Jay Paterno, son of former longtime Penn State football coach Joe Paterno, told ESPN’s Tom Rinaldi that his father is “fighting like crazy” to beat lung cancer and would like to tell his side of the story that ultimately led to his firing.
“He’s doing well because of the fact he’s in great spirits,” Jay Paterno said. “Anytime you have this kind of fight on your hands, you have to have a fighting spirit, which Joe has always had. And he’s fighting like crazy. But it takes some … energy out of him like it does anybody else. I mean, he said to me, ‘I get tired from time to time.’
“He’s very anxious to get out there soon and start to tell his side of the story and start to express — get all the facts out,” Jay Paterno said. “What that timetable is I don’t know exactly. But he definitely is chomping at the bit.”
Paterno said he wants Penn State fans, alumni and supporters to back new coach Bill O’Brien, who was officially hired Saturday.
“I don’t think anybody knows really what the guy that follows Joe Paterno is going to face,” Jay Paterno said of the challenges in replacing a man who won 409 games in 46 years at Penn State. “Nobody knows that.”
Joe Paterno’s cancer diagnosis was revealed Nov. 18, nine days after he was fired by Penn State in the wake of a sexual-abuse scandal that has resulted in 52 counts of child molestation against former defensive coordinator Jerry Sandusky.
