A True American Hero.

Joe Paterno’s Legacy

A man who’s name is well known in Pennsylvania and who is practically considered a saint in State College and the rest of P.A has an incident that happens to him which changes everything, or does it? Jerry Sandusky is being charged with child molestation and it is found out that Paterno knew about the incident and he never reported it to the police. Many people then had mixed feelings about him and after forty plus years of coaching at Penn State University he was abruptly fired for not handling it better. Many people think this is what killed Joe Paterno, that football was the only thing keeping him alive and that people will only remember this but I don’t really agree with that. The younger generation may only remember this because they were not there to see him pray with the team or the comedy like sayings he had at his post game conferences. Many will even forget how his teams always promoted high academic standards and how he donated millions of dollars to the Penn State and to children's organizations. Joe Paterno is not the man who knew it happened and did nothing he is the all time winning-est coach in division one football history and although he leaves his family none will forget his smile or his humor. His former players will always remember him as a teacher figure and he cared more about them then he did himself. When I think of Joe, I think of someone classy during these days because when coaches where going out and secretly offering money to other players to commit he wouldn’t have that or do it. He is truly a role model for other coaches involving commitment. Even if others see him differently he will always be a hero to me.

Maisel, Ivan. "Joe Paterno Memorial Brings Penn State Nittany Lions Together - ESPN." ESPN: The Worldwide Leader In Sports. 27 Jan. 2012. Web. 27 Jan. 2012. <http://espn.go.com/college-football/story/_/id/7507748/joe-paterno-memorial-brings-penn-state-nittany-lions-together>.