Joe paterno biography 2012

His former assistant coach, Jerry Sandusky, was charged with sexually abusing eight boys during a year period. Paterno had been informed of a possible attack by Sandusky that took place at the university's sports complex in , but he supposedly did little to follow up on the allegation. When this news surfaced, Paterno came under fire for not doing enough to address this alleged assault.

On November 9th, Paterno announced that he would retire at the end of the season, but the college's board decided to dismiss him that same day. After 46 years as a coach, the distinguished Paterno ended his career with a dark cloud hanging over him. Still, in the end, his thoughts were with Sandusky's alleged victims, not on his job.

Joe paterno biography 2012

Paterno told the press, "I grieve for the children and their families, and I pray for their comfort and relief. Paterno later explained that "I didn't know exactly how to handle it," referring to allegations of sexual abuse against Sandusky. It didn't turn out that way. While scandal may have marred his final days as Penn State's coach, Paterno will also be remembered for developing the university's football program into a national powerhouse, and for preparing roughly of his players for the NFL.

Paterno is survived by his wife, five children, and 17 grandchildren. In a statement, his family said: "He died as he lived. He fought hard until the end, stayed positive, thought only of others and constantly reminded everyone of how blessed his life had been He was a man devoted to his family, his university, his players and his community.

The day before his sentencing hearing, Sandusky continued to insist on his innocence in the case. In the hours following the announcement of his firing on November 9, , Paterno emerged from his home, accompanied by his wife, to face a crowd of shocked students and reporters. Hey, you guys are great. All of ya. A phone call put me out of it.

Paterno turned back a final time. Bill Belichick. Aaron Rodgers. Brett Favre. Some Penn State recruits, like recruits at many other schools, now graduate from high school a semester early so that they can enroll in college during the spring semester and participate in spring practice. Several team members from the recruiting class of , including Justin King, Anthony Scirrotto, and Derrick Williams, received considerable playing time as true freshmen during the — seasons.

In , Paterno and former Chicago Bears head coach Mike Ditka suggested that concussions and other injuries in the NFL and college football might be reduced if face masks were eliminated. In , year-old Paterno chased down referee Dick Honig in a dead sprint following a 42—35 overtime home loss to Iowa. This being after Penn State had rallied from a 35—13 deficit with 9 minutes left in the game to tie the score at 35, and were driving on their first possession in overtime a touchdown would have tied the game at Penn State failed on fourth down and Iowa held on for the win.

Paterno was a political conservative and a personal friend of President George H. Bush, endorsing him as a candidate in a speech at the Republican National Convention. Paterno was also a close friend of President Gerald R. Ford, and introduced President George W. Bush at a campaign rally before the presidential election. So God bless America. Paterno, then 79 years old, suffered a fractured shin bone and damage to knee ligaments.

In November , Paterno had successful hip replacement surgery after spraining his leg while trying to demonstrate onside kicks during a practice session. Paterno was injured again in August , after colliding with a player during practice. Fina stated, "I do not. On September 13, , a group of alumni and supporters called Penn Staters for Responsible Stewardship released a review of the Freeh Report that was critical of the Freeh Group's investigation and conclusions.

NBC sportscaster Bob Costas said, "What Freeh did was not only gather facts but he reached a conclusion which is at least debatable from those facts and then he assigned a motivation, not only to Curley and Schultz and Spanier, but he specifically assigned a very dark motivation to Joe Paterno, which seems like it might be quite a leap. A reasonable person will conclude that there is some doubt here and that the other side of the story deserves to be heard.

Based on whatever information they had, they were going to connect the dots and tell a story. And it had tremendous momentum. Because of the serious and horrendous nature of the allegations against Jerry, that narrative went pretty much unopposed. Freeh had maintained publicly that his investigation was entirely independent and would include "no favoritism".

This was criticized by Pennsylvania state Senator Jake Corman , who claimed, "There clearly is a significant amount of communication between Freeh and the NCAA that goes way beyond merely providing information. I'd call it coordination Clearly, Freeh went way past his mandate. He was the enforcement person for the NCAA. That's what it looks like.

I don't know how you can look at it any other way. At a minimum, it is inappropriate. At a maximum, these were two parties working together to get an outcome that was predetermined. On May 30, , the Paterno family and members of the Penn State community though not the university itself filed a lawsuit in the Centre County Court of Common Pleas in an attempt to overturn sanctions against the school.

On January 16, , the NCAA agreed to a settlement, removing the probationary period imposed on Penn State and restoring Paterno's wins between and Corman proclaimed, "Today is a victory for due process which was not afforded in this case. Today is a victory for the people of Pennsylvania. Today is a victory for Penn State nation. A year after the report was issued, the chairman of the Penn State Board of Trustees, which had originally commissioned the report, said that Freeh's conclusions amounted to "speculation.

There's no doubt in my mind, Freeh steered everything as if he were a prosecutor trying to convince a court to take the case. On July 12, , The New York Times reported that, in a document created in , an anonymous man alleged that Sandusky had touched him inappropriately in and that he had told Paterno the next day. Paterno was a long-time advocate for some type of college football playoff system.

The question was posed to him frequently over the years, as only one of his five undefeated teams was voted national champion. Paterno believed that scholarship college athletes should receive a modest stipend so that they have some spending money. As justification, Paterno pointed out that many scholarship athletes came from poor families and that other students had time to hold down a part-time job, whereas busy practice and conditioning schedules prevented college athletes from working during the school year.

Paterno initially preferred not to play true freshmen , but later in his career he did play redshirts in order to refrain from being at a competitive disadvantage. Some Penn State recruits, like recruits at many other schools, now graduate from high school a semester early so that they can enroll in college during the spring semester and participate in spring practice.

Several team members from the recruiting class of , including Justin King , Anthony Scirrotto , and Derrick Williams , received considerable playing time as true freshmen during the — season. In , Paterno and former Chicago Bears head coach Mike Ditka suggested that concussions and other injuries in the NFL and college football might be reduced if face masks were eliminated.

Penn State's football players were twice recognized for outstanding academic performance by the New America Foundation's Academic Bowl Championship Series while under the leadership of Paterno. The criteria in the rankings include the graduation rate of the team as compared to the rest of university, the difference between the graduation rate of African-American players and the rest of the squad as well as the same statistics for the rest of the students at Penn State, and the graduation rate differences between the African American players and students.

In , year-old Paterno chased down referee Dick Honig in a dead sprint following a 42—35 overtime home loss to Iowa. Paterno saw Tony Johnson catch a pass for a first down with both feet in bounds on the stadium's video replay board, but the play was ruled an incompletion. This being after Penn State had rallied from a 35—13 deficit with 9 minutes left in the game to tie the score at 35, and were driving on their first possession in overtime a touchdown would have tied the game at Penn State failed on fourth down and Iowa held on for the win.

Just weeks later, in the final minute of the Michigan game, the same wide receiver, Johnson, made a catch that would have given Penn State a first down and put them in range for a game-winning field goal. Although Johnson was ruled out of bounds, replays clearly showed that Johnson had both feet in bounds and the catch should have been ruled complete.

In , the Big Ten Conference became the first college football conference to adopt a form of instant replay. The previous two incidents, along with Paterno's public objections, and the Big Ten's Clockgate controversy, are often cited as catalysts for its adoption. After the announcement of his appointment as head coach in , Paterno set out to conduct what he called a "Grand Experiment" in melding athletics and academics in the collegiate environment, an idea that he had learned during his years at Brown.

Paterno was also renowned for his charitable contributions to academics at Penn State. A portion of the sales will be donated to an endowment fund for the university library that bears his name. Paterno was a political conservative and a personal friend of President George H. Ford , [ ] and introduced President George W. Bush at a campaign rally before the presidential election.

In , his son Scott Paterno, an attorney, won the Republican primary for Pennsylvania's 17th congressional district but lost in the November general election to Democratic incumbent Tim Holden. I'm a Republican. I've got a son, Jay , who's for Obama. I've got a daughter, who I'm pretty sure she's going to be for Hillary [Clinton]. So God bless America.

While serving as an assistant coach, Paterno met freshman coed Suzanne Pohland at the campus library; [ ] she was a Latrobe native 13 years his junior and an English literature honors student. They married in , the year she graduated. They had five children: Diana, Joseph Jr. All of their children are Penn State graduates, and Jay Paterno was the quarterbacks coach at Penn State until his departure following the hiring of new head coach Bill O'Brien on January 7, The Paternos had 17 grandchildren.

Paterno was a longtime summer resident of Avalon, New Jersey. In November , Paterno was involved in a sideline collision during a game against Wisconsin. He was unable to avoid the play and was struck in the knee by Badgers linebacker DeAndre Levy 's helmet. Paterno, then 79 years old, suffered a fractured shin bone and damage to knee ligaments.

In November , Paterno had successful hip replacement surgery after spraining his leg while trying to demonstrate onside kicks during a practice session. Paterno was injured again in August , after colliding with a player during practice. He sustained hairline fractures to his hip and shoulder. No surgery was required, but Paterno began the regular season schedule in a wheelchair.

On November 18, , just nine days after his dismissal from Penn State, Paterno's son Scott reported that his father had a treatable form of lung cancer. Bush , who called Paterno "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. His place in our state's history is secure.

Paterno's funeral was held in State College on January 25, At the time of his death, Paterno had accumulated a record of wins, losses, and 3 ties. However, on July 23, , the NCAA officially vacated of Paterno's wins based on the findings of the Freeh report regarding his involvement in the Penn State sex abuse scandal. All wins dating back to were vacated, the year Paterno was first informed of Sandusky's suspected child abuse.

Contents move to sidebar hide. Article Talk. Read View source View history. Tools Tools. Download as PDF Printable version. In other projects. Wikimedia Commons Wikidata item. American football player and coach — This section needs expansion. You can help by making an edit request adding to it. December Further information: Penn State Nittany Lions.

Child sex abuse scandal and dismissal. Main article: Penn State child sex abuse scandal. Response to the Freeh Report. Views on college football issues. Officiating and instant replay. Philanthropy and education. Deteriorating health and death. Rankings from final Coaches Poll. Tom Bradley was named interim head coach to replace him. Penn State credits the first nine games to Paterno, and the final four to Bradley.

Sports Illustrated. Archived from the original on January 29, Retrieved March 17, The New York Times. Archived from the original on June 26, Archived from the original on June 5, Retrieved May 7, The Washington Post. Retrieved January 12, Jay Paterno Joe Paterno's son and new alumni trustee 'adamantly maintains his father didn't know the truth about Sandusky, pointing to the only piece of evidence he thinks matters: His father allowed his children and his grandchildren to spend time around Sandusky until months before his arrest.

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Retrieved November 19, USA Today. Archived from the original on July 14, Kekst and Company. July 12, Archived from the original on July 13, Although concern to treat the child abuser humanely was expressly stated, no such sentiments were ever expressed by them for Sandusky's victims. Associated Press. July 13, Retrieved July 13, Archived from the original on December 13, The proof that Paterno and the others intentionally concealed Sandusky's actions is a stretch, at best.

The most damning evidence is a string of out-of-context emails. Unfortunately, the people who wrote these emails were never interviewed during the Freeh investigation, leaving it up to the reader to decide what they meant. Archived from the original PDF on March 4,