Legendary Coach Joe Paterno Passes Away at 85 [VIDEO]

Last night the rumors were rampant that the coach had passed away, the family took to the web to denounce those rumors. We know today, however, that the legendary coach has passed away from lung cancer at the age of 85.

This wasn't an easy year for the coach. Not only was he waging battle against lung cancer but lost his job due to problems with assistant coach Sandusky's arrest among allegations of child molestation. The coach was let go for having knowledge of the events and not reporting them and following up.

Paterno was the winningest coach in Division 1 college football. He was born in 1926 in Brooklyn, playing football for Brown University. He joined Penn State as an assistant coach and never left. Becoming it's head coach after the passing of his mentor. For more than 4 decades Paterno coached the football team to winning seasons,having his first losing season in 1988.

He had 2 National Championships in 1982 and 1986 and is the only coach to win the four big bowl games; Rose, Cotton, Orange and Sugar.

Paterno only announced publicly 2 months ago that he was diagnosed with lung cancer. Years of smoking, declining health and stress probably all accelerated his battle.
Paterno leaves behind a wife and 5 children and many other beloved family members.

More information about Paterno can be found on the Penn State University website.