Rest in Peace Joe Paterno

Former Penn State football coach Joe Paterno lost his battle with lung cancer and died on the morning of January 22nd. Paterno had been diagnosed with the disease in November 2011, just about the time he was fired by Penn State after he failed to contact police in the Jerry Sandusky child sex abuse case.

Paterno won 409 games as head coach, which is a NCAA record for Division I schools. Paterno started as an assistant coach at Penn State in 1950 had been the head coach since 1966. Paterno’s teams won national titles in 1982 and 1986. He stressed integrity and academics as well as playing good football and had a good track record in having his players graduate. Paterno’s program had been free from scandal until the Sandusky allegations were made public. The case not only ended Paterno’s career, but also the careers of several high ranking officials at Penn State.

In his defense, Paterno said he thought he had done the right thing by reporting what he had heard to his superiors, assuming they’d know what to do. “With the benefit of hindsight, I wish I’d done more” he said.

Though his legacy is tarnished by the Sandusky case, it would be wrong to dismiss all he accomplished, both for college football and for Penn State University itself. “You can’t ignore the great years he had at Penn State and the great things he did at Penn State” said former Florida State coach Bobby Bowden. Paterno raised a lot of money for the university, and the library is named after him and his wife, Sue. Paterno was 85 years old.