Say what you will about the PSU-PITT rivalry or the Sandusky scandal, his death is big news for college football.
Personally, I’ve looked at Joe Paterno as a positive influence on college athletics overall. More so during the 1960s through the 1980s. PSU hasn’t been the same since Paterno became so old he was mostly a figurehead at the helm.
He’ll be missed, by some more than others, and we had to know this wasn’t completely unexpected given his age and the events of the past two months. First Bear Bryant now Joe Paterno.
Their lives were consumed by their professions and they had nothing to live for after it went away.
Other than that he was a great head coach and when discussing football he should be held high. When talking about making the right choices off the field perhaps he has a blemish or two.
All past players have put him on a great pedistal,even the ones that didnt play much. He worked for them even when playing days were done. He did great for those players.
Just my opinion by the way!
It’s also important to remember that he did the thing with his house in july, long before the sandusky stuff.
he like all of is a mix of good decisions and
bad decisions i have all ways thought that
the bad decisions are like ghost that haunt us.
agree totally…this man ran a cult in st. college, was arragont, and took away the best rivaly in the northeast…I don’t wish death on anyone….i’m just glad that this era is over..maybe psu can get some credablity back with a coach instead of a guy who didn’t let anyone do their job
The last two months was a culmination of a sick cover-up that permeated that culture for over 20 years. Was their a quid pro quo in effect between Sandusky, Paterno and PSU that went awry? In death, Joe Paterno, gives a multi, multi million dollar contribution in the form of his silence as to what occurred at PSU. Sadly, PSU Board of Trustee members are silently dancing the jig because they know that liability and financial exposure on these cases has diminished by millions. In typical fashion however, PSU will look at this as an indictment and can now move forward with an aggressive defense of the claims instead of paying hundreds of millions.
The problem is that it won’t help their culture. PSU is damaged goods. They are still trying to recruit kids to go shower in the same stalls where rapes occurred. They have no class or concern for these new recruits. That behavior disgusts me and as a parent, I would never allow my son or daughter to matriculate to that campus because of the activities that occurred there. Disgusting and vile.
People will never forget what happened in the sports facilities at the PSU campus and each recruit should take the opportunity to run away from the filth and disgust as quickly as possible. It is just to creepy!
You done got railroaded by the news media and board of trustees. They’d been gunnin’ for you for awhile, they got their wish, badgered an old man to death. Hope they’re happy!!!
Funny how you don’t even hear about the gay pervert who attacked the little boy anymore, or hardly at all after day 3 or 4, wasn’t politically correct, and wasn’t the story, huh???
Hated you when we played you, but God rest your soul and God bless your family.
Anyone can certainly respond to me, but, I won’t be debating this, so don’t look for a reply, I’ll be watching the games, I’ve said my peace on the issue.
Hail to Pitt
When all is said and done, his inactions and cover-up over the past 20 years off the field, trumps his victories on it. Sins versus Wins. I know that I am not perfect, but I also know that if confronted with the facts as we know them , my moral compass would have taken over and Sandusky would have been gone. Again, sounds like a quid pro quo situation.
Rest in peace JoPa….Hail to the Lion one last time..
If you don’t think that JoPa, a Roman Catholic, understood the concept of child rape, then you are more naive than the PSU faithful.
The Catholic Church has been embroiled in this nasty quagmire for decades, and JoPa was incredulous?
I mean no disrespect by this comment but I wish he would have died 3 or 4 months ago before all of this hit the fan. It was just a shame that Paterno’s long storied career was tainted at the end by such scandel.
RIP Joe.
H2P.
I wish I had the same respect for Paterno, but I do not and did not. Paterno ended the Pitt – Penn State rivalry and he did it out of spite, to get back at Pitt administrators who were long gone when Paterno ended the series. The miserable Sandusky trauma was not directly the fault of Paterno – Sandusky knew what he was doing and he did it – but Paterno should have not let Sandusky on or near the campus, let alone the football program.
It is Joe Paternos’ fault that he did not realize his time had passed. Paterno should have retired 15 to 20 years ago and learned to enjoy retirement with his wife, his kids and his grandchildren and his friends. He cheated them because coaching Penn State football was something he could not walk away from.
Coaching any sport, college or pro, is primarily a young man’s game. Bruce Arians recently quit as Steelers’ OC and he is 57. he had been considering leaving for the last few years. Now, Paterno’s family must go on without him. That much is a certainity to everyone, but no job is with staying into your 80s, especially when someone has achieved what Paterno did.
A worthy adversary… even after he chose to no longer be an adversary.
From the Sandusky scandal, to the firing, and now this, it all happened so fast the last couple of months.
End of an era in College Football. There will be no more Joe Paterno’s. Whether that’s good or bad is subject to debate. It’s hard to forgive the person most responsible for ending the PITT-Penn State series for 15 years. But he does need all the good blessings he can get now. So I offer them and may God have mercy on his soul.
Not one of the Penn State Trustees expressed any sentiment of sorrow or even ambiguity…until Joe Paterno’s death. Now they try to ride the coattails of the carrer of the man they only a day before could care less about.
Your point is well made though, that added to the additional depressing things he had to deal with in the last three months.
