With his death imminent, dozens of folks gathered around Paterno's statue on the
“That rose is a get better, get well soon and god forbid if something happens he goes peacefully,” said Michael Long, a
The 85 year old coached the Nittany Lions nearly five decades. In that time he amassed a record 409 wins and sent countless players to the pros.
“It’s a bad time for
Irv Pankey is a former Los Angeles Ram and Indianapolis Colt who played for Paterno in the late ‘70s and coached with him in the mid ‘90s.
“I only have fond memories of Joe Paterno,” said Pankey.
Saturday evening, several news agencies reported that Paterno had passed away.
However, family members corrected the media, saying he's in a hospital bed, where he continues to fight.
Pankey calls the inaccuracies frustrating.
“Get your facts straight,” said Pankey.
The legacy of Joe Pa will be that he left his mark on the field and on his players.
“He taught us respect, responsibility and you could always count on him. If I needed something today I could call him and he would do his best to help his players that played for him in the past,” said pankey.
Penn State fired Paterno in November amid a child molestation scandal. The university said he failed to report to police an assistant coach's alleged sexual assaults.