Aug. 3rd Proclaimed "Matt McGloin Day"

Scranton, Lackawanna County - During a week when there's been so much focus on who's leaving the Penn State football program, now there's a different story. Commissioners in Lackawanna County honored Scranton native Matt McGloin Friday morning.

With family and friends at his side, August 3rd was proclaimed Matt McGloin day in Lackawanna County.

"I don't think you have this type of support anywhere else. Everytime I come home, people go out of their way to say hello, I'm kinda still shocked over it," said McGloin.

The Penn State starting quarterback, and west Scranton native, was honored for both his on-field and off-field accomplishments.

"I'm speechless...and normally I'm never short for words, but I really am today," said Paul McGloin, Matt's father.

McGloin's journey hasn't been an easy one. He joined Penn State's football team as a walk-on, then had to take part in a quarterback competition and he's now dealing with the fall out of the Jerry Sandusky sex scandal. His former coach says McGloin is a true leader.

"I coached him for three years and the bigger the game, the bigger the pressure, the more he came through and I'm expecting him to do that at Penn State also," said Matt's former coach, Michael DeAntona.

Commissioners call McGloin a role model. "Every young boy or young lady have aspirations at some point in their life in some sort of athletics, he actually made it come true," said Lackawanna County Commissioner Pat O'Malley.

During a week when there's been so much focus on "who's leaving" Penn State. Commissioners say this is a way to honor someone who's stayed loyal.

"The way I was raised, the way I was grown up, I was always told to stay loyal to something and to fight with it till the end and the way Coach O'Brien has been fighting for us and the staff has been fighting for us, its hard to walk away from a place like that and I don't think I'd ever be able to do it," said Mcgloin.