In a November 2006 game at Wisconsin, Penn State tight end Andrew Quarless caught a pass along the sideline and was tackled by Badger linebacker DeAndre Levy.
As the two careened out of bounds, Levy collided helmet-first with then 79-year-old Penn State coach Joe Paterno, breaking Paterno’s left leg.
Ten years later, Levy is calling that his ‘proudest moment in college.’
‘That dirtbag, man,” Levy, now in his seventh year with the Detroit Lions, says in a new interview with Men’s Health. “We’ve gotta stop prioritizing sports over humanity. Just because somebody can throw a football or coach football, they’re excluded from the wicked acts.”
Levy’s defensive teammate Anthony Zettel was recruited by Paterno and was a true freshman who redshirted on Paterno’s final team in 2011. Detroit head coach Jim Caldwell was an assistant coach at Penn State under Paterno from 1986-92.
Caldwell, who has often spoken highly of Paterno, told ESPN on Thursday that players can express their opinions, even those with which he does not agree.
‘Really, I think I’ve gone on record many times about how I feel about Joe,’ Caldwell said. ‘And in regard to our players making their statement about how they feel, I’d be hypocritical to tell you anything other than the fact that they can express their opinion.
‘We don’t all necessarily agree with it.’
Paterno was removed as head coach five years ago in the wake of child sexual abuse charges against former Penn State assistant Jerry Sandusky. Former Penn State assistant Mike McQueary had reported to Paterno in 2001 seeing Sandusky with a boy in a locker room shower. Paterno informed former Athletic Director Tim Curley and Vice President Gary Schultz who later spoke with McQueary. Both former administrators contend McQueary told them of nothing sexual.
Paterno, who died in January 2012, was never charged with a crime or accused of wrongdoing by law enforcement. The controversial 2012 university-commissioned investigative report led by Louis Freeh placed blame on Paterno, Curley, Schultz and Spanier for not reporting Sandusky to authorities.
Former Deputy Attorney General Frank Fina, who helped lead the investigation of the Sandusky case, told 60 Minutes in 2013 that there was no evidence Paterno participated in an alleged cover-up.
Unsealed depositions from Penn State’s civil settlements with Sandusky accusers revealed two men who claimed that they had informed Paterno of abuse by Sandusky in the 1970s. Those cases have not been tried in court or the subject of criminal investigation.
Sandusky was convicted in June 2012 on 45 counts related to child sexual abuse. He was sentence to 30-60 years in state prison and is currently appealing under the Post-Conviction Relief Act.
