Michael Donald Guman (born April 21, 1958) is a former professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

player with the

Los Angeles Rams The Los Angeles Rams are a professional American football team based in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Rams compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) West division. The Rams play ...

(1980–1988). Guman was a star

running back A running back (RB) is a member of the offensive backfield in gridiron football. The primary roles of a running back are to receive American football plays#Offensive terminology, handoffs from the quarterback to Rush (American football)#Offen ...

Bethlehem Catholic High School Bethlehem Catholic High School, more commonly referred to as Becahi or just Beca, is a parochial high school located in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. The school is within the Diocese of Allentown and is located at 2133 Madison Avenue in Bethlehem in t ...

(where he was a high school teammate of future NFLer

John Spagnola John Stephen Spagnola (born August 1, 1957) is a former American football tight end in the National Football League for the Philadelphia Eagles, Seattle Seahawks, and the Green Bay Packers. Early life and education Spagnola was born in Bethlehe ...

). He went on to star at

Penn State University The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a public state-related land-grant research university with campuses and facilities throughout Pennsylvania. Founded in 1855 as the Farmers' High School of Pennsylvania, Penn State became ...

. He is well remembered by college football fans for being on the receiving end of a goal line hit by

University of Alabama The University of Alabama (informally known as Alabama, UA, or Bama) is a Public university, public research university in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. Established in 1820 and opened to students in 1831, the University of Alabama is the oldest and la ...

linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and the defensive linemen. They are the "middle ground" of defenders, p ...

Barry Krauss Richard Barry Krauss (born March 17, 1957) is a former professional American football player who played linebacker for twelve seasons in the National Football League (NFL). Early years Krauss was born and reared in Pompano Beach, Florida; he wa ...

, in the

Sugar Bowl The Sugar Bowl is an annual American college football bowl game played in New Orleans, Louisiana. Played annually since January 1, 1935, it is tied with the Orange Bowl and Sun Bowl as the second-oldest bowl games in the country, surpassed onl ...

on January 1, 1979, (ranked the Greatest Bowl Game Ever by ESPN in 2002) determining the

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...

national

champion. The hit was featured on the cover of ''

Sports Illustrated ''Sports Illustrated'' (''SI'') is an American sports magazine first published in August 1954. Founded by Stuart Scheftel, it was the first magazine with circulation over one million to win the National Magazine Award for General Excellence twic ...

'' the following week, and the accompanying article reported the collision had knocked the rivets on Krauss' helmet loose

Fans still send the cover or prints of the photo to Guman to autograph. ESPN.com selected the play as #6 on their list of "100 Moments That Define College Football.

Guman was drafted by the defending National Football Conference, NFC Champions

in the 6th round (154th overall) of the 1980

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 ...

draft, on April 30, 1980. His best season was 1981, during which, he rushed for 433 yards and 4

touchdown A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron football. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchdown by advancing the ball into the opponent's end zone. In Ameri ...

s, and had 18 catches for 130 yards. He was used mostly as a blocking fullback after the Rams drafted

Eric Dickerson Eric Demetric Dickerson (born September 2, 1960) is an American former professional football player who was a running back in the National Football League (NFL) for 11 seasons. Dickerson played college football for the Mustangs of Southern Me ...

in 1983, a position he held for the rest of his career with the team.

Personal life

Guman retired from football after the 1988 season. He currently resides in

Allentown, Pennsylvania Allentown (Pennsylvania Dutch language, Pennsylvania Dutch: ''Allenschteddel'', ''Allenschtadt'', or ''Ellsdaun'') is a city in Lehigh County, Pennsylvania, Lehigh County, Pennsylvania. The city has a population of 125,845 as of the 2020 United ...

with his wife, Karen. They have five children, 4 of whom also attended

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 ...

. Guman's son Andrew was an

Academic All-American The Academic All-America program is a student-athlete recognition program. The program selects an honorary sports team composed of the most outstanding student-athletes of a specific season for positions in various sports—who in turn are giv ...

football player at Penn State, under the same coach,

Joe Paterno Joseph Vincent Paterno (; December 21, 1926 – January 22, 2012), sometimes referred to as JoePa, was an American college football player, athletic director, and coach. He was the head coach of the Penn State Nittany Lions football, Penn ...

. He is currently a Senior Advisor Consultant for

Invesco Invesco Ltd. is an American independent investment management company that is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, with additional branch offices in 20 countries. Its common stock is a constituent of the S&P 500 and trades on the New York stock exc ...

. He still lends his name and image to local restaurants and non-profit groups in the

Lehigh Valley The Lehigh Valley (), known colloquially as The Valley, is a geographic region formed by the Lehigh River in Lehigh County and Northampton County in eastern Pennsylvania. It is a component valley of the Great Appalachian Valley bound to the no ...

area of

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

Sources

"A memory, both good and bad, for Mike Guman", ''The Morning Call''

''Ain't Nothin' But a Winner'', Barry Krauss's book on Amazon.comMike Guman at St. Louis Rams 1980s draft choices

External links

Mike Guman and Alabama's goal line stance against Penn State
YouTube.
ESPN's "100 Moments That Define College Football"
''#6 Collision Course'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Guman, Mike 1958 births Living people Players of American football from Pennsylvania Bethlehem Catholic High School alumni Los Angeles Rams players Penn State Nittany Lions football players Sportspeople from Bethlehem, Pennsylvania American football running backs National Football League replacement players Ed Block Courage Award recipients