Jay Paterno breaks down at game,'Dad, I wish you were here': Joe Paterno's son breaks down in tears after Penn State game.Joe Paterno's son broke down in tears after Penn State's emotional game yesterday which followed the surprise firing of his father, the head coach.
In an interview with an ESPN reporter after the Lions played - in their first game in over 60 years without Joe Paterno - quarterbacks coach Jay addressed his father directly.'Dad, I wish you were here,' he said, his voice cracking.
We love you.' he added crying, before hurrying away from the camera and into the tunnel at the Beaver Stadium.Later, he was able to joke about the interview.
'If he (Paterno) saw me break down like I did, I'm probably going to hear about it for the rest of my life,' he told the Philadelphia Inquirer.
'So I hope he wasn't watching, I hope he doesn't see it.'
Wearing the white coat his father wore when he passed Bear Bryant with his 324th career victory in 2001, Jay had dropped off a letter he had written both of his parents early Saturday morning.
'One of the things I told him was, you know, through my life you and I haven't always seen eye to eye but generally that's because I had to grow up to catch up and make eye contact with you,' Jay told the Inquirer.
He added that he wanted his father and mother to know 'just how proud of them I am'.
The younger Paterno, who made a rare coaching appearance from the sideline, said his father planned to watch the game on TV to show his former players that he still cared.
More than 100,000 people gathered at Beaver Stadium in this central Pennsylvania city for the first time since pedophilia charges were brought against a long-time assistant coach, and two school officials were charged in an alleged cover-up.
The beleaguered team went on to lose against Nebraska, 17 to 14, even though they were ranked higher.
While they typically dress in all white, the crowd was dressed in blue as a sign of support for the victims of the alleged sexual assault by the team's former assistant coach Jerry Sandusky.
Jay Paterno said he had not slept after his father was fired as head coach on Wednesday.
The week was difficult on the entire family, Jay added and said that it was 'tough' walking into practice without his father on Thursday.
He added: 'The world has kind of been turned upside down.'
Tom Bradley, Penn State's interim head coach, was reported to have said: 'I knew it was going to be extremely emotional for him, especially when I asked him to come down on the sideline. But I thought he did a great job.'
The case of Sandusky, a former defensive coordinator accused of years of abuse of boys that allegedly was covered up by school officials, has shaken the university and its football programme
Penn State was also without assistant coach Mike McQueary, a central figure in the Sandusky scandal, who was put on paid administrative leave on Friday.
McQueary has testified to a grand jury that he saw Sandusky rape a boy in the showers at a campus locker room in 2002 and said he reported it to Paterno.
Paterno, who has not been charged, said he told his boss but did not call the police.
The 83-year-old, who was in his 46th year as head coach of the Nittany Lions and winner of two national championships, has been criticised for not doing more to intervene when incidents of Sandusky's abuse came to light.
In an interview with an ESPN reporter after the Lions played - in their first game in over 60 years without Joe Paterno - quarterbacks coach Jay addressed his father directly.'Dad, I wish you were here,' he said, his voice cracking.
We love you.' he added crying, before hurrying away from the camera and into the tunnel at the Beaver Stadium.Later, he was able to joke about the interview.
'If he (Paterno) saw me break down like I did, I'm probably going to hear about it for the rest of my life,' he told the Philadelphia Inquirer.
'So I hope he wasn't watching, I hope he doesn't see it.'
Wearing the white coat his father wore when he passed Bear Bryant with his 324th career victory in 2001, Jay had dropped off a letter he had written both of his parents early Saturday morning.
'One of the things I told him was, you know, through my life you and I haven't always seen eye to eye but generally that's because I had to grow up to catch up and make eye contact with you,' Jay told the Inquirer.
He added that he wanted his father and mother to know 'just how proud of them I am'.
The younger Paterno, who made a rare coaching appearance from the sideline, said his father planned to watch the game on TV to show his former players that he still cared.
More than 100,000 people gathered at Beaver Stadium in this central Pennsylvania city for the first time since pedophilia charges were brought against a long-time assistant coach, and two school officials were charged in an alleged cover-up.
The beleaguered team went on to lose against Nebraska, 17 to 14, even though they were ranked higher.
While they typically dress in all white, the crowd was dressed in blue as a sign of support for the victims of the alleged sexual assault by the team's former assistant coach Jerry Sandusky.
Jay Paterno said he had not slept after his father was fired as head coach on Wednesday.
The week was difficult on the entire family, Jay added and said that it was 'tough' walking into practice without his father on Thursday.
He added: 'The world has kind of been turned upside down.'
Tom Bradley, Penn State's interim head coach, was reported to have said: 'I knew it was going to be extremely emotional for him, especially when I asked him to come down on the sideline. But I thought he did a great job.'
The case of Sandusky, a former defensive coordinator accused of years of abuse of boys that allegedly was covered up by school officials, has shaken the university and its football programme
Penn State was also without assistant coach Mike McQueary, a central figure in the Sandusky scandal, who was put on paid administrative leave on Friday.
McQueary has testified to a grand jury that he saw Sandusky rape a boy in the showers at a campus locker room in 2002 and said he reported it to Paterno.
Paterno, who has not been charged, said he told his boss but did not call the police.
The 83-year-old, who was in his 46th year as head coach of the Nittany Lions and winner of two national championships, has been criticised for not doing more to intervene when incidents of Sandusky's abuse came to light.