Sports
The Rehabilitation of Joe Paterno, Back at No. 1
In the settlement, Penn State’s wins from 1998 to 2011 would be restored, again making Joe Paterno, who died in 2012, the winningest head coach in college football. (Carolyn Kaster/Associated Press)
Jeré Longman and Marc Tracy, THE WASHINGTON POST
(The Washington Post)—Amid the child-molesting scandal at Penn State, Joe Paterno lost his job, more than 100 victories as a coach and his reputation as a kind of football Renaissance man. Even a statue of him outside the university’s stadium was removed.
But nearly three years after Mr. Paterno’s death at age 85, his reputation is experiencing something of a revival.
On Friday, as part of a settlement in a lawsuit filed by Pennsylvania officials, the N.C.A.A. agreed to restore 111 victories that it had rescinded from Mr. Paterno after the scandal, in which a former longtime assistant coach, Jerry Sandusky, was found to have sexually molested boys. With his record of 409-136-3, built from 1966 until he was fired in disgrace near the end of the 2011 season, Mr. Paterno again becomes the major-college football coach with the most victories.
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