Remembering Joe Paterno
Posted on February 2, 2012 with 1 comment
Penn State football has gone through some sad and tragic events. I feel sorry for the victims involved in the Sandusky scandal. I wish those things would have never happened. I wish Sandusky would have recognized his problem and got some help. I wish the firing of Joe Paterno would have been handled better. And I wish the current players on the team did not have to be caught in the middle of this whole mess.
I think the death of Joe Paterno has stirred up a lot of emotions. I've been a fan of Penn State football as long as I can remember and JoePA has been the only head coach since I started rooting for them.
Growing up in the early 1970's there were not all the sports cable stations there are now. To see a Penn State football game, if it was not a big national game, we had to wait until Sunday to watch a highlight show and replay of the game.
I remember watching those games after church as I got ready to play midget football games for the Dallastown Cougars. I wanted play for Penn State.
Well, I did not play for Penn State. In fact I went to West Chester University in West Chester, PA. I earned a degree in Health and PE at WCU. I didn't play college football, so I had no springboard to the pros, but oh well....
Although I never met Joe Paterno personally, I do know a couple of guys who played for him and one guy who was a student athletic trainer for the football team. But I did have a couple of encounters with him.
I was a junior high assistant football coach at West York in the late 1980's and early 1990's. One year we went to a coaches clinic at Penn State. I was the receivers coach and defensive backs coach for the team. I was most interested in learning how Penn State coached these positions.
I was standing on the sidelines while JoePa was running a drill with the wide receivers and defensive backs. One of the tight ends on the team did something stupid and was caught by Joe. Joe made him do push ups. As he did them he was doing them halfheartedly, I thought "I can't believe he is doing push ups like that with JoePa as his coach."
Suddenly Joe turned around and barked out, "What kind of push ups are those? I can do better push ups than that and I am an old man!" This was about 22 years ago when he was in his early 60's.
In the same practice they were running a practice drill with the receivers and defensive backs. A defensive back was guarding the receiver and pushed off to intercept the ball. Joe came running down the sideline yelling out, "You can't push off of the receiver! That's a 15 yard penalty! Why did you do that?" Then he looked at the DB coach and said in the same voice, "Why'd you let him do that? Don't let him do that! That's a 15 yard penalty!"
The second encounter I had with him was at a game against Minnesota in a 6 inch snow storm in mid October in 2009. We got to game and were able to stand where the buses bring the players to Beaver Stadium. As Joe got off the bus we were able to say good luck today! He kindly waved back to the crowd and said thanks! Penn State did win the game!
It is a shame Joe Paterno's career had to end the way it did, but I hope people remember him for the good things he did. He will be missed by fans, players, and those involved with Penn State. Rest In Peace, Joe!
I think the death of Joe Paterno has stirred up a lot of emotions. I've been a fan of Penn State football as long as I can remember and JoePA has been the only head coach since I started rooting for them.
Growing up in the early 1970's there were not all the sports cable stations there are now. To see a Penn State football game, if it was not a big national game, we had to wait until Sunday to watch a highlight show and replay of the game.
I remember watching those games after church as I got ready to play midget football games for the Dallastown Cougars. I wanted play for Penn State.
Well, I did not play for Penn State. In fact I went to West Chester University in West Chester, PA. I earned a degree in Health and PE at WCU. I didn't play college football, so I had no springboard to the pros, but oh well....
Although I never met Joe Paterno personally, I do know a couple of guys who played for him and one guy who was a student athletic trainer for the football team. But I did have a couple of encounters with him.
I was a junior high assistant football coach at West York in the late 1980's and early 1990's. One year we went to a coaches clinic at Penn State. I was the receivers coach and defensive backs coach for the team. I was most interested in learning how Penn State coached these positions.
I was standing on the sidelines while JoePa was running a drill with the wide receivers and defensive backs. One of the tight ends on the team did something stupid and was caught by Joe. Joe made him do push ups. As he did them he was doing them halfheartedly, I thought "I can't believe he is doing push ups like that with JoePa as his coach."
Suddenly Joe turned around and barked out, "What kind of push ups are those? I can do better push ups than that and I am an old man!" This was about 22 years ago when he was in his early 60's.
In the same practice they were running a practice drill with the receivers and defensive backs. A defensive back was guarding the receiver and pushed off to intercept the ball. Joe came running down the sideline yelling out, "You can't push off of the receiver! That's a 15 yard penalty! Why did you do that?" Then he looked at the DB coach and said in the same voice, "Why'd you let him do that? Don't let him do that! That's a 15 yard penalty!"
The second encounter I had with him was at a game against Minnesota in a 6 inch snow storm in mid October in 2009. We got to game and were able to stand where the buses bring the players to Beaver Stadium. As Joe got off the bus we were able to say good luck today! He kindly waved back to the crowd and said thanks! Penn State did win the game!
It is a shame Joe Paterno's career had to end the way it did, but I hope people remember him for the good things he did. He will be missed by fans, players, and those involved with Penn State. Rest In Peace, Joe!