Joe Pa died of lung cancer….technically…but it was something else that was the cause of his death.
Your first heart break is always the worst. It’s a pain you’d wish on no one except for the one that broke your heart. As you get older and find new relationships, the new heart breaks aren’t nearly as bad as the first. Maybe it’s because you’ve been there before or maybe it’s because you know there are other fish in the sea. No matter the situation, a broken heart can be fixed…you just pick up the pieces and move on. But when your heart is ripped away from you, there is no coming back from that. There’s no heart to fix, because it’s gone.
Joe Paterno’s obituary will read that he died from lung cancer. Anyone that’s ever had their heart ripped away from them will know he died from having the love of his life, excuse me, HIS LIFE taken away from him. Some of the happiest people we see are those that have had the fortune of turning their passion into their occupation. Joe Paterno’s passion was teaching young men the game of football. He began coaching at Penn State in 1950 as an assistant and would have that role until 1965, when he became head coach of the Nittany Lions. His 2011 season was his 62nd second season as a coach for Penn State and his 44th as head coach. Some people don’t even live 62 years.
The last few months of Paterno’s life were disheartening to say the least. His job was ripped away from him, because of his loyalty to Jerry Sandusky. We all know the story by now, Mike McQueary, a Penn State assistant coach, allegedly witnessed Jerry Sandusky, a former Penn State assistant coach, in the Penn State football locker room showers molesting a young boy. McQueary told Paterno the next day and Paterno immediately told the Athletic Director and President. No one told the police. Years later everyone but McQueary is fired, including the legendary head coach, Joe Pa. Soon after he was fired earlier this year, Paterno was diagnosed with lung cancer, ten days ago Paterno had to go to the hospital for complications and this weekend things took a turn for the worse. Lung cancer didn’t kill Joe Paterno — losing his life because he was loyal to a former assistant coach is what killed Paterno.
You don’t coach big boy college football for 62 years if you aren’t The Man, and Paterno was just that. There is a seven foot bronze statue of him outside Beaver Stadium aka The House that Paterno built. Paterno holds the NCAA record for most head coaching wins with 409. Paterno led two Nittany Lions teams to National Championships and three to Big Ten championships. Outside of what he did on the gridiron, Paterno did just as much more off the field. In the past few months, Paterno has had students rally around his house in support of him and he’s had grown men praying outside his front yard — things like this don’t happen if your not The Man.
Famed sports broadcaster, Brett Musberger, once asked Paterno why he hadn’t retired from coaching. Paterno told him that he was afraid he would end up like Alabama’s legendary head coach, Bear Bryant. You see, Bryant coached the Crimson Tide for 24 years and led them to 6 national championships. After Bryant retired he was asked what he planned to do now that he was retired, his answer “Probably croak in a week”. Four weeks later….Bryant died of a massive heart attack only one day after passing a routine physical. Paterno knew his destiny if he ever stopped coaching.
The great thing about having your passion as your occupation is that it doesn’t feel like work. It’s what you love, you’d do it for free. When your passion and what you love is taken away from you, then what? You have no passion for life — there’s nothing to live for.
That’s all I got,
Ricky Writer