Joe Paterno sobbed while meeting with Penn State coaches after he was fired, book says

Joe Paterno and his wife Susan stand on their porch to thank well-wishers gathered outside in State College, Pa., Nov. 9, 2011. / AP Photo

(AP) STATE COLLEGE, Pa. - Joe Paterno sobbed while meeting with his coaches and a former player the day after he was fired from Penn State, according to an excerpt of an upcoming on Paterno to be published in GQ magazine.

"My name," the Hall of Fame coach was quoted in the excerpt as telling his son and quarterback coach, Jay. "I have spent my whole life trying to make that name mean something. And now it's gone."

Paterno was fired by school trustees in November in the fallout of the Jerry Sandusky child sex abuse scandal. He died in January at age 85.

Paterno had granted access to journalist Joe Posnanski in 2011 to write a biography. The September issue of GQ features an exclusive excerpt, and the biography will be available in bookstores on Tuesday.

The excerpt described the frantic period on campus after Sandusky's arrest on Nov. 5 following a state grand jury indictment. Another of Paterno's sons, lawyer and lobbyist Scott Paterno, was described as the first member of the family to see the potential that the grand jury report could end his father's career.

At the time, Joe Paterno was coming off his 409th career win, which then made him Division I's winningest coach. The NCAA last month vacated 111 of Paterno's victories as part of sanctions against Penn State for the Sandusky scandal.

"Dad, you have to face the possibility that you will never coach another game," Scott Paterno was quoted as telling his father after reading the grand jury report.

Joe Paterno's relationship with the trustees began to sour after the coach rebuffed suggestions to step down in 2004 from school president Graham Spanier and athletic director Tim Curley. Penn State had just one winning season in five years before Paterno revived the program in 2005 by winning the Big Ten and the Orange Bowl, 26-23 in a triple-overtime classic over Florida State and coaching contemporary Bobby Bowden.

After the scandal broke, the family hired a public relations specialist who at one point asked Penn State football communications and marketing assistant Guido D'Elia for the name of one person on the board to try to negotiate a gracious ending, according to the excerpt.

D'Elia, one of Paterno's closest advisers, shook his head and referred to the coach's 2004 encounter with administrators. "The board started to turn," D'Elia was quoted as saying. "We don't have anybody on the board now."

Paterno, along with Spanier, was ousted Nov. 9. They have not been charged with any crimes.

Curley is on leave after he and now-retired school administrator Gary Schultz were charged with lying to a grand jury and failing to report an abuse allegation.

Sandusky is awaiting sentencing in jail after being convicted in June on 45 criminal counts involving 10 boys.

[WindyDal]

And perhaps Paterno is still sobbing--in Hell now--because he cared more about his "good" name than those young boys' lives. The Freeh report indicates that Paterno may have stopped the others from going to the authorities. In my opinion Paterno knew for a long time about Sandusky--that's why Sandusky had to retire. Paterno knew, and now his pitiful sobs can ring on into eternity--for his name is anything but "good."
And many others knew what was happening at Penn State.

[memphispiano]

For all of you sitting in sanctimonious judgment, I can only hope you never find yourself in a similar situation. Nobody (including Paterno) would have ever diminished the horror of Sandusky's crimes...but he had only heard accusation and rumor. Do you know how many accusations and rumors we hear about people all the time? We usually judge based on what we have witnessed ourselves or the motives of the accusers. Let's face it, we don't always make the right call....and Paterno made some judgment errors. But they were no more serious than any of us could have made. He was NOT the man who committed these horrible acts and should not be judged like he was.

[Tippercanu]

"He was NOT the man who committed these horrible acts and should not be judged like he was."
You are absolutely right he is THE coward that let a monster run loose on campus,I want to see one of you jockos start a post with some concern for the victims your spineless hero allowed to happen.

[Jhihmoac]

Awww...He's out of a job...Boo Hoo...

[Uaohio1964]

Boo freakin' hoo. Imagine how you'd weep if your childhood was destroyed by a pedophile.

[taxed01]

Did he sob as much as all those kids getting nailed?

[thetruthwillout]

You took the word right out of my mouth. I was going to ask the same question. He cried for himself. How pathetically sad.

[1history]

How can Paterno say his name means nothing now? He will not be forgotten! He will always be remembered as one who preferred to let a pedophile molest children over raking up the guts to do something to stop it. Surely many a pedophile considers him a hero for that.

[sbmyankee]

My son graduated from Penn State in May. He received a quality education, met many friends that I am sure he will have for life. As much as the media and uneducated public want to define this institution by these horrific crimes it will NEVER happen. For those that want to see Penn State fail you will have to wait for another lifetime!

[hypnotoad72]

Okay, so you may feel free to prop up trashy, immoral institutions. That's your choice.

How much is your kid paying for college, anyhow? Or how long will you be in hock with student loans? Care to answer that, or should we just be in blind envy or something?

BenJordan -

Ignore Homeless-Person. It's his modus operandi to blame everything he doesn't agree with on liberals or as being a liberal mindset. He does have a point - eventually there will be healing, but not right now. People are still in anger mode and justifiably so. Now, maybe H-P isn't in a position to empathize or think of other possibilities, but then all we can say to that is "what else is new"...

[sbmyankee]

My son graduated from Penn State in May. He received a quality education, met many friends that I am sure he will have for life. As much as the media and uneducated public want to define this institution by these horrific crimes it will NEVER happen. For those that want to see Penn State fail you will have to wait for another lifetime!

[Mick_from_Amsterdam]

It is indeed tragic that a man who came to personify integrity, honor and athletic achievement...a mentor and inspiration to countless young players for decades...

When confronted with the ultimate opportunity to cement his legacy as a truly great man by making the only possible moral and legal choice...he faltered...and not only ignored Sandusky's previous crimes but knowingly allowed them to continue...

He instead chose to became a criminal by shielding a predatory monster in a vain attempt to protect his beloved football program and its financial interests, his own personal reputation, and his precious "legacy"...

And look what that craven decision got him...

[hypnotoad72]

Beaner56 -

That's a fair point.

Then again, if there were rumors, one should contact relevant authorities. If he heard rumors, and as this is not about two consenting people kissing in the high school janitor closet but pedophilia...

I'm ambivalent, but even rumors brought up could have been investigated properly. It's not "crying wolf"... but hindsight is 20/20... as a person who was - as a kid - a victim of molesters, and all the ABC TV specials that say one should always tell a grown-up and all that, I'll side against Paterno's decision for now. I don't care for pedophiles, what they do, and supporters of them.

[formerlyluvnut]

Well boo hoo.