Back in November, I posted an article (I gotta advertise my blog any way I can) about how Penn State rightfully fired head football coach Joe Paterno after he failed to report the actions of Jerry Sandusky to the authorities. Maybe if he stayed with the team, he would have stayed with us.
Joseph Vincent Paterno was born on December 21, 1926, in Brooklyn, New York. He played quarterback and cornerback at the University of Brown. In 1950, Paterno joined his head coach at Brown, Rip Engle, and became assistant coach of Penn State. By 1965, Paterno was given the head coaching job for the Nittany Lions. Who would've thought he would occupy the head coaching position for the next 46 years?
On November 9, 2011, Paterno was fired by the Penn State Board of Trustees for reasons linked to the Penn State sex abuse scandal. Originally, I agreed with the Board of Trustees' decision, saying " If Paterno did the right thing and told the police, we would have known about this nine years ago and Sandusky would currently be behind bars." But I now realize that JoePa could not live without football in his life.
Less than 15 days after his firing, Joe's son Jay Paterno said his father had a treatable form of lung cancer. But father time is cruel, and the legendary coach passed away on January 22, 2012. His death can be compared to that of former Alabama coach Paul "Bear" Bryant, who died four weeks after retiring in 1983. Both Bryant and Paterno were visionaries for college football who could not imagine life without the sport.
Joe Paterno did everything he could for college football. He gave more to the sport than anyone can imagine. The fact that he could not do more for the sport was really the factor that hurt him. Joe Paterno did not die from lung cancer; he died of a broken heart. Rest in Peace Joe Paterno, 1926-2012.
