JoePa: Forever Revered

Some people discount him because he worked through the medium of football — something that is meaningless for so many people. 

Others are tied up in the recent controversy of the university, unable to look past details of a Grand Jury report, internal and external investigations and a crime so horrific they want nothing to do with anyone remotely involved.

Maybe it was the way I was raised. Maybe it was being fans of a college or a football team that formed my original love for a man that was so amazing. Whatever got it started, there is no doubt in my mind that he was one of the most amazing people to ever walk this earth.

I’ve never seen, nor heard, of a more selfless person. Joe Paterno touched millions of lives with his coaching, his leadership and his giving nature. He put academics before the sport, pleading for all, on the field and off, to have “Success with Honor.”

Last month, Paterno and his wife gave back $100,000 to a school that just weeks before fired him on the telephone after more than six decades of dedication.

From the library named for his honor and donations, to a statue bearing his likeness, the school is, and will always continue, to grow from the seeds he planted.

Why am I using the space in my weekly mothering column to write this? I write it because it is most about my children. I can think of no better role model for my children to model their lives after than a philanthropist who gave himself completely, not just for an institution, but more importantly to thousands of college students, their friends and their families. He was much more than a coach. In our house, he was a hero.

His impression will not be forgotten in my house, not by my children.

My son, at age 6, will always be able to say he was at . He knows the love and passion our family has not just for a football team, but for an icon. Joe was not a great man in football, he was a great man. Period.

I’ve voiced my public opinion of this man, this legend, before, and I’ll continue doing it. I’ll teach my children of his amazing ways of giving, all he did for a school we love, for athletics, for academics, for philanthropy.

We’ll miss you, Joe. We love you. We hope somewhere, somehow, the way you coached us in life will live on forever. I know I’ll do my part to be sure that message is passed on.