Hundreds lined up outside the Pasquerilla Spiritual Center this morning to pay their respects to a man they say taught them about much more than football. Watch video
Hundreds of former Penn State football players lined up outside the Pasquerilla Spiritual Center this morning to pay their respects to Joe Paterno's family.A public viewing is planned for 1 o'clock this afternoon, but a private viewing is happening this morning for those with close ties to the football team.
Notable attendees include NFL Hall of Famer Franco Harris, and Kerry Collins, an NFL quarterback. Former quarterback and assistant coach Mike McQueary, whose testimony is at the heart of the Jerry Sandusky hearing, also arrived at the viewing this morning.
Jim Pursley, who played linebacker at Penn State and graduated in 2001, said Paterno taught his players about much more than football.
"He taught you the value of things like punctuality, character and integrity. He taught you the value of a man's word and how you present yourself. At 18, that has an impact," he said. "I saw first-hand the profoundly positive impact he had."Pursley, who attended Conestoga High School in suburban Philadelphia before going to Penn State, now lives in Chicago, where he works for a healthcare technology company.
Easton police Chief Larry Palmer, who served as the football team student manager for three years in the 1980s, traveled to campus today with his wife, Donna. He said people will have to weigh Paterno's legacy once all of the internal investigations surrounding the Sandusky scandal are resolved.
"I know what he gave to me -- life lessons that I will never forget," he said. "I worked for Joe. You learned a lot from him and his staff. You learned about the philosophy of hard work, honor, success and doing things the right way. He reinforced that hard work ethic and what it's like to be a family."Inside the viewing, a closed casket is flanked by two past and present Penn State football players. The players will rotate in 45-minute shifts throughout the private and public viewings.
Former players hugged friends they hadn't seen in years and caught up as they waited to pay their respects to Joe's widow, Sue, and family.
Kyle Brady, a first-round NFL draft pick who starred at tight end for the Nittany Lions in the early 1990s, said he had a chance a couple of years ago to thank Joe Paterno one-on-one for the guidance he provided years earlier.
"I'll always be grateful to him," said Brady, who was drafted by the New York Jets and played more than a dozen years in the NFL. "He demanded so much of all of us. At times, we didn't know why. But now we understand why. He was trying to mold us into men."