The Jan. 27, 1983 edition of The Crimson White ran eight pages with a total of 13 stories. All of them were about one man and how important he was to Tuscaloosa. Paul “Bear” Bryant died the previous afternoon at 1:30 p.m. of a massive heart attack at Druid City Hospital. He was 29 days removed from coaching his final football game.
The death of college football legend Joe Paterno Sunday from lung cancer rocked the snowy town of State College, Penn. much the same way the death of Bryant impacted the people of Tuscaloosa in 1983. Paterno had been at Penn State in some capacity since 1950 and is treated in the same vein in Happy Valley as Bryant is at Alabama. He died only 84 days after coaching his final football game.
Reacting to the Loss
Devon Miller is an Alabama graduate student studying aerospace engineering. Miller is from York, Penn. and has only been at the Capstone for a little over a semester.
His family has owned Penn State season tickets for more than 40 years, and he went to his first game at age three. He is also aware of the similar way the “Bear” and “JoePa” are revered in their respective communities.
“I feel that the kind of character that they had, and how they both gave so much more than just being a football coach,” Miller said of the two men. “They are the type of people that we will never see again.”
Miller went on to credit the icons for not being about the money and staying with one team for most of their lives.
“They wanted to create better people,” Miller said.
The reactions to the two men’s deaths were also very similar.
In 1983, UA sophomore Maura Reed was in disbelief that the Tide’s iconic coach was dead. “This has to be a sick joke,” she told The Crimson White. “I can’t believe that.”
Joe McIntyre, football reporter for Penn State’s student newspaper, The Daily Collegian, paints a picture of how he reacted to the news Sunday morning.
“I was still asleep and got a phone call from my editor telling me to get to the Pasquerilla Spiritual Center, which is a big church on campus,” McIntyre said. “The priest just kept telling everybody to keep the Paterno family in their prayers.”
Students began gathering in front of a statue of Paterno near Beaver Stadium late Saturday night when CBS Sports picked up false reports of his death. The crowds have only grown larger since the official announcement of his passing Sunday morning and include people of all backgrounds and relationships to the University.
“Now there are hats and candles among many other items there,” McIntyre said. “Many alumni and students are paying their respects.”
McIntyre said students have also begun to make their way to Paterno’s home, where they have quietly held vigil.
The Legacy of Legends
Nearly 29 years after the death of Bryant, Alabama still remembers his legacy. The football stadium is named in Bryant’s honor. A conference center at the center of campus that sits on Paul W. Bryant Drive is named after the icon, as are a bridge, an academic building and a local high school, among other buildings in Tuscaloosa.
The Paul W. Bryant Museum even boasts about a unique get-together: “Each fall, Pauls, Williams, Bears and Bryants from dozens of states converge on the University of Alabama campus to attend the reunion party honoring those named for the legendary football coach,” the Museum’s website says.
Bryant’s legacy also stands out in culture – Bryant’s trademark hat has become a fashion staple at Bama athletic events.
Paterno will likely be remembered in a similar way in Happy Valley. One of the largest campus libraries in State College is named after him and his family, as is the Sue Paterno Catholic Center, the Joe Paterno Statue, a course devoted to his relationship to the media, and even an ice cream flavor at the campus creamery.
His home, which is near campus, is becoming a local shrine, and his status as a major philanthropist has won him life long devotees.
“JoePa was seen as the figurehead of this school, for better or worse,” McIntyre said.
He also said many people in the community believed that he had more power than the president and that they felt that he could do no wrong.
“He was the patron saint of Penn State,” McIntyre said.
This type of thought about Paterno and the football program would place the University in the center of one of the largest child sex abuse scandals in recent memory.
Fall From Grace
Paterno was forced to step down as head football coach of the Penn State Nittany Lions in November of last year due to a grand jury indictment of Paterno’s longtime defensive coordinator, Jerry Sandusky. After 46 years and nine American presidents, Paterno was no longer allowed to lead his team on Saturdays.
Nate Lee, a Penn State senior majoring in journalism, was covering the Board of Trustees meeting that determined Paterno’s fate as coach.
“I remember afterwards sitting in my bed and breaking down in tears,” Lee said.
Comparing Men Beyond Compare
The most direct comparisons between Paterno and Bryant are in what they did on the field.
Both men coached their final games against Illinois.
Bryant was a head football coach for 38 years. He won six national championships, 14 conference titles, had 323 total victories and led the Tide to 29 bowl appearances. He also recorded three undefeated seasons.
Paterno was the coach of Penn State for 46 years, coaching 548 total games and winning an NCAA-record 409 of them. He won two national championships. His team averaged 8.9 wins per season, and he holds the NCAA record for most bowl appearances with 37, winning 24 of those.
Joe Paterno was 85 years old and is survived by his wife of nearly 50 years, Sue, and children Diana, Mary, David, Jay and Scott.