Author Kip Richeal Pays Tribute to the Joe Paterno He Knew

This post isn't as much about crises as it is an I-told-you-so.

 

I've written several times about the Penn State/Joe Paterno crisis. I couldn't get anyone outside of Franco Harris to agree that Paterno was unjustly fired. Now that he has died, all the world is behind him and blaming the board of trustees for his sudden decline. Paterno deserved better.

 

My friend Mark posted a piece on Facebook written by Kip Richeal. Kip is the younger brother of a schoolfriend of mine. He has written several books, including one on my shelf about the Pittsburgh Pirates and another he autographed for my inlaws about Jerry Sandusky ironically called Touched. He once was honorary batboy for the Pirates and I, a sportswriter, went with him and watched the game from the dugout. I had a long visit with the late Manager Chuck Tanner I'll never forget.

 

But I digress. I didn't mention that Kip is physically handicapped. As a writer -- no handicaps there. I thought his tribute to Joe Paterno was worth sharing with my readers here.

 

"I was a senior in high school the first time I ever visited the Penn State University campus. My parents took me to State College to meet Coach Bob Phillips, the quarterbacks coach for the Nittany Lions who had heard how badly I wanted to be an equipment manager there. l had already been accepted as a student, so now it was time to reach my other goal.

 

"My dad and I had a nice chat with Coach Bob and he treated me as though I were a recruit making my official visit. He talked about when he coached high school football in Beaver County at one time. He told me things about Penn State football that I already knew from just being a fan, but it was even better hearing it from one of the coaches. He interrupted our meeting to ask if we would like to meet Coach Paterno and it was at that moment the future all-time winningest coach in NCAA Division I history stepped into the offices inside the old Rec Hall gymnasium.

 

"Joe Paterno shook our hands and it was my dad who was speechless in his presence. Coach Bob told him I was an incoming freshman and was hoping to be a manager with the team in the fall. Coach Paterno shook my hand again and said right there he would look forward to having me with the team.

 

"With a lot of high profile people those words would just be smoke, but with Joe Paterno they were sincere. Coach knew every player's name, but out on the practice field when he needed something from the equipment staff, it was usually 'Manager!!!' that was heard all over the practice area. With me, however, he always called me Kipper. Halfway through college I had a hip replacement so I missed some time away from the team. Joe Paterno called me at home at least three or four times during my rehab to see how things were going. And he told me my position as a manager would be there when I came back.

 

"Years later he agreed to write the foreword for one of my books and he was always cordial to my family, often referring to my dad as 'the old guy.' Even up to this, his unscheduled final season, Coach would see me on the sidelines before a game and make a point to shake hands and offer a hug. He would call me Kipper, ask about the family and how my life was going. I will miss those short, but powerful exchanges with the man who was like a second father to all involved with Penn State football.

 

"Cancer will be listed as the cause of his passing, but I believe it was also a tired and fractured heart that wore him down when the thing he loved more than anything other than his family was taken away from him. I grew up in a hurry when I went to Penn State and I became a man because of the values I learned from our football coach. Joe Paterno was more than an icon to me. He was my coach and a dear friend. No one will ever tear down my memories of him. No coach will ever replace him as a genius football mind as well as a mentor, educator and friend. God Bless your soul, Coach Paterno, and may you now rest easy ... WE ARE ... PENN STATE."