Goodbye, Coach.

I remember watching Joe Paterno's 400th win with my kids back in November 2010.  As the final seconds ticked off the clock, I told them to really watch, to remember the moment.  I let them know that they were about to witness something special.  Something that they'd likely not see again in their lifetime.  These days, coaches come and go in college sports, always looking for the bigger payday.  The higher profile position.

But not Joe Paterno.  He came to Penn State as an assistant coach in 1950 and never left, despite numerous offers to coach in the NFL.  As his family said today "his ambitions were far reaching, but he never believed he had to leave this Happy Valley to achieve them."

For forty-six years, he led my beloved Nittany Lions onto the playing field.  It seems both ironic and tragic that his 409th victory, the one that secured his place as the winningest head coach in Division I history, came just a week before the scandal that rocked Penn State, that brought the most improbable, unimaginable end to a legendary career.

Joe Paterno became a legend here because he did things the right way.  He was a teacher before he was a coach.  He made sure that the boys that came to play for him went to class, earned their degrees, became men.  I think it was clear though the hundreds of tributes from former players today that they felt they were better husbands, fathers, and leaders because of him and I have no doubt that it is true.

As the scandal unfolded and has continued to endure, I've often thought back to my friend Jessica's blog, When You Know It's Poop, published back in mid-November.

"This, too, is a tragedy, not only for a man who has lived humbly, ethically, and gracefully for most of his many days, but for the rest of us as well...  if he can’t offer the world his good deeds and intentions without marring them with shame, who among us can?

There is no doubt that Joe Paterno is a great man.  He is not Jesus. He is not infallible. But he’s better than most of us—and he’s been that way for a long, long time."

When I read through Paterno's Washington Post interview it was with a heavy heart.  I imagine it must have been a terrible burden for him to live his final days being judged so harshly by so many.  To have a lifetime of achievement and philanthropy disregarded by so many as if it were Paterno himself accused of child molestation. 

Many seem to take Paterno's statement that "With the benefit of hindsight, I wish I had done more." as some admission of culpability.  I don't.  Who among us wouldn't wonder if we could have done more to make a difference?  I think it simply makes him human.

I hope with time, people can see that Joe Paterno did or did not do what many of us would have done or not done in similar circumstances.  That they'd stop holding him to a higher standard than they'd hold themselves to.  I hope that with time, this scandal doesn't define him as deeply as it did in his final days.  That his lifetime of good deeds and accomplishments carries the weight it deserves.

Joe Paterno leaves a legacy... to his wife, Sue, he was her soul mate, and together they had five children and 17 grandchildren to whom he was "a shining example of how to live a good, decent and honest life".  As I read this in the Paterno family's statement today, I thought that's really all we can hope for in life and for that alone, he was a lucky man.

But, his legacy is also everywhere I looked today.  When Coach Paterno came to State College in 1950, Penn State was an agricultural school in the middle of nowhere.  And while we are still in the middle of nowhere, he put this town and this college on the map.  There were less than 10,000 students here in 1950.  Today, there are nearly five times that number at the University Park campus and nearly ten times that number throughout the Commonwealth.  We are an internationally known and respected research university.

Beaver Stadium expanded six times during his tenure here, more than doubling in size and currently seating over 106,000.  Because of its success, the football program supports many of Penn State's other athletic programs.

Inside the sports museum, there are two national championship trophies.

There is a wing of the library named after Joe Paterno, he and his wife donated to the spiritual center and the soon-to-be completed Suzanne Pohland Paterno Catholic Student Faith Center.  He's donated a significant amount of money to the Mount Nittany Medical Center, which is currently undergoing an ambitious expansion.  They've also supported countless other local charities.

My community is a much better place because Joe Paterno lived here.  This is a part of his legacy.

There's a statue of Joe Paterno that sits in the shadows of Beaver Stadium.  I've run past it many times.  But it wasn't until today that I really stopped to consider the words that are printed there... a quote from Joe Paterno from more than a decade ago.

"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."

My wish for you tonight, Coach Paterno, is that you are resting now in peace in the arms of a loving and forgiving God, and that you know, without question, that this school that you loved and dedicated your life to is a better place because of you.

Goodbye, Coach.  And thanks for everything.