Former player Lydell Mitchell said Joe Paterno wanted Penn State to reach out to him.

It’s been nearly a month since Joe Paterno’s Death, but the controversial circumstances of his firing remain fresh in the mind of many of his players.

That includes former running back Lydell Mitchell.

He was a start on Paterno’s 1971 Nittany Lion team that rolled over Texas in the Cotton Bowl.

Mitchell admits the handling of Paterno’s firing still bothers him and he says he sensed Joe’s pain in a conversation he had last month with the coach just days before his death.

“He said to me I love Penn State.  I’ve been here all my life and I kind of wish they’d reach out to me.  They fired me and everything, but I kind of wish they’d reach out to me.” 

Mitchell added, “I think that would have given him some type of closure.  He did the right thing, took it to the proper authorities.  In his mind if they would have reached out, that would have brought some closure and I don’t think he would have died of a broken heart.”