Joe Paterno Birthday: Former Penn State Players Show Support For JoePa

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. — About two dozen fans gathered briefly outside Joe Paterno's home Wednesday night to wish the former Penn State coach a happy 85th birthday and sing a Christmas carol.

Paterno's son, quarterback coach Jay Paterno, thanked the crowd on behalf of his father. He said that because of chemotherapy Paterno was a little weak so he couldn't come outside.

Joe Paterno has been diagnosed with what his family has called a treatable form of lung cancer.

"Happy birthday JoePa, Happy Birthday JoePa ... and many more," the fans serenaded several times to the tune of the traditional birthday song during their seven-minute visit. Most of the gathering, which included a few children, stayed on the sidewalk and just off the Paternos' property, about 30 feet from the front door.

Wearing rain slickers or hooded jackets, most fans gathered at a statue dedicated to Paterno outside Beaver Stadium and made the roughly 15-minute walk to Paterno's modest ranch home near the end of a dead-end street. The property is decorated with bright Christmas lights.

Fans said they began planning the visit about two weeks ago. They also delivered cards as part of a drive from a Penn State alumni group in Baltimore to send Paterno 109,000 birthday cards – a number nearly identical to the capacity of Beaver Stadium.

Jay Paterno said he didn't know how many cards the family received, but joked they would have to weigh all of them.

"It was just to wish him a happy 85th birthday, have fun, show him our support and tell him we still love him," Sue Lelko, of Port Matilda, decked out in blue Penn State sweats, said about the trip to wish Paterno well.

Fans broke out into a chorus of "We Wish You a Merry Christmas after Paterno's wife, Sue Paterno, also came out briefly while trying to get grandchildren running in the yard to return home.

"Thank you very much and have a Merry Christmas," she said.

University trustees fired Paterno last month amid mounting pressure that school leaders should have done more to stop allegations of child sex abuse against retired defensive coordinator Jerry Sandusky that spanned from 1994 to 2009.

Paterno testified before a grand jury investigating Sandusky about a 2002 allegation reported by a graduate assistant that Paterno then relayed to a superior, but prosecutors have said he is not a target of the probe. Sandusky is awaiting trial after pleading not guilty.

Paterno has called the allegations troubling and urged the public to let the legal process unfold. He initially announced his retirement Nov. 9, taking effect at the end of the season. That day, he called the scandal "one of the great sorrows of my life. With the benefit of hindsight, I wish I had done more." The trustees fired him about 12 hours later.

On Wednesday, a prominent Penn State donor, Anthony Lubrano, released a letter critical of the way Penn State leaders handled the initial week of the crisis.

Lubrano is a 1982 graduate whose name is on a state-of-the art baseball park that opened on campus in 2006. He said the letter was sent to fellow alumni.

In the letter with the subject heading of "Due Process," Lubrano said "In America, the presumption of innocence is a fundamental right. However, on the night of November 9th, a rush to judgment appeared to have occurred."

He wrote that others "outraged by the failure of the leadership of Penn State to allow for due process" sign a separate online petition. The petition contained nearly identical wording to an online letter of support signed by nearly 450 of Paterno's former players, including Heisman Trophy winner John Cappalletti, LaVar Arrington and current Raiders offensive lineman Stefen Wisniewski.

Lubrano said he coordinated with letter organizers after the former players released their statement of support Tuesday night.

"It's about celebrating Joe's birthday today. We just want to wish him well with his recovery and everything," one of the organizers, Hall of Famer and Nittany Lions standout tailback Lydell Mitchell, said Wednesday. "He's going through a stressful time right now."

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Online: http://playersletterforjoepa.wordpress.com/

Comments

[banker67]

10:47 AM on 12/24/2011

1. "About two dozen fans gathered briefly... " So maybe 24 people showed up after two weeks of planning? You'd think the story would be that so few turned out for the town's biggest super-star, who may be terminally ill, on the occasion of a milestone birthday.
2. Why is Lubrano's name on a 'state-of-the-art' baseball thing? Graffiti? Or did he pay for the facility? If he's a multimillionaire sports donor, it's a safe bet he knows Paterno well, both personally and professionally. The latter would be worth mentioning, if true.
3. If Lubrano really will be trying to contact more than 100,000 fans, I hope he won't ask them for money to help 'JoePa.' Soliciting money online using who-knows-whose mailing lists could net Lubrano's organization quite a pile of dough very quickly. Anyone watching this action?
4. I may have missed it, but I didn't see any mention of raising money to help the victims of Penn State football's thirty-year involvement in child rape. After all, it's a lot easier to sell tickets to a gala benefit for JoePa ( the son as stand-in speaker) than it is to promo a meet-and-greet with friends and family of poor kids.
5. I've never heard of curable lung cancer. Hope some forms are curable, but I've never heard of it so I'd like to see a little explanation of this term, which appears in all these stories.

[AAHewetson]

02:21 PM on 12/23/2011

That's right, folk, rally around the pedophile abettor.

[writerjohnny]

12:26 PM on 12/23/2011

Joe Pa - the rotting head of the Penn State child-torturing mafia has the support of 340 of his loyal thug captains. Maybe Gotti had about 540. Maybe Capone had about 1000. Nobody ever said organized football players were geniuses or beacons of morality and ethics. Heck - most football coaches teach how to break rules without getting caught and to use those techniques during games if the player thinks he can get away with it. As for intelligence all 340 of them came through the program while Sanduskey was torturing children and NONE of them figured it out. Or possibly they are big fat liars protecting their own backsides for being cowardly "go along to get along" kind of guys. Scum attracts scum.

[Ktbu Lfu]

08:23 AM on 12/23/2011

Supporting this low life is reprehensible.

[Greatest Darthfruit]

12:18 AM on 12/22/2011

Crappy Birthday to you, and wished you had spent it in jail

[withnail]

11:03 PM on 12/21/2011

HE'S (JoePa) is going thru a stressful time????

Take a look at the legacy sexual abuse leaves, then tel me about your stress.

Woulda, shoulda, coulda. DIDN'T

Paterno and PSU are pathetic - they let him coach a HS team after he left!

[southern drawl]

07:39 PM on 12/21/2011

The position some of you people have is unfounded,,,,,,burn the entire village just because of the village idiot,,,,,this is just not right,,,,Paterno,,,,an eighty something year old man with the mentality of Norman Rockwell had no idea of the situation that has unfolded,,,,say what you want,,,when it comes down to it,,the coach that witnessed the crime should have recued the child and made enough of an episode right there on the scene that all hell would have broken loose,,,,,but if this fella was peeping around corners,,,trying to decide what was going on,,,,,i'll imagine the whole deal was sugar coated when brought in front of Joe Paterno,,,,,,because Joe would not have allowed anything criminal near the PSU family,,,this was his baby that he protected for 60 years and you blame him,,,,,,,having been at fault, he would have been PROSECUTED,,,,not being at fault gets him PERSECUTED,,,,which is just not right,what is wrong with this picture people,,,,,,,everyone is broken hearted for these children including Joe Paterno,,,,,is he a criminal NO,,,,,did he cause this crime,,,,,NO,,,,,,,,so stay off the old Son of a Buck's back and wait for the trial,,,,,,justice will be served,,,,,,,i'll guarantee you that,,,,,,,as so many of these sexual criminals get by with breaking the law,,,when society catches one,,,,they burn em down,,,,,,,,,,,,,

[Ktbu Lfu]

08:24 AM on 12/23/2011

I blame him for not doing the right thing.

[banker67]

11:12 AM on 12/23/2011

The crimes started many years ago, and I find it impossible to believe that Joe, who worked so closely with Sandusky for some thirty years, didn't know.

And why suddenly and inexplicably was Sandusky passed over for the head-coach job and retired? How can anyone believe that Paterno would not know the reason his self-selected heir was summarily given the boot?

And all those earlier dropped investigations....think Paterno wouldn't hear about those? Think again.

Paterno is old and ailing now, but he wasn't infirm when the alleged crimes took place. And you can be sure Joe is getting infinitely better medical care than those children got after their visits to the Penn State showers.

[southern drawl]

07:46 PM on 12/23/2011

The connection between Paterno and Sindowski cannot be made synonamous, there is not a reasonable equasion to connect these matters,,,,a sexual preditor works under the cloak of everything being alright,,,,a friend of mine that does business with us, worked side by side next to one for many years, never hearing a word against the fellow until the FBI carted the guy off and he's now setting in prison,,,this guy was a millionaire, well connected and the public never doubted him until a parent started going through their childs cell phone,,,,,,these people are all over the place,,,,very difficult to catch and when they get caught the judicial system burns them down,,,,as so many never get caught.........

[GNWP]

06:10 PM on 12/21/2011

These guys took one too many blows to the helmet. Idolize a guy who did the absolute minimum, required by law, and then never did anything else, didn't inquire what was done! Give me a break. Is doing the minimum all that's required? Is that how he trained you concussion victims? If you had done the minimum required would you have made the team? Would you have become all americans, all-pro or a hall of famer? Go have another pitcher of Joey's Kool-Aid, and stick your head deeper in the sand.

[CPAwADD]

04:43 PM on 12/21/2011

What I find distressing from so many Paterno apologists is that they seem to have the opinion that Joe didn't know. If he didn't know he would have said I didn't know but he said I should have done more. I think to most reasonable people that means he knew. Game over.

[GNWP]

03:11 PM on 12/21/2011

340 concussed former players trying to rationalize their worship of a disgraced hero. I read somewhere else "340 priests running to the aid of the bishop", an appropriate analogy.

[PSU-forever]

04:03 PM on 12/21/2011

Another analogy would be "if frogs had wings they could fly" which, like your analogy has nothing to do with the current state of affairs.

Well GNWP, facts of the matter are: frogs don't have wings, 340 former players are not concussed and don't worship a disgraced hero.

In the future, your analogies should, in order to have more impact on readers, be based on the facts and less on your (very warped) speculations.

[GNWP]

04:58 PM on 12/21/2011

Continue to drink the Kool-Aid and live in your world of denial. Speculation, have you read the transcripts? I wonder, do you think your hero JoeyP washed his hands after he phoned Curly and fulfilled his legal obligation, according to the Penn State administrative handbook?

[madcityy]

02:50 PM on 12/21/2011

he is a pig to meeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee

[typeterson]

01:46 PM on 12/21/2011

support his medical recovery? sure.

support his legal battle? tacky.

[PSU-forever]

02:04 PM on 12/21/2011

you don't have to worry about "support his legal battle" because he's not even engaged in a legal battle because he didn't do anything illegal. but watch out because the media doesn't want you to believe that....

[typeterson]

04:53 PM on 12/21/2011

maybe 'legal battle' was the wrong term. but most people who read that would understand what i meant. (even though he did 'lawyer up' after it all came out)

the man knowingly covered up for a child rapist, and no amount of college football glory will ever overshadow that, and so it shouldn't.

his career deserves to be over and forgotten.

[Ktbu Lfu]

08:25 AM on 12/23/2011

What he did was morally wrong. Don't you see that's wrong?

[cindyperry]

01:06 PM on 12/21/2011

Still so utterly and completely tone deaf.

[shthar]

11:55 AM on 12/21/2011

Especially the tight end.

[Steven Klipstein]

11:37 AM on 12/21/2011

Me too!