Penn State puts “42″ stickers on helmets to honor injured linebacker Michael Mauti

The stickers on Penn State's helmets says all that needs to be said about the respect everyone in the program has for linebacker Michael Mauti.

Mauti suffered a knee injury last week and will not be able to play today against Wisconsin. This was going to be the last game of his college career.

Penn State football tweeted a picture of its helmets today and Mauti's No. 42 will be prominently displayed on the side. That's quite a way to honor the Nittany Lions' emotional leader.

Most times, helmet stickers like this are reserved for former players or coaches who recently died, and very rarely are used for active players unless the injury is of an unusually serious nature, like when Tulane's Devon Walker broke his neck earlier this season. And the honor for Mauti is especially surprising considering the conservative nature of Penn State's uniforms.

We can't think of too many times a team wore prominent helmet stickers for a player who had a fairly common injury like a season-ending knee injury. Although Mauti has to be extremely disappointed to be out today, the tribute his teammates are giving him is something pretty special.

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