Joe Paterno: An Alabama Writer and Fan's Goodbye Thoughts

Larry Burton (Syndicated Writer) Joe Paterno, coach and legend. This wasn't supposed to end this way.

To all the fans at Happy Valley and Nittany Lion fans across the globe, he wasn't just your coach, he was someone who we all loved, respected and admired too. He may have been your coach, but he was our JoePa.

His path crossed ours at Alabama so many times in so many important games that he is and will always be a part of our legend too.

Alabama players I've interviewed talked about the honor of playing against him, of meeting him and getting to shake his hand.

I've met a President of the United States and was just as in awe of getting to meet Joe Paterno.

He was special in a way that a President could never be.

Presidents come and go; Paterno spent over 60 years of his life in a craft that made him a legend.

He influenced not only the coaches and players in Penn State blue, but everyone who loved and admired him.

And there is so much to love and admire. So much more beyond just the game of football made him that way. He was such a giving and caring man.

But after reading what I have, I am stunned, and so is the Alabama Nation.

Why did he not do more? This is a man who had dedicated his life to improving young men's lives. How could he not jump to protect those young men?

A man who had always seemed to do the right thing seemed to not know how to handle a situation like this.

That's understandable to a man who could have never fathomed such an act.

But to not have erred on the side on the side of the defenseless, the young, the abused is simply unimaginable.

But let me make this clear, I will never believe that Paterno would or could in any way condone such acts by his indecision over making the right choices. I will choose to believe that he was so stunned and numbed by the actions of former coach and friend that it altered his thinking.

He did report it to his boss, maybe trusting that those above his rank would handle it correctly. After all, Paterno was no longer Sandusky's boss.

But it was far too little and partly because of his inaction, more boys were dealt this nightmare because no acted to stop Sandusky.

Perhaps because of that, Joe Paterno deserved to be relieved of his duties, but he does not deserve to be relieved of his status as a great man, a great mentor and a great coach.

All men but one who has ever lived fell short of God's expectations in some area. Paterno made a mistake, but it does not erase the good he's done in a life of great acts.

You'll always be our JoePa too.

Time will lessen the impact of the mistake you made in this incident, but the legend will stay strong forever.

All bad decisions come with a price. That price has been paid with your dismissal from your duties as an active head coach.

But you will never be dismissed from our hearts.