Penn State great Matt Suhey died in his sleep Sunday at 68, per multiple reports.
Suhey played at PSU from 1976 to 1979.
When he left Penn State, he was second on the school’s all-time leading rushing list behind Lydell Mitchell.
Almost 50 years after leaving college, Suhey is still No. 13 on the list, ahead of greats such as John Cappelletti, Charlie Pittman and Franco Harris. Suhey’s college success earned him a second round selection in the 1980 NFL draft, where he went to the Chicago Bears. Suhey would up playing 10 seasons in Chicago, highlighted by the legendary 1985 season which ended with the team’s lone Super Bowl win.
Suhey’s time with the Bears led to his close friendship with the great Walter Payton. When Payton was diagnosed with primary sclerosing/bile duct cancer in late 1998, Suhey was the one who drove him to his appointments at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota.
After Payton’s death in 2001, Suhey remained close with the Payton family.
Add Nittany Sports Now as a preferred source in Google! Click here to add us.“Matt is just an amazing guy,” Walter’s daughter, Brittany, told ESPN. “He’s so quiet, but he doesn’t have to say much. He’s always checking in, wants to know how things are going, how were my classes, my grades, and now it’s with work, and he’s staying updated how the show is going.”
“(Suhey) is a sweetheart,” Payton’s widow, Connie, told ESPN. “I honestly don’t know what we would have done without him, and I’m so thankful to have him in our life. He took to heart what Walter entrusted in him, and he loves my kids like they were his own.”
Suhey came from one of the great Penn State football families. His father, Steve, played guard at Penn State in the 1940s and is in the College Football Hall of Fame. His brothers Larry and Paul each played at Penn State during the 1970s, with all three of them being on the 1976 team.
Paul’s son, Kevin, paid at PSU from 2005-2007, and Matt’s son, Joe, played at Penn State from 2007-2011.
An official cause of death hasn’t been announced.
