Hit rewind to 1970. Peachy Paterno was not yet an ice cream option on the Penn State campus, but Joe Paterno had already made a name for himself nationally as a head coach by directing the Nittany Lions to back-to-back unbeaten seasons in 1968 and 1969.

One of the holdovers from those teams was Jack Ham, the quintessential linebacker. Ham was not a rock star in the Terrelle Pryor sense. But he was labeled as a "superstar'' by Paterno, who added, "As a linebacker, he can do it all. He's dedicated, intelligent, quick, a good pass rusher and equally outstanding against the run or pass.''

Paterno made his comments before the Nittany Lions played the Badgers at Camp Randall Stadium. What I remember most about their matchup was what took place the day before: a chartered plane carrying half of the Wichita State University football team, had crashed and burned in the Colorado Rockies. The tragedy claimed the lives of 29 people, including 13 players, the head coach and his wife and the athletic director and his wife.

The following day, Oct. 3, 1970, the Badgers stunned Penn State, 29-16. Recently, I revisited that game with Ham, who's the subject of my Behind the Mike column in today's 77 Square. Ham, who enjoyed a Hall of Fame career with the Pittsburgh Steelers, is the color analyst on the Penn State radio network.

Chuck Noll, who coached the Steelers, once said of Ham, " There was a general consensus that when a linebacker covered a running back, it was a mismatch. Jack Ham disproved that theory.'' Explaining why Ham would welcome playing against spread offenses.

One of Ham's legendary teammates, Jack Lambert, once said, "He (Ham) was the most consistently great player we had. He did it week after week and year after year.''

The same could be said of Iron Mike Webster.

If you're a Badger fan, I think you'll appreciate Ham's comments on Webster, who was a freshman and didn't play against Penn State in 1970. But he later starred on some of those great Steeler teams with Ham. Check out Ham's thoughts in 77 Square.