There is one name in the world of football that has been in the news constantly over the last few months. And no, I’m not talking about Tim Tebow, Aaron Rodgers or anyone in the NFL for that matter. The man I’m talking about is Penn State legend Joe “JoePa” Paterno, the Big Ten school’s former head coach. Paterno, who made history as Division I football’s “winningest” coach ever (according to USA Today), passed away January 22 from his battle with lung cancer.
He spent 62 seasons with the Penn State Nittany Lions, 46 of them as head coach. He ended his career with 409 victories, marking his place in football history. There was a sticky moment in his career, however, between 2000 and 2004. He held a losing record for these seasons and had people urging him to retire. He refused, however, and fought back to achieve an 11-1 season the next year, with an Orange Bowl win to cap it off. This sparked a fire in the team over the next few years, making Penn State a football powerhouse.
Despite his record-making career, however, this is not the legacy that most will remember him for. In November of last year the story broke that Jerry Sandusky, a man who had been Paterno’s assistant until 1999, was accused of sexually molesting 10 different boys over a 15-year period, some instances even occurred on the Penn State campus.
Paterno became involved in the scandal when Mike McQueary, a graduate assistant at the time, came to him claiming he witnessed Sandusky in the shower with one of the victims in 2002. Paterno went to his superiors with the information but failed to notify the cops, bringing him under fire from both the university and local community.
When asked about his actions, Paterno replied “I didn’t know exactly how to handle it and I was afraid to do something that might jeopardize what the university procedure was, so I backed away and turned it over to some other people, people I thought would have a little more expertise than I did. It didn’t work out that way.” (USA Today).
Though Paterno announced plans to retire at the end of the season, the board of trustees elected to fire him with only three games to go in the season. The board let go the University president, Graham Spanier, as well. A mere nine days after his removal, it was announced that the football legend had been diagnosed with lung cancer, a fight which would ultimately claim his life only two months later. The Penn State community is still shaken by these recent events; hopefully we all can lend some support to our fellow Big Ten school.