If you think your football memorabilia collection is the best, think again. We may have found the best Penn State man cave ever.
Like countless people in Happy Valley, Ted Brown lives for Penn State football. You will find him every Saturday at Beaver Stadium and he likes to boast he has a better bowl game record than Joe Paterno.
“I only went to one bowl game we didn’t win,” recalls Brown. “I also went to both national championship games in ’82 and ’86.”
That first bowl game was the 1967 Gator Bowl. Brown still has the program. It’s in mint condition.
It is just one piece of a massive collection. More than 3,000 square feet. Just about every inch of the walls, even the ceiling has something related to Penn State. It is a century worth of Nittany Nation memories.
Bobble heads, varsity sweaters from the 1940’s, old pieces of Beaver Stadium. Brown got really excited when he pulled out a leather helmet from 1930.
“It’s the only authenticated Penn State football helmet from that era.”
He prides himself on finding unique items, like the defensive game card from Paterno’s record 409th win. Former defensive coach Tom Bradley even signed it.
As you walk around this huge man cave you will find a lot of items documenting the life and career of the legendary Paterno.
He has football programs from Paterno’s college days at Brown, even his games from Brooklyn Prep.
Brown was elected to the Penn State board of trustees a few years ago. He is a staunch defender of Paterno. During our tour he shared a favorite memory.
“We are at a party. He saw me and my daughter, well he didn’t really see me he saw my 8 yr old daughter. He then interrupted the conversation, split the circle, to say hello to Heather. That’s so much the kind of person Joe Paterno was.”
It’s one reason he was so excited to get his hands on the famous 409 banner. You may remember it. In 2014 it was on display outside along College Avenue. Hundreds of fans signed it before a game against Ohio State.
“Just people signing including Ohio State fans. If you look at them they are just signatures that say things like “Love ya Joe, Miss ya Joe, those kinds of comments.”
Penn State is a family tradition and it had a huge impact on Brown’s life. He still has his parents diplomas. His kids are also proud alums.
So how did Brown amass such a collection? He claims he used to spend 14 hours a week shopping on ebay.
“The university has a bigger collection than I do. They just don’t have as much of it on display.”
His home is like a museum and he enjoys showing it off, but don’t ask, none of it is for sale.
