DeAndre Levy's Proudest Moment In College: Breaking "Dirtbag" Joe Paterno's Leg

DeAndre Levy is one interesting dude.

Levy, the star Lions linebacker, has been nursing hip and knee injuries since signing a four-year deal with Detroit last August—he returned to practice yesterday for the first time since suffering a Week 1 knee injury against the Colts. The 29-year old sat down with Men’s Journal to discuss what he’s been up to during rehab; it’s a whole lot, including cuddling sloths, standing on airplanes, eating Peruvian rats caught with a handmade pitchfork, running multiple charity efforts, owning the hell out of Jim Irsay, and penning open letters about CTE.

One story in particular—on his proudest college football moment—stood out amongst all the other cool shit Levy talked about in the profile. His most cherished moment at Wisconsin wasn’t making a game-winning tackle or a crazy interception or some gushy Senior Day anecdote; it was when he inadvertently broke the leg of former Penn State head coach and friend/boss/ enabler of serial child rapist Jerry Sandusky, Joe Paterno:

Born and raised in Milwaukee, where his mother is an assistant at a medical office and his father works on the line in a steel factory, Levy was a star linebacker at Wisconsin. He was most famous for a 2006 play against Penn State, a sideline tackle that accidentally drove him into coach Joe Paterno, breaking JoePa’s left leg. Ten years later, Levy now calls that incident “my proudest moment in college,” as history has since revealed Happy Valley’s sad secrets. “That dirtbag, man,” says Levy of Paterno, who was recently implicated as being aware of child sexual abuse committed by his assistant Jerry Sandusky as early as 1976. “We’ve gotta stop prioritizing sports over humanity,” says Levy. “Just because somebody can throw a football or coach football, they’re excluded from their wicked acts.”

This is the fateful play in reference:

Check out the profile yourself for the details on Levy’s rat-hunting adventures.

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