UPDATED @ 8 p.m.: A full report about “A Memorial for Joe” — by StateCollege.com’s Nate Mink — is now available on this page.
Earlier updates are posted below.
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UPDATED @ 6:38 p.m.: StateCollege.com has posted a number of photos from “A Memorial for Joe” in a gallery on this page.
Earlier updates are posted below.
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UPDATED @ 4:30 p.m.: The service concluded at 4:23 p.m., just more than two hours after it began. A lone trumpet player with the Penn State Blue Band ended the gathering by playing “Hail to the Lion” solo.
The final speaker was Jay Paterno, one of Joe and Sue Paterno’s sons, who quoted literature from multiple sources. He said his father “left this world with a clear conscience.”
“In the end, he takes integrity with him forever,” Jay Paterno said.
He said his father had an indomitable will — except when his will ran counter to that of his wife, Sue Paterno.
Sue Paterno brought music — opera, in fact — into his life, Jay Paterno said, appearing to fuse the metaphorical with the literal.
“Their artistry of love and skill became a driving force on this campus, benefiting all aspects of this university,” Jay Paterno said of his parents.
Together, he said, they created a masterpiece in their lives.
Jay Paterno also said that Penn State football players — current and former — are his father’s legacy.
“Your lives are his legacy,” Jay Paterno said. “Your families — the people you reach — are his legacy. The ‘Grand Experiment,’ success with honor, was a ripple that has grown into a tsunami washing across the world.”
At Penn State, Jay Paterno said, football players, found the embodiment of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s dream: Black and white student-athletes holding hands in a huddle, judged by the content of their character.
“When the world would get crazy, Joe would say to me: ‘If we could just get them all in a locker room before a game and get them in a huddle and (holding) hands” for a common cause, Jay Paterno said.
Even through his difficult final weeks, Jay Paterno said, his father maintained his belief in his dream of Penn State. He said his father wanted Penn State to continue to thrive — and he didn’t want anyone to feel bad for him, Jay Paterno added.
Among his final words, Jay Paterno reflected on why his father had players recite the Lord’s Prayer after every football game. He said the reason, by Joe Paterno’s own explanation, was in two words within the prayer: “we” and “us.”
“Every pronoun is plural,” Jay Paterno said. ” … Here, in the last act after every football game, was a reminder from Joe that it was never about him.”
It was, rather, about “we” and “us,” Jay Paterno said.
He began to close his comments by leading the assembled in the Lord’s Prayer, asking them to stand and join hands. They did.
Finally, Jay Paterno shared what he said were his final words to his father.
He whispered into Joe Paterno’s ear, he said: “Dad, you won. You did all you could do. You’ve done enough. We all love you. You’ve won. You can go home now.”
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UPDATED @ 3:53 p.m.: Former football players representing multiple decades have continued to speak. Michael Robinson, representing the 2000s, said Paterno didn’t promise him things like cars — or that he would be the starting quarterback.
“He didn’t even promise me that I would always play quarterback,” Robinson said. But Paterno did promise him “that my education would be second to none. He promised me that I would have the opportunity to compete for the starting-quarterback position. He promised me that I would (play) in front of the best fans in college football.
“Again, Joe Paterno did not lie to me,” Robinson said.
” … My message today is: Don’t let what he stood for, don’t let the values that he instilled in all of us, don’t let that — just because he’s not with us, don’t let the dream, don’t let the (‘Grand) Experiment,’ don’t let the values go away. He’s in all of us.”
The assembled rose to give a standing ovation.
Michael Mauti spoke to represent the current decade.
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UPDATED @ 3:27 p.m.: Nike co-founder Phil Knight inspired three standing ovations with his remarks. The first came when he asserted that the villain in the child-sexual-abuse scandal is not in Paterno’s response to it.
That drew long-sustained applause.
Knight brought the assembled to their feet again when he said that Paterno, despite being fired, despite being excoriated by the news media, stuck to a central theme in his public appearances: “We are Penn State.”
Knight also questioned: Who is “the real trustee” at Penn State?
The assembled stood a third time and clapped as Knight left the microphone. His other comments highlighted Paterno’s impact on his — Knight’s — life. Knight has always been someone who looks for heroes, he said.
Speaking now is Jimmy Cefalo, another former Penn State football player.
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UPDATED @ 3:06 p.m.: Charlie Pittman, one of Paterno’s first two black recruits at Penn State, stirred a standing ovation with his remarks.
Many of Paterno’s former players have tried “to make society better in the ways that we can,” just as Paterno himself did, Pittman said.
But “Joe didn’t take himself too seriously, and he didn’t let us” do that, either, Pittman said.
Pittman played for Penn State in the 1960s.
“Joe made his (football) program his second family,” Pittman said. “Thank you, Sue, for sharing him with us.”
Pittman also said that “despite being pushed away from his beloved game and being under extreme pressure the last few months,” the former coach showed great grace in his final weeks.
Pittman got word of Paterno’s death on his — Pittman’s — own birthday, he said.
“What an omen,” Pittman said. He said those who believe in Paterno’s “Grand Experiment” — the fusing of academic and athletic excellence — must uphold it.
“It is needed now more than ever,” Pittman said. “Rest in peace, Coach. We’ll take it from here.”
Other speakers thus far have included the first “mayor” of Paternoville and Susan Welch, the dean of Penn State’s College of the Liberal Arts. In addition, a tribute video that was produced on the occasion of Paterno’s 400th football win — in 2010 — was shown, too.
Phil Knight, the co-founder and chairman of Nike, is speaking now.
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UPDATED @ 2:42 p.m.: “The bigger the game, the quieter (Paterno) was in practice,” Todd Blackledge said in his remarks. “But the gleam in his eyes told the story.”
Blackledge said Paterno was “at his best under pressure” and taught his players to compete with honor and integrity. That’s what set Paterno apart from his peers, Blackledge said.
“It wasn’t just compete hard and try to win, but do it the right way,” Blackledge said. “Always try to do it the right way.”
Paterno’s success and impact didn’t end with his death, Blackledge added. He said Paterno and his impact will live on at Penn State — and in people’s hearts — for years to come.
Speakers thus far also have included a student representing the Paterno Fellows program at Penn State. She said the Paterno way has “become the Penn State way. And success with honor has become the standard.”
Speaking now is Charlie Pittman, who was a Penn State football player in the 1960s. He was one of Paterno’s first black recruits at Penn State.
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UPDATED @ 2:25 p.m.: The service has begun. Father Matthew Laffey, who leads the Penn State Catholic Campus Ministry, said that Paterno “taught us all, in life itself: Be a team player.”
One of God’s greatest gifts to the world, Laffey said, was Paterno.
“As a family man, he reminded us: Family first,” Laffey said. “Love those around you. Appreciate their uniqueness” and embrace love, forgiveness, loyalty and respect.
Kenny Jackson, a former Penn State football player, was also among the first speakers. He said Paterno deflected praise and “never thought he was the show.
“But today, my teacher, you have no choice. Today we are going to show you how much we love you.”
Jackson also paid tribute to Sue Paterno, to whom the assembled gave another sustained standing ovation.
After Jackson’s remarks, a video presentation set to “Have I Told You Lately?” showed some highlights of the Paterno years at Penn State.
Former Penn State football player Todd Blackledge is speaking now.
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Initial report, posted @ 2:09 p.m. Jan. 26:
Nearly 13,000 mourners are filling the Bryce Jordan Center on Thursday afternoon for “A Memorial for Joe,” a public memorial service for Joe Paterno.
They gave the Paterno family a sustained standing ovation when family members arrived shortly after 2 p.m. in the center’s main arena.
The arena is adorned simply, with a plain stage and an array of green plants at one end. More than 30 rows of movable seats are lined up on the arena floor, an addition to the rows of stadium-style seating in the facility.
Attendees include a wide variety of students, alumni, Penn State employees, administrators, former football players and many others.
The service is scheduled to start at 2 p.m., though it appears the start time will be slightly delayed. StateCollege.com will be providing coverage through the afternoon.
Links to live coverage are available via this page.
Related coverage is available via the page linked below.
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