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Remembering Paterno at His Best

Harrisburg Patriot-News

Maybe you will never be convinced Joe Paterno was a good man who made one catastrophic mistake, but do you have time for just one story?

 

In 2000, Penn State freshman defensive back Adam Taliaferro had his spine crushed when tackling an Ohio State player. He lay on that September field paralyzed and panicked.

 

The first person he saw when he opened his eyes was Paterno, who died Sunday at 85.

 

"He could see I was losing it, but his eyes stayed totally calm," Taliaferro remembers. "And I remember that familiar, high-pitched voice, going, 'You're gonna get through this, Kid. You're gonna be OK.' And I just trusted him. I believed it."

 

Taliaferro wound up in a hospital bed in Philadelphia, everything frozen solid...

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