Joe Paterno turns 80 on December 21. He was recently offered a new TEN-year deal to continue coaching the Penn State Nittany Lions football team. Last week during the Penn State-Wisconsin game, Paterno was involved in a collision on the sidelines with two players. In the crash, Paterno fractured his shinbone and tore the ligaments in his knee. He was flown back to Happy Valley and is resting comfortably in the Mount Nittany Hospital Center after surgery to repair his injuries.
Paterno was determined to be on the sidelines for this weekend's game against Temple, but he will heed doctor's orders and not coach the game. There had been speculation that he might coach from a skybox above the field of Beaver Stadium, which sports a statue of Paterno out front. But Paterno will miss only his third game at Penn State in his unbelievable 57-year tenure at the university.
Paterno is a Brown University graduate as were both of my parents. My mother, who passed away earlier this year, knew Paterno at Brown. My mother's big claim to fame was that she helped Paterno and other members of the Brown football team get through economics. So I always keep an eye on the goings on in Happy Valley and the incredibly impressive record of Joe Pa.
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