Penn State Lettermen Petition for Paterno Statue to Return

Over 200 lettermen and coaches are petitioning for the statue to return

Update: The University has responded to the petition

"“We appreciate the passion of our former Penn State lettermen for Coach Joe Paterno and the football program, and thank them for their input and many contributions/achievements. We recognize that this is emotional for many in the Penn State community, many of whom differ, yet feel strongly about this issue. The University’s leadership has clearly indicated that there will be a time and place to acknowledge Coach Joe Paterno’s many contributions. Any plans by the president to reach out to the Paterno family will be done privately.”"

For years, the space that once occupied Joe Paterno’s statue outside of Beaver Stadium has been demolished and turned into a symbolic-less patch of grass. Every Saturday, fans lay flowers and signs for JoePa and the victims of the Jerry Sandusky scandal.

But somewhere in the bowels of Beaver Stadium lies the bronze statue of Joe Paterno, with his finger pointed towards the sky and his players charging behind him.

On Tuesday, over 200 lettermen and former Penn State coaches published a petition for the university to return the statue, as well as give a formal apology to Sue Paterno, JoePa’s widow.

"We, the undersigned, are united by the common bond of having been a member of the Penn State Football Team.  We state, unequivocally, that our program has always been one of integrity, honesty, and respect.  Under Coach Paterno, we strove for academic excellence and made an ongoing commitment to becoming better men.We remain saddened that the Penn State Administration and the Board of Trustees thrust our program and coach into an undeserved negative media frenzy in 2011.  Nearly five years after the firestorm, they still have not defended us or corrected the false narrative.  Our legacy and our university deserve better.  Penn State’s leaders should take two steps toward repairing the damage that they created. First, restore the statue of Coach Paterno and the players’ wall to where they stood previously outside Beaver Stadium.  These testimonies to “Success with Honor” should never have been removed.Second, a formal apology from the University to Sue Paterno needs to be issued.  This is a common act of decency, which is both warranted and long overdue.The university’s leaders have repeatedly stated a desire to restore unity to the Penn State community.  We hope that they will not waste a great opportunity to do so."

Among the signers of the letter are Brian Masella, Paul Posluszny, and 1973 Heisman winner John Cappelletti. The full list of names can be found here.

Students have joked about an Indiana Jones/National Treasure type mission to find the legendary statue ever since it’s disappearance in 2011. Others suspect the statue was melted, though those claims are unproven.

Earlier this year, the two Pennsylvania sculptors who made the original statue announced they are making two new statues; one for the Paterno family, and one that will travel to various Penn State events.

A recent investigation found that Paterno had no knowledge of any of the early assaults committed by former Defensive Coordinator Jerry Sandusky, who was sentenced to 30-60 years in prison, essentially a life sentence for the elderly former football coach.