Pat Danko was one of the team captains that helped lead the 1991 football team to the first national championship in school history.
Danko was an All-American nose tackle as a senior and started the final 31 games of his Penguin football career. As a senior he was named a first-team All-American by The Associated Press and a second-team All-American by the Sports Network. Following his playing career, he earned a Bachelors of Science in Business Administration from YSU in 1992.
His senior year he started all 15 games at nose tackle. He finished third on the team with 96 total tackles. He had 48 solo stops and 48 assists, led the team with 9.5 sacks, 13 tackles for losses, two pass breakups and recovered a fumble.
In 1991, the Penguins were 4-3 before winning at Georgia Southern. The victory over the Eagles helped propel the Penguins to an eight-game winning streak to close out the year.
In the playoffs, YSU beat Villanova, snapped Nevada's 28-game home-winning streak, beat Samford and defeated Marshall in the championship game.
He finished his career with 218 tackles -- 99 solo stops -- 18 tackles for losses and 11 sacks. In his last three years, the Penguins won 32 games and finished with a combined mark of 32-8 from 1989 through 1991. A two-time Iron Man recipient, he possessed a 605-pound squat and a 410-pound bench press.
The first three years of his career he played defensive tackle before moving to nose guard as a senior replacing fellow YSU Athletic Hall-of-Fame Inductee Tony Bowens.
He started all 12 games as a defensive tackle as a junior. He finished with 26 solo tackles and 34 assists for 60 total tackles. He had 1.5 sacks, three tackles for losses, one pass breakup and forced two fumbles while placing sixth on the team in tackles. In 1990, the Penguins finished the regular season with a perfect 11-0 mark. That is the only team in school history to go the entire regular season without a loss or tie.
His sophomore year he had 18 solo tackles and 29 assisted stops for 47 tackles as a sophomore. He had two tackles for losses, broke up a pass and recovered a fumble. He started the final five games of the season. As a sophomore he was the Ilkka Fitness Award winner at YSU. His freshman year he recorded 15 solo tackles and eight assists for a total of 23 stops.
A graduate of Warren JFK High School before joining the YSU football program, he was a first-team All-Mahoning Valley Conference, Trumbull County and all-district pick as a senior and was the Division III lineman of the year.
Currently, he is a Production Supervisor with the Lear Corporation. He is a Six Sigma Green Belt.
He and his wife Kristen have three children, Patrick III (3), Jared (2) and Jacqulyn (10 months). The family resides in Warren, Ohio.
