Longtime Penn State football coach Joe Paterno, whose legacy as one of the most admired figures in college sports was tarnished by a child abuse scandal involving an assistant, died Sunday of lung cancer at the age of 85.
Paterno's family announced the news in a released statement:
"He died as he lived. He fought hard until the end, stayed positive, thought only of others and constantly reminded everyone of how blessed his life had been."
Former Penn State head football coach Joe Paterno has been diagnosed with a treatable form of lung cancer, his son revealed on Friday.
"He is currently undergoing treatment, and his doctors are optimistic that he will make a full recovery," Scott Paterno said in a statement. "As everyone can appreciate, this is a deeply personal matter for my parents, and we simply ask that his privacy be respected as he proceeds with treatment."
Longtime Penn State University football coach Joe Paterno announced today that he will retire at the end of this season in the wake of a child sex abuse scandal that has shaken the university to its core.
The 84-year-old, who has faced heavy criticism for failing to contact police regarding reports that former assistant coach Jerry Sandusky was sexually abusing boys, said he wished he "had done more" to deal with the allegations.
Jerry Sandusky, the former assistant coach of Penn State's football program, is facing 40 counts of charges related to the sexual abuse of young boys over a 15 year period.
Sandusky is alleged to have preyed on kids he met through The Second Mile, a charity he founded for at-risk youths. According to investigators, in one incident, the 67-year-old is alleged to have forced a boy as young a 10 to have sex with him in the shower at the football complex on campus.
