NCAA Football

Joe Paterno In Serious Condition, Report Says He’s Dead, Family Spokesman Denies Report

This has been a whirlwind couple hours. First, news emerged that former Penn State coach Joe Paterno’s battle with lung cancer took a turn for the worse, and that the college football icon was now in serious condition. Then, reports surfaced saying family members were gathering to say their final goodbyes to Paterno. And then, Penn State site Onward State reported that the winningest coach in major college football history had died. After several outlets picked this up, however, Paterno family spokesman Dan McGinn called this report “absolutely not true.”

So it seems, for the moment, that Paterno is alive, though no one seems to dispute that his condition is grave. This would always be big news, of course – Paterno, after all, was coach at Penn State for 46 years, won over 400 games, won national championships, and became synonymous with not only Penn State but college football itself.

Of course, though, there’s more to the story, thanks to the revolting scandal surrounding child rape accusations against Paterno’s longtime defensive coordinator, Jerry Sandusky. Paterno was fired amid accusations he – along with many other in the university’s power structure – didn’t do enough to stop Sandusky. The words “Greek tragedy” have been used to describe Paterno’s life since the Sandusky story broke.

And while there’s no doubt the true victims were those Sandusky allegedly abused, it’s been almost surreal to see how quickly a storied career – and storied life – can fall apart. For now, the ending to that so-called Greek tragedy remains unwritten. Certainly, though, it seems destined to be an unhappy one.