Yeah, I was only mildly surprised when I heard. I'm a Penn State grad, but I was fairly indifferent. Joe left the job become his life & it defined him instead of the other way around (like it should be).....so I'm sure growing older with his wife wasn't enough for him to keep that will to live. Admittedly he was a legendary coach, & it's sad that he went out the way he did, but in a lot of ways he has nobody else to thank but himself. You can't sit upon a pedestal for as long as he did, & not expect to be held to a much higher standard. I don't think anyone could argue that, friend or not, he had a moral obligation to report what he was informed of to the authorities.....he failed to do that & when the coverup died, he got burned for it. It's sad, but he's responsible for it through his own inaction.


Just the same, I believe JoePa was a decent guy who made a serious mistake in judgement. His athletes actually graduated (I believe it was like 86%), he did a lot for the community, donated a small fortune to the University, etc. I think history will be kind to him in the end. Barring Bowden coming out of retirement, I don't think his wins record will ever be matched either......people just don't stay in it that long anymore. Hell Joe was the coach for 49 years....62 including as an assistant. Hell my mom was 12 when he started at Penn State. Little known fact, the only NFL job he said he'd ever have to consider if it were offered (it never was....though there were other offers) was none other than that of my Pittsburgh Steelers.

Anyway, RIP Joe!