College Football: Joseph Vincent Paterno Dead 1926-2012
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College Football: Joseph Vincent Paterno Dead 1926-2012
Joe Paterno has died at the age of 85 after experiencing serious complications from lung-cancer treatment.
The health of Paterno, who had fought the disease for two months, had grown progressively worse after he recently broke his pelvis in a fall at his home in State College, Pa.
"It is with great sadness that we announce that Joe Paterno passed away earlier today," said a statement from Paterno's family, released Sunday, shortly after 10 a.m. ET. "His loss leaves a void in our lives that will never be filled.
"He died as he lived. He fought hard until the end, stayed positive, thought only of others and constantly reminded everyone of how blessed his life had been.
"His ambitions were far reaching, but he never believed he had to leave this Happy Valley to achieve them. He was a man devoted to his family, his university, his players and his community."
Paterno remained connected to a ventilator into Sunday, individuals close to Paterno's family told The Washington Post.
The newspaper reported the family had communicated to the hospital his wishes not to be kept alive through extreme artificial means.
Paterno's cancer diagnosis was revealed Nov. 18, nine days after he lost his Penn State head coaching job in the fallout of sexual abuse charges against former defensive coordinator Jerry Sandusky.
Jay Paterno, one of Paterno's sons, thanked fans for their support Saturday.
"I appreciate the support & prayers. Joe is continuing to fight," Jay Paterno wrote on his own Twitter account.
Paterno won two national championships and a Division I-record 409 games over 46 seasons at Penn State and the family has donated millions of dollars to the school.
But his legacy was clouded in the wake of a sexual abuse scandal that has resulted in 52 counts of child molestation against Sandusky. Paterno had announced his retirement early on Nov. 9, but the Penn State board of trustees fired him and university president Graham Spanier about 12 hours later. That day, Paterno called the scandal "one of the great sorrows of my life. With the benefit of hindsight, I wish I had done more."
In his first public statements since the scandal broke, Paterno recently told The Washington Post that he did not know how to deal with the situation when he received a report from a graduate assistant that his former defensive coordinator was accused of abusing a boy in the showers.
"I didn't know exactly how to handle it and I was afraid to do something that might jeopardize what the university procedure was," he told The Post in an extensive two-day interview at his home. "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."
Police on Saturday night barricaded off the block where Paterno lives, and a police car was stationed about 50 yards from his home. A light was on in the living room but there was no activity inside. No one was outside, other than reporters and photographers stationed there.
About 200 students and townspeople gathered in State College at a statue of Paterno just outside a gate at Beaver Stadium.
Some brought candles, while others held up their smart phones to take photos of the scene. The mood was somber, with no chanting or shouting.
Jay Paterno tweeted, "Drove by students at the Joe statue. Just told my Dad about all the love & support--inspiring him."
The health of Paterno, who had fought the disease for two months, had grown progressively worse after he recently broke his pelvis in a fall at his home in State College, Pa.
"It is with great sadness that we announce that Joe Paterno passed away earlier today," said a statement from Paterno's family, released Sunday, shortly after 10 a.m. ET. "His loss leaves a void in our lives that will never be filled.
"He died as he lived. He fought hard until the end, stayed positive, thought only of others and constantly reminded everyone of how blessed his life had been.
"His ambitions were far reaching, but he never believed he had to leave this Happy Valley to achieve them. He was a man devoted to his family, his university, his players and his community."
Paterno remained connected to a ventilator into Sunday, individuals close to Paterno's family told The Washington Post.
The newspaper reported the family had communicated to the hospital his wishes not to be kept alive through extreme artificial means.
Paterno's cancer diagnosis was revealed Nov. 18, nine days after he lost his Penn State head coaching job in the fallout of sexual abuse charges against former defensive coordinator Jerry Sandusky.
Jay Paterno, one of Paterno's sons, thanked fans for their support Saturday.
"I appreciate the support & prayers. Joe is continuing to fight," Jay Paterno wrote on his own Twitter account.
Paterno won two national championships and a Division I-record 409 games over 46 seasons at Penn State and the family has donated millions of dollars to the school.
But his legacy was clouded in the wake of a sexual abuse scandal that has resulted in 52 counts of child molestation against Sandusky. Paterno had announced his retirement early on Nov. 9, but the Penn State board of trustees fired him and university president Graham Spanier about 12 hours later. That day, Paterno called the scandal "one of the great sorrows of my life. With the benefit of hindsight, I wish I had done more."
In his first public statements since the scandal broke, Paterno recently told The Washington Post that he did not know how to deal with the situation when he received a report from a graduate assistant that his former defensive coordinator was accused of abusing a boy in the showers.
"I didn't know exactly how to handle it and I was afraid to do something that might jeopardize what the university procedure was," he told The Post in an extensive two-day interview at his home. "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."
Police on Saturday night barricaded off the block where Paterno lives, and a police car was stationed about 50 yards from his home. A light was on in the living room but there was no activity inside. No one was outside, other than reporters and photographers stationed there.
About 200 students and townspeople gathered in State College at a statue of Paterno just outside a gate at Beaver Stadium.
Some brought candles, while others held up their smart phones to take photos of the scene. The mood was somber, with no chanting or shouting.
Jay Paterno tweeted, "Drove by students at the Joe statue. Just told my Dad about all the love & support--inspiring him."
To my Coach, our Coach, and the man who single handedly, built our school into a National Institution, your dedication, loyalty, and love will forever transcend the past few months of your life. Thousands of us who you have taught, coached, and inspired will continue to live with the principles and values you have instilled upon us. We have learned so much from you. For this, I am grateful. I ...am grateful not only to have known you, but to know your way. To a mentor, a friend, a coach, a teacher, and a genuine inspiration, thank you JoePa for all you have been. You will always be remembered, cherished, and honored by each and everyone of us whose lives you have touched. I love you. We all love you and WE will always be PENN STATE!
Last edited by jas5lf; 01-22-2012 at 09:44 AM.
#3
My first Avatar....
Wow.
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#9
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We are psu fans and have been since we were kids as most people from pa. But, what he didn't do and knew about are unforgivable and those kids were not protected or spoken up for.
He devoted his whole life to helping others and promoting what he was about and what people should do in life, but turning his back, that was not joepalike. He did a lot more good but still not right.
He devoted his whole life to helping others and promoting what he was about and what people should do in life, but turning his back, that was not joepalike. He did a lot more good but still not right.
#10
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JoePa
#12
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Is it fair to say this man protected himself, but not the children?
Just asking.
Just asking.
#13
I drive a Subata.
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#15
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#16
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I just think we're going through another Steve Jobs thing. Why celebrate and prop up a man who is not as great as people think he is...?
Sorry, Joe's no saint. And to think of the silence he held despite the disgusting things Sandusky was doing behind closed doors and showers...
Yeah. Meh.
Sorry, Joe's no saint. And to think of the silence he held despite the disgusting things Sandusky was doing behind closed doors and showers...
Yeah. Meh.
#18
The sizzle in the Steak
"He died as he lived."
#19
Senior Moderator
#21
The sizzle in the Steak
Well it's true.
The man was a hypocrite.
Joe is dead, the little boys that continued to be raped by his buddy continue to live a life of hell....because "Mr. principles and values"....when push came to shove had ZERO!
I have ZERO respect for people who turn a blind eye and let the rape of little boys continue.
....and don't even start with the "he told his superiors crap".
The man was a hypocrite.
Joe is dead, the little boys that continued to be raped by his buddy continue to live a life of hell....because "Mr. principles and values"....when push came to shove had ZERO!
I have ZERO respect for people who turn a blind eye and let the rape of little boys continue.
....and don't even start with the "he told his superiors crap".
#23
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He did a ton more good and really helped and guided thousands that he coached and helped. He is a BIG reason the school is where it is. I know i was harsh but his admission to knowing really stung, esp from someone who had more power than pretty much anyone on campus and town if he ever wanted to push an issue. He was very popular and if the man said something, most likely it was the truth.
He will be missed by many and really was a stand up guy.
He will be missed by many and really was a stand up guy.
#24
The sizzle in the Steak
He did a ton more good and really helped and guided thousands that he coached and helped. He is a BIG reason the school is where it is. I know i was harsh but his admission to knowing really stung, esp from someone who had more power than pretty much anyone on campus and town if he ever wanted to push an issue. He was very popular and if the man said something, most likely it was the truth.
He will be missed by many and really was a stand up guy.
He will be missed by many and really was a stand up guy.
He would not stand up for the little boys....but he did stand up for his pal.
All the talk of how he was so outstanding and great...full of character and honor... ....it's a pile of
It's like people saying how much good a priest or bishop is....but pay no mind that they were raping little boys, or covering up for those who were.
Some people might have a tolerance for those who do literally nothing to protect little boys from being raped.....but sorry, I have NO tolerance for that kind of disgusting behavior. There is no excuse for it.
....and when one does it, it destroys all you ever were or claimed to be.
When it came down to it, Joe had NOTHING of what he spoke about or claimed to be. He was a coward, a cover-up artist, a do-nothing man of little character.
Like a priest of bishop he thought he was godlike on campus....and he let this disgusting behavior slide.
If he was half the man he claimed he was he would have been all over the people above him, and would have made sure his rapist pal was thrown off campus....and perhaps even reported what he heard to the police himself.
...but no he did less than the bare minimum.....he lacked any bit of moral judgement in the matter.
He was a disgusting failure.
#25
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This is the Paterno most of us remember, not the media fed few who believe what they want to believe.
http://espn.go.com/espn/story/_/id/7...no-true-legacy
http://espn.go.com/espn/story/_/id/7...no-true-legacy
Maybe you will never be convinced Joe Paterno was a good man who made one catastrophic mistake, but do you have time for just one story?
In 2000, Penn State freshman defensive back Adam Taliaferro had his spine crushed when tackling an Ohio State player. He lay on that September field paralyzed and panicked.
The first person he saw when he opened his eyes was Paterno, who died Sunday at 85.
"He could see I was losing it, but his eyes stayed totally calm," Taliaferro remembers. "And I remember that familiar, high-pitched voice, going, 'You're gonna get through this, Kid. You're gonna be OK.' And I just trusted him. I believed it."
Taliaferro wound up in a hospital bed in Philadelphia, everything frozen solid below the neck. Doctors said he had about a 3 percent chance of walking again. And every other week, Paterno would fly to Philly to see him.
"He'd bring our trainer and a couple of my teammates," Taliaferro says. "Nobody in the hospital knew he was there." Paterno would tell him all the dumb things his teammates and coaches had done lately. Pretty soon, Taliaferro would be laughing his IVs out.
"I can't tell you what that meant to me," says Taliaferro, now 30. "I'm stuck in that hospital, and here's Coach Paterno bringing a piece of the team to me, in the middle of the season. How many coaches would do that?"
One midnight, Taliaferro moved a toe and the first person his dad called was Paterno. His dad held the phone to Adam's ear and Paterno said, "You're gonna prove 'em all wrong, Kid!"
From then on, every visit, Paterno wanted to see Taliaferro move something new. "I got to where I wanted to be ready. A finger, a hand, whatever. I wanted to perform for Coach Paterno."
One day, five months into it, Paterno walked in and said, "What's new, Kid?" Taliaferro swung his legs over the bed, stood and extended his hand to shake.
"I'll never forget his eyes," he says. "They were already huge behind those Coke-bottle glasses, but they got even bigger." Paterno gave him a 10-second hug and then said, "Kid, ya make me proud."
A man is more than his failings.
I learned a lot about Paterno when I wrote a story about him in 1986 for Sports Illustrated. I've learned a lot about him since. He was a humble, funny and giving man who was unlike any other coach I ever met in college football. He rolled up his pants to save on dry cleaning bills. He lived in the same simple ranch house for the last 45 years. Same glasses, same wife, same job, for most of his adult life.
He was a man who had two national championships, five undefeated seasons, and yet for years he drove a white Ford Tempo. In 46 years as a head coach, he never had a single major NCAA violation.
He was the only coach I've ever known who went to the board of trustees to demand they increase entrance requirements, who went to faculty club meetings to hear the lectures, who listened to opera while drawing up game plans.
He was a Depression kid who wouldn't allow stars on helmets or names on jerseys. And he hated expensive tennis shoes.
He'd see a player wearing Air Jordans and say, "It's not the sneakers, Kid, it's the person in them."
One day Taliaferro wore an entirely different pair into his office, a pair of "Air Paternos" he'd made himself. "He freaked out," Taliaferro remembers. "He was about to call Nike. He thought they were real!"
[+] Enlarge
Courtesy of Adam Taliaferro
As a gag, Taliaferro made these sneakers to show Paterno. They represented everything the coach did not stand for.
If a player was struggling with a subject, Paterno would make him come to his house for wife Sue's homemade pasta and her tutoring. One time, he told a high school blue chipper named Bob White he wouldn't recruit him unless he agreed to read 12 novels and turn in two-page book reports to Sue. They were the first books he ever finished. White wound up with two degrees and a job at the university.
Paterno was other things, too, like controlling and immovable. He lingered as head coach when he promised time and again he wouldn't. And when he needed to follow up on what he'd been told about Jerry Sandusky and a child in the shower in 2002, he failed miserably.
But he followed up for thousands of others.
Even though Taliaferro would never play football again, Paterno stayed on him to keep moving. "I came to Penn State to become a lawyer," he told him. "But I never made it. You could, Kid. You're smart."
He got the fully recovered Taliaferro a summer internship with the NFLPA in New York and, before you knew it, Taliaferro was a corporate lawyer in Cherry Hill, N.J. He successfully ran for local office there and is now running for the Penn State board of trustees, where he wants to help his school heal from a scandal Paterno made worse with his neglect.
"The last three months, I've just wanted to go up on a rooftop and shout, 'I wish you knew him like I do!'" Taliaferro says. "I know, in my heart, if he'd understood how serious this situation was, he'd have done more."
I believe that, too. But if you don't, I respect that. I only ask this:
If we're so able to vividly remember the worst a man did, can't we also remember the best?
In 2000, Penn State freshman defensive back Adam Taliaferro had his spine crushed when tackling an Ohio State player. He lay on that September field paralyzed and panicked.
The first person he saw when he opened his eyes was Paterno, who died Sunday at 85.
"He could see I was losing it, but his eyes stayed totally calm," Taliaferro remembers. "And I remember that familiar, high-pitched voice, going, 'You're gonna get through this, Kid. You're gonna be OK.' And I just trusted him. I believed it."
Taliaferro wound up in a hospital bed in Philadelphia, everything frozen solid below the neck. Doctors said he had about a 3 percent chance of walking again. And every other week, Paterno would fly to Philly to see him.
"He'd bring our trainer and a couple of my teammates," Taliaferro says. "Nobody in the hospital knew he was there." Paterno would tell him all the dumb things his teammates and coaches had done lately. Pretty soon, Taliaferro would be laughing his IVs out.
"I can't tell you what that meant to me," says Taliaferro, now 30. "I'm stuck in that hospital, and here's Coach Paterno bringing a piece of the team to me, in the middle of the season. How many coaches would do that?"
One midnight, Taliaferro moved a toe and the first person his dad called was Paterno. His dad held the phone to Adam's ear and Paterno said, "You're gonna prove 'em all wrong, Kid!"
From then on, every visit, Paterno wanted to see Taliaferro move something new. "I got to where I wanted to be ready. A finger, a hand, whatever. I wanted to perform for Coach Paterno."
One day, five months into it, Paterno walked in and said, "What's new, Kid?" Taliaferro swung his legs over the bed, stood and extended his hand to shake.
"I'll never forget his eyes," he says. "They were already huge behind those Coke-bottle glasses, but they got even bigger." Paterno gave him a 10-second hug and then said, "Kid, ya make me proud."
A man is more than his failings.
I learned a lot about Paterno when I wrote a story about him in 1986 for Sports Illustrated. I've learned a lot about him since. He was a humble, funny and giving man who was unlike any other coach I ever met in college football. He rolled up his pants to save on dry cleaning bills. He lived in the same simple ranch house for the last 45 years. Same glasses, same wife, same job, for most of his adult life.
He was a man who had two national championships, five undefeated seasons, and yet for years he drove a white Ford Tempo. In 46 years as a head coach, he never had a single major NCAA violation.
He was the only coach I've ever known who went to the board of trustees to demand they increase entrance requirements, who went to faculty club meetings to hear the lectures, who listened to opera while drawing up game plans.
He was a Depression kid who wouldn't allow stars on helmets or names on jerseys. And he hated expensive tennis shoes.
He'd see a player wearing Air Jordans and say, "It's not the sneakers, Kid, it's the person in them."
One day Taliaferro wore an entirely different pair into his office, a pair of "Air Paternos" he'd made himself. "He freaked out," Taliaferro remembers. "He was about to call Nike. He thought they were real!"
[+] Enlarge
Courtesy of Adam Taliaferro
As a gag, Taliaferro made these sneakers to show Paterno. They represented everything the coach did not stand for.
If a player was struggling with a subject, Paterno would make him come to his house for wife Sue's homemade pasta and her tutoring. One time, he told a high school blue chipper named Bob White he wouldn't recruit him unless he agreed to read 12 novels and turn in two-page book reports to Sue. They were the first books he ever finished. White wound up with two degrees and a job at the university.
Paterno was other things, too, like controlling and immovable. He lingered as head coach when he promised time and again he wouldn't. And when he needed to follow up on what he'd been told about Jerry Sandusky and a child in the shower in 2002, he failed miserably.
But he followed up for thousands of others.
Even though Taliaferro would never play football again, Paterno stayed on him to keep moving. "I came to Penn State to become a lawyer," he told him. "But I never made it. You could, Kid. You're smart."
He got the fully recovered Taliaferro a summer internship with the NFLPA in New York and, before you knew it, Taliaferro was a corporate lawyer in Cherry Hill, N.J. He successfully ran for local office there and is now running for the Penn State board of trustees, where he wants to help his school heal from a scandal Paterno made worse with his neglect.
"The last three months, I've just wanted to go up on a rooftop and shout, 'I wish you knew him like I do!'" Taliaferro says. "I know, in my heart, if he'd understood how serious this situation was, he'd have done more."
I believe that, too. But if you don't, I respect that. I only ask this:
If we're so able to vividly remember the worst a man did, can't we also remember the best?
#26
Senior Moderator
What is there that was media-fed...? He did not do enough when his buddy was off "playing" with kids. Period.
Joe's a disgrace.
Joe's a disgrace.
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Moog-Type-S (02-02-2012)
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jas5lf (02-04-2012)
#28
The sizzle in the Steak
Maybe you will never be convinced Joe Paterno was a good man who made one catastrophic mistake, but do you have time for just one story?
This was no "mistake".
Joe's "mistake" was that he was a hypocrite, coward, cover-up artist for a pedophile pal.
When it came time for Joe to prove that he was the man of character and virtue he sold to everyone else, it turned out he was full of .
Joe got off easy with his death by lung cancer.
These boys that got molested and raped have a lifetime of hell to deal with thanks to Joe doing the immoral, bare ass minimum to help them.
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MWalsh9152 (02-02-2012)
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