The turn for the worse in Paterno’s condition on Saturday sent his scandal-scarred program, and the larger university community that seemed to revolve around that program, to yet another emotional nadir. Paterno, at one time perhaps the most beloved coach in America, had been fired by the school’s Board of Trustees on Nov. 9 in the wake of a child sex-abuse scandal involving longtime Penn State defensive coordinator Jerry Sandusky. Nine days later, it was revealed Paterno had lung cancer.
Paterno, who won two national championships and a Division I-record 409 games in his 46 seasons as Penn State’s head coach, was hospitalized most recently on Jan. 13, just hours after granting an interview to a Washington Post reporter in his State College home, his first and only interview since the Sandusky scandal broke.
Sitting up in his bed with a blanket over his legs, and speaking in a hoarse whisper, Paterno seemed fully aware of his impending mortality, saying: “I’m worried about my kids, my family. They’re concerned about me, so I’m concerned about them.” Family members also understood that his health was slipping rapidly.
In that same interview, conducted over two days at the Paterno home, he acknowledged not knowing how to react when graduate assistant Michael McQueary approached him in 2002 with an account of Sandusky having inappropriate sexual contact with a boy in the Penn State locker room.
“I didn’t know exactly how to handle it,” Paterno said. “I backed away and turned it over to some other people, people I thought would have a little more expertise than I did. It didn’t work out that way.”
Three other top university officials lost their jobs in the wake of the scandal, and Sandusky faces 52 counts of child molestation.
As news of Paterno’s condition spread Saturday night, hundreds of students gathered at his bronze statue outside Beaver Stadium for an impromptu vigil, according to the Centre Daily Times, while police barricaded McKee Street, where Paterno and wife Sue live.
The first false report of Paterno’s death apparently was made by Onward State, a Penn State student-run Web site, at 8:45 p.m. Two minutes later, CBS Sports’s Web site posted a blog item saying Paterno had died.
Another 10 minutes went by before the first official refuting of the false reports, and at 9:22 p.m., Scott Paterno, another of Paterno’s sons, tweeted: “Dad is alive but in serious condition. We continue to ask for your prayers and privacy during this time.”
Devon Edwards, the Onward State managing editor, announced his resignation late Saturday night.
“I take full responsibility for the events that transpired tonight, and for the black mark upon the organization that I have caused,” he wrote on Facebook.
Staff writer Sally Jenkins contributed to this report.
Joe Paterno (pictured in 2006) was the head coach of the Penn State Nittany Lions football team from 1966 to 2011.
A posting yesterday on the social networking web site Twitter by the 's student  ''Onward State'', which incorrectly reported the death of former   coach , has led to the resignation of one of its managing editors. Paterno died today.

Paterno had been hospitalized over the weekend due to complications from , and was in serious condition. The Onward State blog had picked up word of his death at the age of 85, which was then posted on Twitter at 8:45 PM EST. Various news organizations began to pick up the story after word of the report had been picked up by . Penn State students held a  in front of a statue of Paterno on campus after word of the erroneous passing.

However, CBS soon retracted the story after posts from other Paterno family members on Twitter reported that Joe had not died. At 10:20 PM EST, the managing editor for Onward State, Devon Edwards, officially retracted the story, saying in another tweet; "Our 8:45 pm tweet about Joe Paterno's death appears to be inaccurate, according to @JayPaterno, who says he's alive. We were confident when we ran with it, and are still trying to figure out where our process failed. We apologize sincerely for error." Additionally, Edwards also announced that he would be resigning from his position at Onward State, effective immediately.
 
In a blog post officially announcing his resignation, Edwards explained that "In this day and age, getting it first often conflicts with getting it right, but our intention was never to fall into that chasm. All I can do now is promise that in the future, we will exercise caution, restraint, and humility."

This morning, a report officially confirmed that Joe Paterno had died — today — from lung cancer at the age of 85.



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