th ...

s. Pittman led the Nittany Lions in rushing in

1969 This year is notable for Apollo 11's first landing on the moon. Events January * January 4 – The Government of Spain hands over Ifni to Morocco. * January 5 **Ariana Afghan Airlines Flight 701 crashes into a house on its approach to ...

with 706 yards and 10 touchdowns on 149 carries, caught 10 passes for 127 yards and topped the team in scoring with 66 points. He was named All-American following the 1969 season and was selected by the St. Louis Cardinals in the third round of the

1970 NFL Draft The 1970 National Football League Draft was the 35th National Football League Draft and the first of the league's modern era, following the merger of the National Football League with the American Football League. It was held on January 27–28, 1 ...

(#58 overall).

Father/son connections

Conversely, Pittman's son Tony Pittman starred as an undersized defensive back on the high-powered offense of the

1994 Penn State Nittany Lions football team The 1994 Penn State Nittany Lions football team represented the Pennsylvania State University in the 1994 NCAA Division I-A football season. The team was coached by Joe Paterno and played its home games in Beaver Stadium in University Park, Penn ...

. Father and son were both starters for the Nittany Lions. Despite playing on three of Joe Paterno's five undefeated teams, both were denied national championships that could have been awarded their teams, but were given to other squads. Charlie Pittman never lost a game he started in high school and neither he nor Tony ever lost a game they started at Penn State. Their combined college records are 45-0-1. In the sports world, that is almost a miraculous number. In elite college football, there is no father-son tandem better at their game, record-wise, than the Pittmans. Both father Chalie and son Tony Pittman were also academic all-Americans while attending and playing football for Penn State.

New York Giants The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East division. ...

general manager

Ernie Accorsi Ernest William Accorsi Jr. (born October 29, 1941) is a former American football executive. He served as the general manager of three teams in the National Football League: the Baltimore Colts, Cleveland Browns, and New York Giants. Education an ...

, who spent decades guiding

teams notes, "it's unprecedented; it's hard to believe," Accorsi said. "That record for a father and son at the same university—and the son played in the

Big Ten The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference) is the oldest Division I collegiate athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty Representati ...

—that is something mind-boggling."

Personal

Pittman is currently the senior vice president of publishing at Schurz Communications, a

South Bend, Indiana South Bend is a city in and the county seat of St. Joseph County, Indiana, St. Joseph County, Indiana, on the St. Joseph River (Lake Michigan), St. Joseph River near its southernmost bend, from which it derives its name. As of the 2020 United S ...

-based media company. In 2007, he teamed up with his son Tony to write ''Playing for Paterno'', , about their shared experiences as the first father/son to play for the legendary coac

Trivia

Pittman wore jersey number 24 at Penn State—the same number worn by his boyhood idol, and fellow Nittany Lion, Lenny Moore. His son Tony would wear the same number during his days at Penn State (1992–1994) to honor his father. (Lenny Moore wore 24 as a Baltimore Colt but wore 42 during his playing days at Penn State)

External links

"Pittman, son release book"
'' Daily American'', August 25, 2007
"Lions' Pittman hopes to duplicate father's success"
'' The Daily Collegian'', September 19, 1994
"Pittman persevered through pressures"
''

South Bend Tribune The ''South Bend Tribune'' is a daily newspaper and news website which is based in South Bend, Indiana. It is distributed in South Bend, Mishawaka, north central Indiana, and southwestern Michigan. It has been named as a "Blue Ribbon Newspaper" ...

'', September 6. 2007
A player's tribute to Joe Paterno's legacy
''

'', July 18. 2008 * {{DEFAULTSORT:Pittman, Charlie 1948 births Living people American football defensive backs American football running backs American memoirists American publishers (people) Baltimore Colts players Penn State Nittany Lions football players St. Louis Cardinals (football) players Players of American football from Baltimore