12:25 a.m. Thursday
UNIVERSITY PARK -- The most stunning day in Pennsylvania sports history -- not to mention American sports history -- ended with some stunning words that most people thought they would never see on a TV screen: "Joe Paterno fired as Penn State head coach."
So ends one of the greatest coaching careers of all time, and it ended amidst perhaps the worst college sports scandal the nation has ever seen.
Penn State football fans everywhere have held conversations with friends and family members for years about how the Paterno era would end. From poor seasons to poor health to the occasional half-serious, half-joking comments that the 84-year-old JoePa would die on the field, imaginations have run wild on the topic.
But no one could have possibly imagined it would end like this, with one of the most respected men -- not just coaches, but men -- on the planet being ousted during a scandal so tawdry, so vile that it ripped away Paterno's pristine image of integrity beyond reproach and replaced it in many people's minds with that of a man whose actions during a sex scandal have tarnished his legacy.
Penn State President Graham Spanier also was fired Wednesday, with both announcements coming during a late-night press conference held by the school's Board of Trustees on campus.
"It is in the best interests of the university that a change in leadership [be made] to deal with the difficult issues that we are facing," Board of Trustees Vice Chairman John Surma said.
Defensive coordinator and lifelong Penn Stater Tom Bradley will serve as the Nittany Lions' interim head coach, leading the team for its final three regular-season contests and the bowl game.
The end clearly was growing near for Paterno in recent days after numerous shocking details emerged Saturday about a sex scandal involving former Penn State defensive coordinator Jerry Sandusky, who allegedly has been sexually abusing young boys since the late 1990s.
With calls for his ouster intensifying the past two days, Paterno gave in Wednesday and announced he would be retiring at the end of the season. He issued the following statement:
"I am absolutely devastated by the developments in this case. I grieve for the children and their families, and I pray for their comfort and relief. I have come to work every day for the last 61 years with one clear goal in mind: To serve the best interests of this university and the young men who have been entrusted to my care. I have the same goal today. That's why I have decided to announce my retirement effective at the end of this season."
The statement later added, "This is a tragedy. It is one of the great sorrows of my life. With the benefit of hindsight, I wish I had done more. My goals now are to keep my commitments to my players and staff and finish the season with dignity and determination. And then I will spend the rest of my life doing everything I can to help this University."
Paterno clearly wanted to express remorse and did so, but it was the middle portion of his statement that drew him even more criticism Wednesday.
"At this moment the Board of Trustees should not spend a single minute discussing my status. They have far more important matters to address. I want to make this as easy for them as I possibly can."
That statement, many national pundits claimed, showed an arrogance by Paterno and lack of understanding of the gravity of the situation. Whether he intended the words to be meant this way, they gave many people the impression that Paterno still felt like he didn't have to answer to anyone, could call his own shots the way he has for more than four decades and could keep coaching his football team until he saw fit.
Later in the evening, Paterno learned that would not be the case when he received a phone call from a Board of Trustees member.
One of the greatest coaches in history was fired over the phone.
"We were unable to find a way to do that in person without causing further distraction," Surma said.
Paterno's iconic, Hall of Fame career ends with him winning a Division I record 409 games, two national championships (1982 and '86) and five undefeated seasons at the helm of the Nittany Lions.
But wins and losses never defined Paterno's career.
His integrity did, along with his devotion to his beloved university, to education and his great passion for helping shape the lives of thousands of young men who played football for him since he came to Penn State as an assistant coach in 1950 and took over as head coach in 1966.
All of that would have been his entire legacy, until the sordid events of the past five days surfaced.
An emotional Paterno met with his players about 11 a.m. Wednesday to tell them he was retiring, but by that point they had already found out on social media.
"I've never seen him cry before," linebacker Nate Stupar said of JoePa's demeanor during the team meeting.
"It was emotional for everybody," fullback Michael Zordich said.
The players gave Paterno a standing ovation after the meeting, then some went out and did interviews for the massive amount of media that has swarmed upon the campus.
Paterno conducted practice later in the afternoon, and when that workout ended, the players left believing that he would still be their head coach the next time they saw him.
That turned out not to be the case.
Following the Board of Trustees meeting, camera crews visited the Paterno house near the campus. Paterno spoke briefly, and his wife, Sue, was caught on camera crying in the window.
Then, at 12:05 a.m., Joe and Sue Paterno walked out their front door to address the students and media who had assembled.
"Hey look, get a good night's sleep, study," he said. "We've still got things to do. I'm out of it. A phone call put me out of it. ... Hey, good luck, everybody. Thank you.
"One thing, thanks and pray a little bit for those kids."
As he was walked back through the door, he stopped, turned around and said, "We are Penn State."
To many, Joe Paterno is Penn State and has been for their entire lives.
Everyone knew his remarkable career would end someday.
But no one ever thought it would end like this.
Mirror Staff Writer Cory Giger can be reached at 949-7031 and @CoryGiger on Twitter.
11:08 p.m.
UNIVERSITY PARK -- The most stunning day in Pennsylvania sports history -- not to mention American sports history -- ended with some stunning words that most people thought they would never see on a TV screen: "Joe Paterno fired as Penn State head coach."
So ends one of the greatest coaching careers of all time, and it ended amidst perhaps the worst college sports scandal the nation has ever seen.
Penn State football fans everywhere have held conversations with friends and family members for years about how the Paterno era would end. From poor seasons to poor health to the occasional half-serious, half-joking comments that JoePa would die on the field, imaginations have run wild on the topic.
But no one could have possibly imagined it would end like this, with one of the most respected men -- not just coaches, but men -- on the planet being ousted during a scandal so tawdry, so vile that it ripped away Paterno's pristine image of integrity beyond reproach and replaced it in many people's minds with that of a man whose actions during a sex scandal have tarnished his legacy.
12:11 p.m.
The Joe Paterno loyalists who believe the man can do no wrong and who have and apparently always will defend him no matter what are coming out in full force now and starting to blast me and everyone else who is taking a hard-line stance against the coach's actions in 2002.
For all of you, I ask this: If you had been that 10-year-old boy who was allegedly raped, or if it had been your 10-year-old son, would you be able to look at Paterno and say he did everything he could and should have done to help you?
No one called the cops. No one called child services. No one contacted any authorities, including Paterno.
Morally, he failed miserably to help that young boy, and by doing so, he and other PSU officials allowed an alleged sexual predator to continue to molest young boys for several years.
If it had been you who was raped, I don't see how you could defend his actions.
11:07 a.m.
Stunning, isn't it? Not that we all didn't know this was coming. But to see it end this way for Joe Paterno is shocking, sad, terrible, appropriate (given his 2002 actions) and so many other things.
10:05 a.m.
AP reports Joe Paterno to retire at the end of the season.
I've been critical of JoePa's handling of the 2002 situation, which I believe to be inexcusable.
That said, it is very sad to see his great career end this way.
Paterno has been a great man and a great leader for more than 60 years at Penn State, and everyone who has followed him and the program closely have admired him tremendously.
This truly has been a stunning turn of events the past few days.
9:10 a.m.
There's no way Joe Paterno or Mike McQueary should be allowed to coach a college football game Saturday against Nebraska -- a game of major importance for this season but of little significance in the grand scheme of life given the scandal that has engulfed Penn State University.
A great university with a tremendous reputation, Penn State has had that reputation tarnished forever with this disgusting scandal. The university has badly mishandled this situation at every turn since the initial 1998 allegations concerning Jerry Sandusky, and it's well past time for university officials to start making good decisions.
A football game is not important right now, and allowing Paterno and McQueary to be on national TV representing the university in light of their actions -- or gross inactions -- immediately following the alleged 2002 shower incident would be a terrible decision.
If the PSU Board of Trustees wants to put together a special committee to investigate the whole ordeal, then fine. But in the meantime, Paterno and McQueary should be removed from their positions instead of continuing to be the faces of the university and continuing to be incredible distractions for the football team.
From a football standpoint, McQueary is in charge of the offense on the sideline during the games -- when JoePa is up in the press box and even when he's on the field.
It would present a major challenge for the Penn State offense to function without McQueary, the receivers coach, on the sideline. He gets the play call from Galen Hall and Jay Paterno in the press box, relays it to the players and coordinates a lot of things on the sideline.
Regardless, McQueary has become a national villain for failing to act with human decency when he did not remove or protect a 10-year-old boy from allegedly being raped by Sandusky in a shower.
It's hard to believe McQueary will ever be able to hold another job in college football with this hanging over his head, and he certainly should not be coaching Penn State football players any longer.
As for Paterno, he still has a lot of support from people who believe he did what he should have done by passing the information he received from McQueary along to his superior, athletic director Tim Curley.
Paterno may be safe in the legal process, but his inexcusable moral failure is his real crime. He has done wonderful things for Penn State for six decades, but by failing to do the decent thing and stay on Curley to make sure justice was served for that boy in the shower, Paterno's hands-off approach led to Sandusky allegedly victimizing even more boys over the next few years.
If you think Paterno did enough to bring about justice, ask yourself this: Had that been your 10-year-old son, grandson, brother or even you who had been allegedly raped, would you be OK with Paterno simply passing the buck and failing to check in repeatedly to make sure the appropriate authorities had been contacted?
It's time for Paterno to go, and he will soon enough as there's virtually no chance he will return as Penn State's coach next season.
The university should go ahead and make the decision now to prevent Paterno from being able to finish out this season.
