Paterno Page #9

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That's the new deal.

There's still a lot

of football to play.

A lot of interesting things

can happen to all of you.

I want that for you.

So, I want you to focus on that.

'Cause that's all

there really is, what we do.

The rest of this

is just something--

I mean, what happened

this last week...

is just--

It's not your fault.

You had nothin' to do with it.

But it--

It makes me feel bad...

that you, uh,

had to put up with it.

We'll always be

Penn State football players.

- All:
Yes, sir.

- Yep.

Always, till the day we die...

Paterno:

I wish I could've

done more for those kids.

Can't say that.

It's an admission of guilt.

Well, is there any human person

looking at this

doesn't wish they could've

done something more?

You're gonna be misquoted.

I'm gonna be gone.

- ( phone ringing )

- Dawn?

- Hi.

- Hi.

I'm so sorry.

Aaron tried to call me,

and I-- I was right--

I-- I know. There was, um,

a problem at school, and--

We're not talking

to any other reporters.

They all want to, but...

we said no to everyone but you.

You get that, right?

I-- I know. I know,

and I cannot tell you

how much I appreciate that.

Do you wanna talk to Mike,

Aaron's psychologist?

I mean, yeah.

That would be great.

Would Aaron be okay with that?

I'm driving down there tonight

and I could meet

with him tomorrow.

Dawn:

Yeah. Aaron says it's okay.

Woman:

Penn State football coach

Joe Paterno will retire,

but tonight

everyone is taking sides

on what he asked

in return to coach

four more games.

The poll conducted

on ESPN suggested

that 61% of the people

out there

think he should be allowed

that opportunity.

If you ask people

who are not sports fans,

you might get

a very different result.

Sue:
Joe?

- Come on, Joe.

- Yeah.

Come on, hon.

Let's go to bed.

- I, uh--

- Yeah?

Yes, I'm still home.

Yeah, that's enough work

for one day.

Come on, let's go.

( groans )

I think--

hip is acting up again.

- Oh, it is?

- Yeah. See that?

- Oh, man.

- Oh, yeah. I'll give you a rub.

They say that's the--

that's the good--

the best operation

you can get.

A rub?

No, a hip op--

replacement, yeah.

- ( doorbell )

- You're not there yet.

- Oh, what's that?

- What is that?

I don't know.

I'll get--

I'll get it.

Okay.

- Who callin' at this time?

- I don't know.

- Yeah?

- Hey, Joe.

- Hey, Frank.

- Sorry to come here so late.

- That's all right.

- This is for you.

They'd, uh--

they'd like you

to call him.

Call him?

Oh. Yeah, thank you.

Well, the board

of trustees is holding

an emergency meeting

and there's a lot

of speculation here

on the future

of university president

Graham Spanier.

Will he resign?

Will the board ask him

to step down?

( touchtones beeping )

Yeah, it's Joe Paterno.

What?

They fired me.

What?

Yeah,

effective immediately.

- Joe.

- Yeah.

Joe, give me

that phone.

Let me have

that phone.

( dialing )

- ( line out ringing )

- Man:
Hello?

After 61 years,

he deserved better.

( beep )

( sighs )

( indistinct chatter )

Man:
...the indictment

of Jerry Sandusky,

the board...

Newhouse ( over phone ):

Hey, listen.

Man on TV:
...Penn State's board

of trustees, tonight,

decided that it is

in the best interests

of the university

to have a change

in leadership to deal

with the difficult issues

that we are facing.

The board of trustees

and Graham Spanier

have decided that,

effective immediately,

Dr. Spanier is no longer

president of the university.

In addition,

Joe Paterno is no longer

the head football coach.

What?

( all shouting )

( shouting continues )

Man:

Take that motherf***er down!

Joe Paterno is Penn State!

( excited chatter )

They fired him

with a phone call.

After 45 years, You know,

who the hell does that?

Student:
He didn't give a sh*t

about winning.

Student 2:

He f***in' won anyway.

It's a motherfuckin'

travesty.

Get off his f***in' lawn.

Students chanting:

We want Joe! We want Joe!

( chanting ) We want Joe!

We want Joe! We want Joe!

( chanting continues )

( all cheering )

- ( chanting ) Joe Paterno!

- ( rhythmic clapping )

You're great, you guys.

You guys are great.

And-- And let me tell you this:

You know what I say, guys--

you know, I mean girls too--

- We love you, Joe!

- ( cheering )

Listen. You gotta-- You gotta--

You gotta study now, all right?

( angry shouting )

You gotta get

a good night's sleep

so you can study.

We still got things to do.

I'm out of it now, maybe,

that phone call put me

out of it,

but we're gonna go

from here, okay?

We're gonna go from here.

You know, because things

have ways--

they have ways of working out.

We want Joe! One more day!

We don't know

what's gonna happen ever.

Right? And the same with you.

So, take care

of yourselves.

It's important you do that.

Right? All right.

You're gonna be fine.

- ( all clamoring )

- Oh-- Oh, yeah. Yeah.

Good luck to you all,

but listen to me

just a second.

I thank you for coming.

Pray a little bit for the--

for those victims, okay?

We'll do that. Okay.

- Joe! Joe!

- We love you!

( chanting )

We are Penn State!

We are Penn State!

That's right!

( chanting continues )

We are Penn State!

( siren wails in distance )

We want Joe! We want Joe!

We want Joe!

( all chanting )

Excuse me!

Can I ask you any questions?!

All:

We want Joe! We want Joe!

We want Joe!

What did you think

about happened to JoePa?

Kids got abused

and he didn't

tell the police.

You go to jail

for that.

- Let's go!

- Can I, can I--

Can I maybe quote you

on that?

No! I don't want

to get f***ing killed

in my bed!

( crowd roaring )

( siren wailing )

Young man:

The vice president

of the school

knew about it in 1998.

Heard about it twice.

You hear it twice

and you don't hang the guy,

you're just an (bleep)hole.

Joe heard about it in 2001.

He reported it immediately.

But we're definitely

telling Second Mile,

right?

Curley:

Uh, yeah.

And-- and the Child Welfare

thing,

we're just playing it by ear,

and Graham's okay with that?

Well, Graham says the only

downside is if Jerry doesn't

get it and this happens again.

Then we're vulnerable

for not having reported it.

But we can deal with that

down the road.

Joe's fine with that.

- Paterno?

- Yeah.

But he doesn't know

about the last time,

the thing from '98.

Yeah, of course he knows.

I sat down with him

when it happened.

He was all over me about it.

You sat down with him

when it happened?

He wanted

constant updates.

You ever keep Paterno

waiting on anything?

He's like a woodpecker.

( chanting )

We want Joe!

We want Joe! We want Joe!

( chanting continues )

Schultz:
Tim, if Joe knows

this is the second incident--

And you're sure?

Curley:
Look, I've--

I've got emails

up one side

and down the other. Yes.

( sighs )

I don't know.

Gary. If we need to report it,

we'll report it.

But we start with sitting down

and talking to Jerry

like a person.

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