Pride of the Lions by Frank Fitzpatrick

Author:Frank Fitzpatrick [Fitzpatrick, Frank]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Triumph Books
Published: 2011-10-10T05:00:00+00:00

Chapter 9

The official canonization of St. Joe took place in 1973. As a morally confused nation slipped out of Vietnam and stepped into Watergate, Paterno would earn his halo and ascend to the mountaintop of American heroes. Curiously, he would do so away from the football field, even though his Nittany Lions would go 12–0 that season.

The three events that marked his annus mirabilis seem almost Biblical—a great temptation, a sermon on Mount Nittany, and a tearful, spiritual awakening in the heart of Babel.

Before 1973 was over, St. Joe would overshadow Paterno the coach. Thanks to the events of January 5, June 16, and December 13, his name and face would become symbols of steadfast virtue, not only in sports but in the rapidly changing world beyond. Paterno’s actions, words, and tears helped to counter a cynicism created by a self-destructing president, soaring oil prices, gasoline shortages, movie antiheroes, and baseball’s designated hitter.

Penn State’s ultimate football success, when it came a decade later, would enhance his image and lay to rest whatever doubts remained about his abilities as a coach, a recruiter, and a leader. But football alone would no longer define him. From 1973 on, the first items on his resume would always be the virtues he showcased that year. They would be implanted so deeply in the public consciousness that they would endure no matter how many games he lost in the decades to come, no matter how many of his players got in trouble, and no matter how irritable or curmudgeonly he became.

• • •

On January 5, at a news conference in Rec Hall, Paterno announced that he was not leaving Penn State, ending both weeks of speculation and the single most transformative episode in his long career at the school.

It had begun innocently seven weeks earlier in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts. On November 18, 1972, Penn State defeated Boston College 45–26 for its ninth consecutive victory. As Paterno exited the Alumni Stadium field, well-wishers surrounded him. One was New England Patriots owner Billy Sullivan. The blunt and good-natured Irishman shook the Penn State coach’s hand and then, eschewing any small talk, asked him if he’d be interested in coaching his team.

His team, an original American Football League member for which Sullivan had paid $25,000 in 1959, needed help. Thirteen years old, having gone through the AFL’s merger with the NFL and a recent change in its geographical surname from Boston to New England, the Patriots still had not won a championship.

In 1971, general manager Upton Bell, the son of the NFL’s first commissioner, had wanted to replace Coach John Mazur with Paterno. Sullivan had hesitated then. Now, with Bell gone and the Pats headed toward a 3–11 finish, he could wait no longer.

A public-relations professional by trade, Sullivan saw in the Penn State coach an easy sell. From Sullivan’s perspective, the hiring would make good football and business sense. Though Paterno was the hottest coach in the college game, he was more than his record.

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