The Allentown Central Catholic grad says Paterno's legacy is secure. See PHOTOS and watch VIDEO of the viewing. Watch video
Michael Cerimele, right, a member of the honor guard, greets a mourner Tuesday as she files through the Pasquerilla Spiritual Center on the Penn State campus for the viewing for former Penn State coach Joe Paterno.They filed past Joe Paterno's closed casket -- more than 10,000 in the first five hours alone Tuesday. Mike Cerimele stood in awe.
Cerimele, a 1996 Allentown Central Catholic graduate who played fullback for the Nittany Lions in the late 1990s, stood watch in an honor guard for about an hour beside Paterno's remains in the Pasquerilla Spiritual Center on campus.
It's an experience that Cerimele said he'll cherish for a lifetime.
"I would stand there all night if I had to for the guy," he said afterward. "It was truly amazing to stand up there and see the people from all walks of life speak their piece to him. All I kept thinking is, 'Look at all the different types of people walking through here.'
"These were people who probably never had a conversation with Joe -- they knew him just as fans -- and to see their emotion is humbling."Mourners filed past a black-and-white portrait of Paterno, his arms crossed, and the polished casket festooned with a spray of white roses.
Cerimele broke from his station on several occasions to reach out to folks and even give some a hug as they paid their respects."They needed something," said Cerimele, who lives in Allentown's West End and graduated from Penn State in 2000. "You could tell."Football players past and present took turns, working in shifts of 45 minutes or so, to stand on either side of Paterno's casket. Cerimele said he was honored to do so.
Asked what he learned from Paterno, college football's winningest coach, Cerimele's response was swift: "How to become a man," he said.
"It's a goal of all guys, trying to find our way and figure it out. He gave us pieces of the puzzle. It's our duty to carry it out and be the men he wants us to be."Cerimele said he didn't come to understand the impact Paterno had on his life until after his college days ended.
"I thought I did," he said. "Until you're here and witness this, you can't appreciate it. The impact he had on all of us (former players) is incredible."Cerimele works at Velocity Sports Performance in Allentown, helping to train other athletes.
He cast aside suggestions that Paterno's legacy will be stained by the child sex abuse scandal that has engulfed Happy Valley or that Penn State's run as a model football program has ended.
"I know what Joe Paterno is all about," Cerimele said. "Spend an hour of your time here today. This place is going to be fine. Joe wouldn't want it any other way."