READ THIS: An Excerpt From Joe Paterno's Controversial New Biography
FILE - In this Nov. 6, 2004, file photo, Penn State coach Joe Paterno pauses on the sidelines during the fourth quarter of his team's 14-7 loss to Northwestern in State College, Pa. The NCAA has slammed Penn State with an unprecedented series of penalties, including a $60 million fine and the loss of all coach Joe Paterno's victories from 1998-2011, in the wake of the Jerry Sandusky child sex abuse scandal. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster,file)
FILE - In this Nov. 6, 2004, file photo, Penn State coach Joe Paterno pauses on the sidelines during the fourth quarter of his team's 14-7 loss to Northwestern in State College, Pa. The NCAA has slammed Penn State with an unprecedented series of penalties, including a $60 million fine and the loss of all coach Joe Paterno's victories from 1998-2011, in the wake of the Jerry Sandusky child sex abuse scandal. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster,file)

In the summer of 2011, Penn State football coach Joe Paterno allowed the journalist Joe Posnanski, then a senior writer for Sports Illustrated, to join him in State College, Pennsylvania, to spend the upcoming season writing his biography. This afforded Posnanski access to Paterno and his inner circle as the Jerry Sandusky scandal engulfed the campus and the nation. The September 2012 issue of GQ, on newsstands now, features an exclusive excerpt of Posnanski's biography, Paterno. The full excerpt will be published here on GQ.com on Monday, August 20. Paterno will be available in bookstores the next day. As a preview, here are three brief selections from GQ's excerpt:

Paterno's son, Scott, reads the grand jury case against Sandusky for the first time:
Scott Paterno was the first in the family to understand that the Pennsylvania grand jury presentment that indicted Jerry Sandusky could end his father's career.This wasn't surprising; Scott tended to be the most realistic--or cynical, depending on who you asked--in the family. He had run for Congress and lost and along the way tasted the allure and nastiness of public life. He had worked as a lawyer and as a lobbyist. He would sometimes tell people, "Hey, don't kid yourself, I'm the asshole of the family."

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