STATE COLLEGE, Pa. Perhaps everyone expected one last press conference.

In the hours following Penn State’s first game without Joe Paterno as head coach in 46 years, dozens of supporters and upwards of 50 media representatives lined the sidewalks on either side of McKee Street.

They filed in steadily following the Nittany Lions 17-14 loss to Nebraska, many making the short walk from Beaver Stadium to the Paterno’s residence just a mile away.

‘He’s been such an integral part of the university forever,’ said Chris Holland, a senior mechanical engineering major. ‘You can’t just remove him like this without people doing what they’ve been doing. He’s going to be in our minds for years easily.’

What everyone’s been doing, though, created a rift between the public and the media in State College this week. Media and bystanders waited hours outside Paterno’s home Saturday afternoon and evening in hopes of an appearance by the winningest coach in Division-I football history — which never happened — and tempers continued to flare.

The JoePa supporters remained steadfast in their belief that the media’s coverage of the sex-abuse scandal this week weighed heavily on the Board of Trustees and played a major role in Paterno’s firing.

ESPN in particular was targeted by the crowd outside 830 McKee St.

‘Point your cameras right over here,’ one man said from a safe distance away from the media cameras. ‘You caused it, you dumb sh*ts. And you went to school for this f***ing sh*t too.’

The testiness continued throughout the evening, as citizens banded together with the goal of preventing any more ‘bashing’ of Paterno by the media. Members of the media were bumped and pushed while trying to position themselves, people held up shirts and seat cushions in front of camera lenses to block footage and a CNN cameraman was asked to leave the Paterno’s property after shoving a bystander with whom he’d engaged in a verbal altercation.

‘I wish the media would leave him alone,’ Holland said. ‘Because I think the mainstream media is what got him fired. It brought so much bad press to the university that all the wealthy donors influenced the Board of Trustees to get him knocked off.

‘I think if it was played more toward Sandusky and McQueary, then he would have just gone out after the season and that would have been the end of it.’

John Pido, a Pittsburgh resident who has a nephew on the Penn State football team, said he’s heard Paterno’s name on television in connection with the sex-abuse scandal exponentially more frequently than Jerry Sandusky’s the man charged in the grand jury report.

And that makes him sick, he said. Because it appears to implicate the wrong man Paterno when he has no criminal charges filed against him.

‘There’s one evil man that caused this,’ Pido said of Sandusky. ‘We don’t know what Joe knew or didn’t know, or what he could have done and didn’t do. All I know is in my personal experience with Joe, he is a tremendous human being that cares about people very much. And I don’t think he’d ever knowingly do anything to hurt anybody.’

Things came to a head when Paterno’s wife, Sue, returned home from church. As soon as she exited her car in the family’s driveway, she was swarmed by reporters.

Students and Penn State fans cried out angrily in response, calling the media ‘animals.’ Shortly after, the Paterno’s requested police keep everyone off their property.

But Sue Paterno gave a brief statement before entering her house through the garage directed to her husband’s supporters.

She thanked everyone for their support in what she called a ‘difficult week’ for the family.

‘We’ve always thought of Penn State as a family,’ she said. ‘And we will be again. … We’ll be back. We’re not going anywhere.’

The tension between the media and the public overshadowed what began as a powerful spectacle to honor Paterno.

A large number of supporters brought with them offerings for Paterno, which they left on his porch, walkway or in the front yard. Each person to leave a token of appreciation for Paterno received a round of applause from the rest of the crowd.

One woman left a blue Penn State teddy bear on the walkway leading up to Paterno’s house, and she was brought to tears as everyone in attendance clapped for her.

‘I think more important than the number of students, because there’s not a lot, is the manner they’re behaving in,’ said Shefeer Shereef, a senior international relations major. ‘And this is what we want Penn State to be recognized by and for Joe Paterno to remember. … Every person that comes up, they’re clapped for. And that means something, because you are doing something for a Penn State legend.’

One of the first offerings left for Paterno was a picture frame containing a bible scripture. Laid across the top of the frame was a single red rose. It read: ‘And now these three remain faith, hope and love but the greatest of these is love. 1 Corinthians 13:13.’

Words exemplified by the iconic head coach’s son, Jay, the quarterbacks coach for the Nittany Lions, who broke down on national television during his postgame press conference on the field.

And when Jay Paterno walked down McKee Street at 4:55 p.m. on Saturday after leaving Beaver Stadium, he was greeted by a standing ovation from a cheering, whistling crowd.

As he walked toward the driveway, backpack slung over his shoulder, he raised his right arm with a clenched fist in a symbol of strength and perseverance.

‘We are,’ Jay Paterno shouted.

The response was obvious.

mjcohe02@syr.edu 

Published on November 12, 2011 at 12:00 pm

Contact Michael: mjcohe02@syr.edu | @Michael_Cohen13