» Joe Paterno’s 1982 Letter To Player About Cheating Penn State Out Of $12.99 At The Fiesta Bowl Is Pretty Cool Barstool Sport: BarstoolU

Joe Paterno’s 1982 Letter To Player About Cheating Penn State Out Of $12.99 At The Fiesta Bowl Is Pretty Cool

Paterno? Doesn’t sound Jewish

CBS – The letter is 30 years old but it provides a glimpse of Joe Paterno, the humanitarian, champion of fair play and the hard-nosed coach. In this correspondence to a former player dated July 7, 1982, Paterno admonishes the player for not paying $12.99 in expenses incurred during Penn State road trips to Pitt and the 1982 Fiesta Bowl during the 1981 season. That ’81 team finished 10-2, ranked No. 3 in AP, losing only to Miami and Alabama. The outstanding charges — according to Joe — are for “phone calls, room service and miscellaneous charges.” No matter what you think of Paterno’s legacy in light of the last couple of years, this letter obtained by CBSSports.com is a slice of Americana and Joe Paterno.

I’ll tell you what, it’s a Friday afternoon, everyone is geared up for the weekend, finishing up work or classes or whatever after a long week and just ready to unwind. So I’m not going to kick off a firestorm or anything here. Not going to dive into another Penn State rant or try to pick fights. Not going to pick this letter apart and focus on lines such as “you don’t do things right sometimes, you do them right all the time.” Just going to leave this up here for you to make your own observations on. I think it’s pretty cool. Wish I could go back to my pre-2011 view of JoePa and view it from that lens to make it even cooler.

By kmarko posted March 1st, 2013 at 2:10 PM

Top 2 Comments

14 comments Sort by Popularity Sort by Date

Thumbs Up Thumbs Down
by imtough on March 1, 2013 at 2:14 pm
where's the letter that told JoePa he should report sexual predators? did he not get that one?
- Up: 14
- Down: 1
Thumbs Up Thumbs Down
by bigstick on March 1, 2013 at 2:15 pm
I doubt very much that Paterno actually wrote this letter. It looks like a form letter a secretary would produce. I'm also willing to bet that they had to do this in order to stay within the NCAA guidelines.
- Up: 7
- Down: 7
Thumbs Up Thumbs Down
by broman on March 1, 2013 at 2:17 pm
$12.99 in 1982 money with interest and inflation is probably 10% of the settlement of one raped boy in 2013 money.
- Up: 7
- Down: 1
Thumbs Up Thumbs Down
by dinguskhan on March 1, 2013 at 2:18 pm
He's dead, leave him alone.
- Up: 2
- Down: 14
Thumbs Up Thumbs Down
by camcam on March 1, 2013 at 2:18 pm
I am sure this player would have paid the bill but I'm guessing one of the assistants (maybe the linebackers coach) had him in his room to go over some late night tapes.
- Up: 5
- Down: 3
Thumbs Up Thumbs Down
by go broons on March 1, 2013 at 2:29 pm
12.99 owed by some schmoe on the team. How much does Paterno owe Penn state for covering up for a paedophile?
- Up: 2
- Down: 3
Thumbs Up Thumbs Down
by desjardinsjam on March 1, 2013 at 2:31 pm
Bet sandusky paid him $12.99 to keep quiet
- Up: 3
- Down: 1
Thumbs Up Thumbs Down
by Lumpy on March 1, 2013 at 2:42 pm
Sorry Coach, I'll send you that $12.99 as soon as Coach Sandusky sends me that Snickers he promised me for "Horseplay". He'll know what you mean.
- Up: 5
- Down: 0
Thumbs Up Thumbs Down
by con_fooshis on March 1, 2013 at 2:46 pm
P.S. You might think I'll forget about this, but if you don't settle this debt promptly there may come a time in the future when you might have a pre pubescent son, and that son might be involved in football progams here at Penn St. Well I just might have a pedophile assistant coach, and I just might turn a blind eye if that coach were to diddle and rape your son in our facilities. Think about it. You better send that fucking check in.Joe P.
- Up: 5
- Down: 1
Thumbs Up Thumbs Down
by cbwv on March 1, 2013 at 2:57 pm
you don't turn in child rapists sometimes, your turn them in all the time....
- Up: 2
- Down: 0
Thumbs Up Thumbs Down
by stoolie esq on March 1, 2013 at 2:58 pm
Good job JoePa. Get your panties in a bunch about kid that ran up a $13 charge to the university that he had to pay to attend, while you and the school profited from tremendously. Then turn your back when your assistant is railing 10 year olds from behind, and leave your other assistant out to dry. All about doing the right thing all the time.
- Up: 3
- Down: 0
Thumbs Up Thumbs Down
by bagarocks on March 1, 2013 at 8:09 pm
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0eV4No5wvHYYea, Paterno was a real class act. Has McQueary throw a last second TD in order to cover the spread, and then acts like a baby about it. May JoePa rot in Hell.
- Up: 0
- Down: 0
Thumbs Up Thumbs Down
by princetonguy23 on March 1, 2013 at 8:21 pm
RIP Joe
- Up: 1
- Down: 3
Thumbs Up Thumbs Down
by iamahuman on March 1, 2013 at 11:54 pm
$12.99 for a phone call? Man, that kid got raped. I mean figuratively of course.
- Up: 0
- Down: 0