R.I.P. Joe Paterno

From the Times Leader: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 scarred his reputation for winning with integrity, died Sunday. He was 85.His family released a statement Sunday morning to announce his death."He died as he lived," the statement said. "He fought hard until the end, stayed positive, thought only of others and constantly reminded everyone of how blessed his life had been. His ambitions were far reaching, but 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."Paterno built his program on the credo "Success with Honor," and he found both. The man known as "JoePa" won 409 games and took the Nittany Lions to 37 bowl games and two national championships. More than 250 of the players he coached went on to the NFL."He will go down as the greatest football coach in the history of the game," Ohio State coach Urban Meyer said after his former team, the Florida Gators, beat Penn State 37-24 in the 2011 Outback Bowl.Paterno's son Scott said on Nov. 18 that his father was being treated for lung cancer. The cancer was diagnosed during a follow-up visit for a bronchial illness. A few weeks after that revelation, Paterno also broke his pelvis after a fall but did not need surgery.

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This can also describe Paterno- he was down to earth: Paterno and his wife, Sue, raised five children in State College. Anybody could telephone him at his modest ranch home - the same one he appeared in front of on the night he was fired - by looking up "Paterno, Joseph V." in the phone book.He walked to home games and was greeted and wished good luck by fans on the street. Former players paraded through his living room for the chance to say hello. But for the most part, he stayed out of the spotlight.

While the last few months have been a stain on Joe Paterno's life, he clearly made a positive impact on thousands of people's lives in the 61 years of being a coach. 

Clearly, this is a case where a person died of a broken heart.  Football was his life and when that thrill was taken away from him, especially the way it was take from him, he decided to cash it in.

So, R.I.P. Joe Paterno and thanks for the memories.