For Immediate Release:
State College, PA
Joe Paterno, former
head coach at Penn State, died this morning at Mount Nittany Medical Center,
following a brief battle with lung cancer.
Paterno, 85, worked at Penn State for 61 years, 46 of them as the head football
coach. Known for his conservative
coaching style, Paterno is credited with 409 victories on the field, including
37 bowl games and two national championships.
More than 250 college athletes who played under Paterno went on to
careers in the NFL.
Paterno’s
accomplishments on the football field are overshadowed in the last days of his
career by a child sex abuse scandal.
Paterno was charged with failing to execute his moral responsibility
when he did not contact police regarding the allegations of rape by his
defensive coordinator Jerry Sandusky.
Sandusky was charged with sexually assaulting 10 boys over a 15 year
span. Though Paterno was told of abuse
happening within his locker room, he never pressed the issue with school
authorities. Following an investigation
into the Sandusky assaults, Paterno was fired in November.
Despite the child abuse
scandal that marred his last season as head coach at Penn State, former
players, colleagues, friends and family all spoke high praise of Paterno, who
was known for his dedication to his players both on and off the field. Former player Paul Posluszny, now of the
Jacksonville Jaguars, said of Paterno “Besides the football, he’s preparing us
to be good men in life.”
A college football
player himself, Paterno played quarterback and cornerback for Brown University,
where he set a defensive record of 14 career interceptions. He began his career
at Penn State in 1963 as an assistant to the head coach. He took on the role of head coach in
1966. Never one for the spotlight,
Paterno lived in a modest ranch house within walking distance to the football
field. Despite the controversy
surrounding his last year at Penn State, rival coach Bobby Bowden noted that
“You can’t ignore the great years he had a Penn State and the great things he
did for Penn State.”
Paterno is survived by
his wife, Sue and their five children. A
statement released by his family summed up how Paterno approached life and
coaching. “His ambitions were far reaching, by 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.”
Joe Paterno, 85, dies in State College. (2012, January 22). Retrieved from ESPN :
http://espn.go.com/college-football/story/_/id/7489238/joe-paterno-ex-penn-state-nittany-lions-coach-dies-85-2-month-cancer-fight
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