Legendary Penn State Coach Joe Paterno died at the age of 85 of complications from lung cancer this Sunday, but the question remains how to remember him. Did he live a legacy or was his legacy lost in light of his recent scandals?
To the NCAA and football fans everywhere, the answer is obvious. Joe Paterno or “JoPa” as he was affectionately referred to by his fans, was a living legend in college football. At the helm of the team as head coach for nearly half a century, he led the way for Penn State’s two national championships and 409 undefeated wins, more than any other head coach in major-college history. He donated millions of dollars of his salary back to the school and was a source of pride to Penn State students and football fans everywhere.
But his historic and otherwise illustrious career was tarnished in the face of a horrific scandal last month when one of his longtime assistant coaches, Jerry Sandusky, was accused of sexually abusing children, including young boys under his coaching mentorship. Several school administrators, including Paterno, have since been under fire for doing little to address the issue which led to a climax of the head coach’s dramatic termination over a phone call by the board of trustees. Consequently, some have said that to honor Joe Paterno is to insult the alleged victims or – even more severe – to endorse child molestation.
After the passing of Joe Paterno, a number of students, reporters, and sports enthusiasts, have swayed one way or the other on how we should remember Coach Paterno. The NCAA and its member schools have already began to make their statements concerning the issue. The Big Ten has already spoken by removing Paterno’s name off its championship trophy and administrators at Penn State are already struggling on how to appropriately honor Paterno given the uproar his firing caused among the student body. Countless students, fans, and players of the team have expressed their personal feelings about the issue and many of them have.
So, the question remains, will he be remembered for what he did for Penn State or what he didn’t do to stop Jerry Sandusky? It’s devastating that the NCAA Division I’s all-time winning coach lost his untouchable record on and off the field, but it’s also devastating that the victims went without a voice for so long. It’s probably that for some, he will likely be remembered more for this monumental failure than he will for his monumental successes, and for some, he will be revered as a football legend by his faithful fans.
There are no easy answers for how to approach a controversy like this and when we judge his legacy, everyone is going to have their own opinions about Joe Paterno. But above all else, Joe Paterno’s greatest lesson is this: we create the legacy we leave behind. Paterno’s legacy is not a legacy of football, but a lesson simply in legacy itself.
What do you think collegiettes™? How will you remember Joe Paterno?