Tuesday morning, Mike McQueary strolled along a path next to the Blue and White Golf Course with his two dogs.

During the morning walk, the dogs ran in the grass while the former Penn State wide receivers coach called for them to get back on the walkway. McQueary’s phone, meanwhile, was chiming constantly.

Later that day, McQueary would attend the viewing at the Pasquerilla Spiritual Center along with other former letter winners gathered to pay their respects to Joe Paterno. He said he did not get a chance to speak with Paterno recently before his passing.

For now, though — in between barking dogs and a ringing phone — he’d reflect alone on the memories left behind by his former coach.

During his walk, McQueary spoke with a Collegian staff writer about his relationship with Paterno over the years, which saw McQueary moving from a spot in the center of the football field to a spot on the sidelines alongside the former head football coach.

Two months ago, McQueary went on administrative leave after former assistant coach Jerry Sandusky was charged with child sex abuse, some of which allegedly occurred on Penn State’s campus. McQueary testified that, as a graduate assistant, he witnessed Sandusky raping a young boy in the shower in the Lasch Football building and told Paterno about the incident the next day. In his testimony, McQueary said he didn’t explicitly describe the scene to
Paterno but made it clear to the coach that the incident was sexual in nature.

Despite public scrutiny since then, McQueary said the Paterno family has been “overly supportive” of him and his wife throughout the past few months. News of Paterno’s death Sunday left McQueary “devastated.”

“He was everything to you, next to your father, wife, mother,” McQueary said. “He was everything you would ever want in a head coach or a university icon.”

Getting his start as a Penn State quarterback, McQueary moved up to work as a graduate assistant after he received his degree and was later promoted to the position of assistant coach.

As McQueary recalls, he “wasn’t that good” when he came out of State College High’s football program — and Paterno agreed.

When Paterno was recruiting McQueary, he told a young McQueary, “You’re not really all that good, but at least you’ll get us out of the huddle.”

Once McQueary got his spot on the team, Paterno used to get letters from older ladies telling him to stop yelling at “that red head kid,” McQueary said. But in spite of what it took for McQueary to be seen as a leader in Paterno’s eyes, he said he feels blessed and truly lucky to have had a relationship with the late coach.
“You have a profound love for him,” McQueary said.

McQueary said he didn’t speak with Sue Paterno before the viewing, but he did send Jay, Joe Paterno’s son, a text message recently. He said he wanted to respect the family’s privacy at this time.

He said he planned to see the family Tuesday at the viewing, giving them hugs and support.

A private viewing took place for lettermen before the public viewing Tuesday. After McQueary exited the spiritual center following the private viewing, he declined comment.

That morning, he said there were no words to express how he feels about the coach, but he described Paterno as “truly selfless.”

“He really cared about the people that surrounded him more than himself,” McQueary said.