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The landscape has changed dramatically in the seven months since Bill O'Brien accepted the Penn State job. But his commitment hasn't wavered.

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- They spoke at Joe Paterno's memorial Thursday the way that his teams played and represented Penn State for the last 46 seasons: simply, with little flash and great focus. They emphasized academics every bit as much as footb...

Joe Paterno's memorial brought together players young and old, who remembered him as a teacher more than a coach, a philanthropist with straightforward values, and a man who prized the competitive instinct.

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- The university that fired Joe Paterno over the phone in November after 62 seasons of coaching has had to turn around and recast him as an icon upon his death in January. If there is a historical parallel for a relationship thi...

Penn State and Joe Paterno will be intertwined forever. But the last three months have fractured the relationship between the school and the family.

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- They came from across the country and across the decades. They were white-haired and dreadlocked, stiff-kneed linemen from years ago and hard-bodied starters from last fall, pushing strollers and using canes. Joe Paterno's foo...

Joe Paterno's great loves were family and football, and never was that more true than in the final days of his life. His sons, Jay and Scott, recount their time with their father.

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - Jay Paterno, then the Penn State quarterbacks coach, worked for Sen. Barack Obama's campaign before the Democratic primary in Pennsylvania in 2008. Paterno helped organize a campus rally and introduced Obama to a big crowd on t...

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- When the body of Joe Paterno lies for public viewing Tuesday and Wednesday at the Pasquerilla Spiritual Center on the Penn State campus, one current and one former player will be there during every minute of the 14 hours to se...

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- Beaver Stadium stood lit up Sunday night, awaiting 107,000 fans who weren't scheduled to come. The local police blocked off both ends of Porter Road, which runs along the east side of the stadium. Just outside of Gate F stood ...

In the span of 12 weeks, Joe Paterno transformed from beloved Penn State icon to Rorschach test on child abuse to ailing victim. His fate, the one that awaits us all, arrived with charitable swiftness. As tough as Paterno could be, at 85 years of age...

The Penn State scandal -- and Joe Paterno's role in it -- should not cancel all that came before it. It should zero out neither Paterno's six decades of achievement at Penn State nor his lifetime of leadership and beneficence at the university.

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. -- Jay Paterno walked over to an acquaintance on the Beaver Stadium field after Penn State lost to Nebraska, 17-14, shook hands and said with a hint of his typical humor, "I've had better weeks." The quarterbacks coach, the only...

The idea that Joe Paterno would be forced out of Penn State on moral grounds defies belief. More than six decades of achievement, an entire adult life committed to the advancement of the core mission of his university, could not withstand the sin ...

How long the close of Joe Paterno's career will overshadow the preceding 61 years is a question only time will answer. But his imprint on the game, on his players and on his university will last long after his record victory total is surpassed.

The idea that Joe Paterno's legacy, built with the highest of ideals, will end stained by the vilest of scandals should test the faith of all of us. Paterno's failure to act will remain an irreparable mark on his once sterling reputation.