Penn State Plans to Honor Joe Paterno on 50th Anniversary of His First Game as Head Coach

Penn State will honor Joe Paterno on Sept. 17, the 50th anniversary of his first game as head coach.

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Complex Original

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Ever since Penn State cut ties with Joe Paterno back in November 2011 in the wake of the Jerry Sandusky scandal that rocked the university and forever altered JoePa’s legacy, the school has steered clear of associating itself with its former head coach. Paterno is the winningest coach in FBS history with 409 career victories, but the statue Penn State built for him outside of Beaver Stadium has been removed and he’s more or less been scrubbed from the PSU campus. But according to a press release sent out by the school on Thursday, Penn State isn’t going to let the 50th anniversary of Paterno’s first game as head coach go by without acknowledging it.

Penn State hasn’t revealed what they plan to do to honor the late Paterno, who died in 2012, but they’ve got something up their sleeves for Sept. 17 and will reportedly hold some kind of ceremony for him prior to a game against Temple in State College, Pa. Paterno coached his first game for Penn State on that date in 1966, a 15-7 win over Maryland. It will be the first time the school has formally honored Paterno since his firing.

As we mentioned, Penn State hasn’t shed any light on what they are going to do for Paterno just yet. ESPN.com reached out to Penn State to try and figure out what is going to happen on Sept. 17, and a spokesperson declined to comment. Details are expected to be released on the Thursday before the home game.

Some Twitter users have supported the school’s decision to honor Paterno, but the majority of the reactions to it have been negative because of the report that emerged earlier this year indicating that Paterno knew about sexual abuse allegations made against Sandusky dating back as far as 1976. Here are some of those reactions:

It remains to be seen whether or not this backlash will impact Penn State’s plans.

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