Photo: Patrick Smith/2012 Getty Images
Former Penn State football coach Joe Paterno died this morning at a Happy Valley hospital — a statement put the cause of death as “metastatic small cell carcinoma of the lung.” Paterno, who coached the Nittany Lions for 46 years, found out he had lung cancer last November, less than a week after being fired over the child sex abuse scandal that erupted around his assistant coach Jerry Sandusky. Less than two months later. Joe Pa, as he was known around campus, was admitted to hospital where his condition continued to worsen. In memory of college football’s winningest coach, a moment of silence was held before the tip-off at today’s PSU-Illinois game where, according to the AP, Penn State’s coaches wore black ribbons.
