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Rest in Peace JoePa

Bob Whalon Written by Bob Whalon, Wednesday January 25 2012
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I wasn't going to write about the passing of Joe Paterno.  I wrote an article when the entire Jerry Sandusky scandal blew up about how I didn't think Paterno's legacy should be tainted by this scandal.  I took some heat for it, but that's OK.  Everyone is entitled to their opinion.  But then someone told me that it was good that a bad man died.  

I was speechless.  Well, not speechless exactly.  Anybody who has ever met me or even read one of my articles knows that I love to talk (or write) constantly.  But I didn't know how to respond to a statement that was so cold, heartless and downright wrong.

Joe Paterno had just died and someone was happy about that fact and said that Paterno wasn't sorry about what happened, he was just sorry that he got caught?  Again, I didn't know how to respond because nothing could be further from the truth.  That person obviously thinks Joe Paterno is a typical college football coach.  He doesn't understand what a great human being the man was.  

First, let me say that Paterno should have done more when he was notified about what occurred in the practice facility shower with Sandusky and that boy.  We all know he should have done more.  Joe himself said that he was sorry that he didn't do more, but that he didn't know exactly what to do.  He had never encountered a situation like that before and did what he thought was right.  He went to his superiors and went to the police.  That's right, Paterno went to the police.

You see, in spite of the popular theory that Paterno never went to the authorities, he actually did just that in 2002.  Paterno went directly to Gary Schultz, who had administrative control over the campus police.  In fact, the Penn State campus police is a real police force and they carry guns just like in any other big city. So when Paterno reported what he knew to Schultz he was reporting it to the police.  That's why he was never going to be charged with any crime.

The problem is the gray area of morality here.  Everybody, including Paterno, thinks he should have done more.  Anybody who ever knew the man known as JoePa, knows that he was genuinely remorseful.  I don't think Joe even knows how to lie.

I won't even bother to recite his many accomplishments on the football field.  We all know them, but they aren't what made the man great.  What made him great is how he influenced the lives of those he encountered.  And he influenced everyone in a good way.

In his 42 years as the head coach at Penn State, Paterno insisted that his players be student-athletes.  He sent 250 players to the NFL and his teams' graduation rates consistently ranked among the best in the nation.  In 2010, Penn state's 84 percent graduation rate trailed only Northwestern's 95 in the Big Ten, according to the NCAA.  He donated over $4 million to the University to expand the library to over three times its original size.  It is now named in his honor.

The best way to judge the character of a man is by what others think of him.  Well, everybody thought that Joe Paterno was a great man.  Heck, Pennsylvania Governor Tom Corbett ordered the flags flown at half mast in the Capitol and at commonwealth facilities statewide for Paterno.  They don't do things like that for just a football coach, but they did it for JoePa.

Here are a few quotes I saw about Paterno:

"He was an outstanding American who was respected not only on the field of play but in life generally, and he was, without a doubt, a true icon in the world of sports." - Former U.S. President George H. W. Bush

"Besides football, he's teaching us to be good men in life." - Former Penn State linebacker and current Jacksonville Jaguar Paul Posluszny

"Joe Paterno was one of the finest men I've ever know.  The end was sad, but the overall look at his life is extraordinary." - Larry King

"He'll go down as the greatest football coach in the history of the game.  Every young coach, in my opinion, can take a lesson from him." - Ohio State coach Urban Meyer

"JoePa can be defined by his loyalty and integrity." - Dick Vitale

"His values are never compromised.  That's the bottom line." - Duke basketball coach Mike Krzyzewski

"The values Coach Paterno instilled in each of us fortunate enough to play of work alongside him will never be diminished.  They are manifested in our leadership, character, class and dedication to improving the lives of others in the classroom, workforce and community.  They are distinctly evident in the way we raise our children and the types of husbands and fathers we have grown to be.  I am forever grateful for the impact that Joseph Vincent Paterno has made on my life and I am not ashamed to say to Coach and his family that the way of your former players will carry your legacy forward by humbly improving the lives of those we touch every day." - Former Penn State player and coach and current Miami head coach Al Golden

But the most impressive example of what a great man Joe Paterno really was is the story of Adam Taliaferro.

In 2000, Taliaferro was a Penn State freshman defensive back who suffered a spinal injury against Ohio State.  As he lay on the field that September day, paralyzed and panicked, the first person he saw when he opened his eyes was Paterno.

"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."

Doctors gave him about a 3 percent chance of ever walking again, but his coach never gave up on him.  Paterno would fly to Philadelphia to visit him every other week.  He would bring teammates and coaches, share stories about the team and tell Taliaferro it was going to be OK.

"I can't tell you what that meant to me," Taliaferro said.  "I'm stuck in that hospital, and there's Coach Paterno bringing a piece of the team to me in the middle of the season.  How many coaches would do that?"  

The answer is none.  And that's why Paterno was a great man.

Slowly, Taliaferro regained movement in his limbs.  It began with a toe wiggle and then a finger.  Finally five months into it, Paterno walked into the hospital room one day and Taliaferro got out of bed to greet his coach.  Paterno gave him a big hug and said "Kid, ya make me proud."

Although Taliaferro would never play football again, Paterno kept after him to get his degree.  Paterno got him an internship with the NFLPA in New York, and before you knew it, Taliaferro was a lawyer in New Jersey.  He even recently became a politician and wants to run for a spot on the Penn State Board of trustees.  Maybe he'll tell them how wrong they were to fire his coach.

One of the men who knew Paterno best in his last days was Tom
Bradley, who ended his 37-year career as a player and assistant coach for the Nittany Lions by serving as the interim head coach after Paterno was fired.  He thought the huge event that Paterno's viewing had become would have made the old coach blush.

"I was telling some people, I know Coach is up there thinking, 'What are they doing standing out there in the cold?  What's wrong with them?  Didn't I teach them better?  Don't they have any better things to do?" Bradley said with a smile.

Actually Joe, no.  There is nothing those people would rather do than honor your memory and your greatness as a man.

Rest in Peace JoePa.

- Bob Whalon, Penn State Class of 1990

 


Tags:  Al Golden, Big Ten, Dick Vitale, Duke, Gary Schultz, Jacksonvilel Jaguars, Jerry Sandusky, Joe Paterno, JoePa, Larry King, Mike Krzyzewski, NCAA, NFL, Nitt, Ohio State, Paul Posluszny, Penn State, Tom Corbett, Urban Meyer, US President George H W Bush



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