Late last week, Penn State announced that they will be honoring late head football coach Joe Paterno at the upcoming game against Temple. This event, of which little detail has been released, will take place on September 17th, the 50th anniversary of Paterno’s first game as head coach and has been met with an uproar from select fans, students, and media outlets. As a lifelong Penn Stater who grew up loving Paterno, I may be biased but I know where I stand and I know that I am not okay with what people are saying about him and the decision to honor his legacy. So, please, before you share a hateful article or cast your scorn on my university, take a moment to consider this…
1. Joe Paterno was SO much more than a football coach
A mentor, a philanthropist, a father, a friend; Joe Pa was not just a coach. There are countless buildings and resources that Penn State students use on a daily basis that would not be possible without support and donations from the Paterno family. And when it came to coaching, Joe taught his players much more than how to succeed on the field. Paterno changed the conversation of college football when he came on as head coach, insisting that his players focus just as much on their schoolwork as they did on football and pushing them to strive for ‘success with honor’. In 2001 when the bronze statue of Paterno was erected outside of Beaver Stadium, it carried with it this quote, "They ask me what I'd like written about me when I'm gone. I hope they write I made Penn State a better place, not just that I was a good football coach.” There may be people who disagree with me, but I’ll say it. Joe Paterno did make Penn State a better place and we should all be thankful for his dedication of over half a century serving our community.
2. We all make mistakes
The situation that surrounds the firing of Paterno is not one to be made light of or ignored. My heart absolutely breaks for the victims and families involved and I am so sorry for them. But, what happened is not the fault of Joe Paterno and we need to stop acting like he was the monster that set this in motion. Could Paterno have done more? Probably. Did he wish he would have? Absolutely! But hindsight is 20/20 and while we can all act like we would have done something different had we been in his shoes, there’s no way of knowing that. While some may hold a greater consequence or be more publicly known, the truth is, we all make mistakes. Joe Paterno was not the man responsible for causing so much pain and I firmly believe he did what he thought was right with the information that he was given.
3. We still care
A certain student newspaper here at Penn State claims that the current student body does not care about Paterno. News flash; they are wrong. In case you haven’t been to a Penn State football game recently, there is a hype video that plays before the start of each game, twice throughout the video Paterno appears on the screen, both times the student section goes wild. Correct me if I’m wrong but if we didn’t still love and respect Joe Paterno we would absolutely not be cheering at the top of our lungs when we see his iconic Nikes and rolled up khakis. You might not still care about him but many of us do.
4. Like it or not, he is a part of our history
George Washington had slaves, you don’t see anyone trying to take away his monument or get rid of President’s Day (which is celebrated on Washington’s birthday). Terrible comparison? Yes. Get my point? I sure hope so. Whether we like our history or not, we can still learn from it and honor it and as I’ve mentioned, you can’t take away someone’s legacy!
5. We do not need to move on
That same student newspaper I mentioned earlier also claims that, “Those of us here now are beyond ready to move on.” Hmm, that sounds awfully definitive. Did you ask all of us our opinion before claiming that we are “beyond ready to move on”? I’m gonna go with no, otherwise, you would have to say ‘**except for Victoria Herr’. Yep, there’s at least one Penn State student who is not, and never will be ready to move on. Penn State is built on tradition, Paterno was part of that tradition for well over 50 years, he’s not going away. If I had it my way, the Paterno statue would be back, we would call Nittanyville it’s true name (Paternoville), and when my children’s children attend Penn State they would still not be ready to move on. So, please don’t speak for the whole student body when you write unless what you say is true of all of us.
6. He is a legend in college football and that is what he is being honored for
Bottom line; Joe Paterno is the winningest major college football coach ever (and no one can take that away). On September 17th we will celebrate his legacy on the field and his 409 wins as our coach. That’s all there is to it.
