The official cause of death will be complications caused from Lung Cancer, but you have to think being fired from his job as the head coach at Penn State University had quite a bit to do with the final chapter of Joe Paterno’s life and that final chapter and all the suffering that went along with it, that surely put the dagger in “JoePa’s heart”……
Gone at age 85 and what will you remember most about Coach Joe Paterno? I would say it was number one, the thick Pennsylvania accent that you could always hear, when he spoke….You could almost always tell it was “JoePa” when he spoke….The thick glasses that he wore went right along with that thick Penn State accent and they accentuated his total appearance….I don’t think I ever saw him wearing a cap, you know the coaches’ ball cap look……I also don’t ever remember him wearing shorts….He always seemed to be in the long khaki pants…..
He was one of the best, if not the best of all times in the field of college football coaching and his legacy will be that of a positive, no matter how this final chapter, that fell into place in late 2011/2012, played out….He was a great one and he had the drive to always prepare a winning team to take the field at Penn State University…..
How will you remember Coach Joe Paterno??? “JoePa” gone, but never to be forgotten……Tell us how you feel and what you remember about the coach……..
from ESPN.com, CLICK HERE….
Courtesy of Bill Ahrens by way of the News and Record…CLICK HERE….
It is a sad commentary, but after Joe lost his job, it was like he lost his will to live….
I will remember this as a broken heart. Even more so, I will remember how Penn State turned their back on Joe so quickly after nearly 6 decades of service. You can question all day whether he should have done more but he got strewed in the end and Penn State will hopefully pay a long term price for their actions. Everybody made mistakes in this entire process from the asst coaches, university security, the university policies, and the trustees in the end.. I think Penn State has blood on their hands with this whole mess. All Penn State can really do at this point is to clear Joe’s name via the trail and reinstate Joe’s good name with a tribute and special university award in his name in the future.
Joe Paterno will always be remembered as the driving force behind Penn State football. Other than Bear Bryant at Alabama, I can not think of another coach that is so identified with his school. Even at that, Alabama has had other coaches to come in and have winning programs with the Crimson Tide. Nick Saban there at Alabama now and before that Gene Stallings comes to mind. For Penn State it has been Joe Paterno and Joe Paterno only for all these years and the way he would run on to the field and lead his team to the football field is what I will remember.
It was definitely a broken heart that took JoePa……….I would imagine most of us did not even know he had lung cancer…….very sad indeed for all involved
I am another that thinks he died of a broken heart. What a sad way for all of this to end.
We will not see Joe Paterno on the Penn State sidelines for the first time in 60 years this fall. That is what we will remember. Sixty years of service to the same school. Nobody else can come close to that and the wrong part is it didn’t have to end like it did.
Joe Paterno:RIP and you deserve the rest and thank-you for your service to the Penn State community.