For a Hobbled Paterno, a Season of Uncertainty
By MARK VIERA
October 8, 2008
STATE COLLEGE, Pa. — In a game at Wisconsin two years ago, Penn State Coach Joe Paterno sustained a broken left leg in a sideline collision. Now, with his Nittany Lions about to return to Wisconsin, Paterno is experiencing problems with his right leg that could keep him off the field this weekend.
At his weekly news conference on Tuesday, Paterno said he was unsure if he would be on the sideline Saturday night when No. 6 Penn State (6-0, 2-0 Big Ten) faces Wisconsin (3-2, 0-2).
Paterno injured his right leg while performing an onside kick in practice in late August, and he has walked with a creaky gait all season.
“It’s one of those things I’m going to have for a while, so I’m just going to have to live with it,” said Paterno, who coached from the press box last Saturday at Purdue. “We’ll see by the end of the week whether I feel like I can get on the sideline or coach upstairs.”
Paterno, 81, has faced questions about his future for years. But his declining mobility, coupled with the announcement last April that he would not receive a new contract when his current deal expires after the season, has made for an increasingly uncertain time in his 43-year tenure as the coach. Paterno has worked without a contract for most of his career.
He has said his health will determine his ability to continue coaching, and he was asked after the Purdue game if this was the first time his condition had affected his job on a day-to-day basis.
“Yeah, it really is,” Paterno said Saturday. “And that’s why I’m reluctant to really get into what’s going to happen next week. As I said, some days, it doesn’t bother me much at all. I get a little pain in it, but it doesn’t bother me a lot. I’ve taken more pills in the last two months than I’ve taken all my life.”
Paterno has been known for his resiliency and fitness. He used to walk to work and was known for chasing after players on the practice field. And with each passing decade, he has returned to the sideline at Beaver Stadium by running out of the tunnel with his players.
“He’s a special person,” Dr. Wayne Sebastianelli, Penn State’s director of athletic medicine, said in a telephone interview. “Someone of his age and his energy; he’s 20 years younger than what his stated age is in terms of his energy level. We’re the ones holding him down.”
Sebastianelli operated on Paterno’s broken left leg in 2006. Paterno then missed his first game since 1977 when he stayed home for Penn State’s meeting with Temple. He also watched from the press box as the Nittany Lions closed that season with victories against Michigan State and in the Outback Bowl against Tennessee.
Paterno, who said his left leg had healed, returned to the field last season. But this season, he has been hampered by his right leg and has attended practices in a golf cart. He moved to the press box for the second half of the Temple game on Sept. 20. Last Saturday was the first time this season he coached the entire game from the press box.
“Actually, as far as making a significant contribution on the strategy side and on the tactical side, you’re better off upstairs,” he said. “You can see more. And as long we have the type of communications we have now, I can talk to everybody on the sideline with the one microphone and one set of earphones, and they can all talk to me.”
Paterno said he missed running onto the field and getting “a feel” for the game from the sideline. Some players said his absence had been noticeable, even though they mainly consult with their position coaches during games.
“It’s really comforting to see him on the sideline and to kind of have that reassurance sometimes,” Jordan Norwood, a senior wide receiver, said at a news conference. “But he can still do his job from the booth also.”
Paterno has said that he would like to coach for a few more seasons. Asked Tuesday if his current status had changed his thinking, he said, “No, it really hasn’t.”
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