Paterno turned a rural school located in middle-of-nowhere Pennsylvania into a national powerhouse with his special no-nonsense, East-Coast brand of offense that helped endear him to generations of fans.

The glasses, the black shoes, and the white socks peeking out from a pair of slacks that was always a quarter inch too short.

"When you think of college football and its tradition, you can't help but picture those dark glasses, black shoes and plain uniforms that were his style and mark on Penn State.'' Said Texas Tech coach Tommy Tuberville.

Over the last 60 years, Paterno was one of the only men in all of Pa. who could get the left side and right side of the commonwealth to agree on anything.

Joe Paterno wasn't just a football coach. He was football to all who support Penn State; and now he's gone.

To anyone who followed Paterno's coaching career, it's easy to look at him as one of the greatest coaches of all time.

Former Penn State linebacker Matt Millen commented, "My first thoughts about Joe are not as a coach because he was well beyond that. He was an educator and a teacher. He taught lessons, some about football, mostly about life. He taught us how to treat others and how to conduct life. He did it with his life.''.

Many writers, editors and publishers around the country, are stuck trying to figure out when in this legendary coach's obituary to bring up what happened over the last few months.

Whenever someone dies, it's long been the industry standard to put the key points of his life and legacy in the first paragraph. But where does the recent scandal go?

Look, we all know why Joe Paterno was fired from a job he held longer than anyone will ever hold a job in college football for the rest of time.

In this writer's opinion, it's a shame the last interview the man ever did in his life had him in a wheelchair with a wig, flanked by his lawyer and image consultant to ensure he was lucid enough to properly answer questions about a former assistant who allegedly terrorized young boys under his watch.

Make no mistake, this is an important part of Paterno's legacy, and with the timing of his death so close to the accusations about Jerry Sandusky, including what Paterno did or did not know and do, coming out in the media.

However, we as journalist have to discuss it. The Penn State scandal must be part of the Paterno conversation today.

However, that's not who Joe Paterno was. Paterno was so much more than a feeble old man, broken down by life and shrouded in shame.

Paterno was a hero and a mentor to countless players, coaches, alumni and fans who will continue to grow his legacy in a positive way.

We remember Paterno today as he should always be remembered—a man who cared about football more than anything in the world.

Paterno probably cared about football too much, and the fact that some at Penn State wanted to get rid of him many years ago certainly had a lot to do with how his last few months at Penn State were handled.

Paterno lived football his entire life, through marriage, through kids and grandchildren, and no matter how big his family grew, it would never be as big as the family he built in Happy Valley Pa.

The fact is, history will judge Paterno how history judges anyone: We'll remember the good he did and hope it far outweighs his negligence, or any other wrongdoings we may yet come to learn.

The last few months, and what else we find out in the Sandusky case, will always be part of the conversation of Paterno's life.

I believed that Joe Paterno would die on a football field one day. It can't go unsaid that that chance was taken away from him a mere month before he passed.

It also can't be denied that, in many ways, he took the chance away from himself.

That doesn't make the recent events that have unfolded, and continue to unfold, in Happy Valley who he is.

Joe Paterno's legacy is much greater to all his former players.

Retired Florida State Head Coach Bobby Bowden stated, "History will say that he's one of the greatest. Who's coached longer, who's coached better, who's won more games, who's been more successful than Joe? Who's done more for his university than Joe? You've lost one of the greatest. He probably means the same thing up there that Bear Bryant meant down here. He's an icon.''