Joe Paterno, the longtime Penn State coach who won more games than anyone in major college football but was fired amid a child sex abuse scandal that upended his reputation for integrity, died this morning.
Paterno, 85, built his program on the credo “Success with Honor” en route to winning 409 games. He took Penn State to 37 bowl games and two national championships, while More than 250 of the players he coached went on to the NFL.
His son Scott said in mid-November that his father was being treated for lung cancer. Paterno also broke his pelvis after a fall but did not need surgery.
Paterno had been in the hospital since Jan. 13 for observation for what his family had called minor complications from his cancer treatments. Not long before that, he conducted his only interview since losing his job, with The Washington Post. Paterno was described as frail then, speaking mostly in a whisper and wearing a wig while refusing to accept the lion’s share of the blame for the scandal.
“As the last 61 years have shown, Joe made an incredible impact,” said the statement from the family. “That impact has been felt and appreciated by our family in the form of thousands of letters and well wishes along with countless acts of kindness from people whose lives he touched. It is evident also in the thousands of successful student athletes who have gone on to multiply that impact as they spread out across the country.”
Paterno’s downfall had been all the more startling because he was a such a sainted figure. It took a mere few days in early November for him to be forced from his job because he failed to go to notify authorities in 2002 when told a young boy was molested by former defensive coordinator Jerry Sandusky in the football team’s locker room showers. Eleven others have come forward to say they also were molested, while Sandusky has maintained his innocence.
The legendary coach had detractors.
One former Penn State professor called his high-minded words on academics a farce. He was criticized for making broad critiques about the wrongs in college football without providing specifics. A former administrator said his players often got special treatment compared to non-athletes. His coaching style often was considered too conservative. Some thought he held on to his job too long, and there was a push to move him out in 2004 but it failed.
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