Paterno: Late Coach's Son Talks Father's Legacy On 'The Today Show' (VIDEO)

Joe Paterno -- who passed away on Sunday -- was remembered today by his son Jay Paterno on "The Today Show." Jay Paterno spoke of his father's "integrity, his loyalty, his honesty and his fairness." A legendary football coach, Paterno had been fired from his coaching job at Penn State in November in the wake of the Jerry Sandusky sex scandal -- just days later, he was diagnosed with lung cancer.

Speaking to Matt Lauer, Jay Paterno described his father as "such a strong individual" who was focused on building Penn State and making sure any victims of the sex abuse scandal received justice. "There was never a situation where he sat around and felt bad for himself," said Jay Paterno of his father.

When asked if he thought his father had lost some of his sense of excellence, Jay Paterno responded "absolutely not" and shared a lesson his father had taught him: "success is how other people perceive you, but excellence is something that is very personal." He further stated, "throughout his entire life, he's always done what he believed was right given the facts that he had in front of him at the time."

Click below to watch the full video.

Comments

[j7537]

10:00 PM on 08/15/2012

Joe Paterno's main concern is contained in a quote at

http://www.gq.com/sports/profiles/201209/joe-paterno-scandal-joe-posnanski-book-preview

He said "My name," he told Jay, "I have spent my whole life trying to make that name mean something. And now it's gone."

[Count of Anjou]

03:08 PM on 01/24/2012

"Jay Paterno spoke of his father's "integrity, his loyalty, his honesty and his fairness."

Hmmm. So when Joe Paterno, head coach at PSU, hired his own son as the Quarteback Coach at PSU, an act of nepotism, would that be considered fair? How about when Joe Paterno failed to IMMEDIATELY notify a law enforcement agency, which didn't have a conflict of interest, about a eye-witness report of child rape? Was that an example of his integrity? Joe Paterno did many great things, but his reputation is tarnished by a few bad decisions he made.