Paul Warner, Associated Press Joe Paterno Click photo for larger image.

Joe Paterno could have been a lawyer, a professional football coach, a congressman, maybe even a senator.

He graduated with an Ivy League degree only to enter the coaching profession. He proceeded, in the ensuing years, to turn down deep-pocketed NFL owners and presidential pleas to run for political office. He chose instead to remain in rural State College, where he has coached football for more than a half century.

Ten days ago, Paterno signed a four-year contract extension that, if fulfilled, will keep him coaching well into his 81st year. Last week former presidents, longtime friends and others weighed in on Paterno, the new contract and his transcendence of the game.

For most, Paterno's decision to keep coaching wasn't a surprise but a reminder of what he stands for as a coach and educator.

Friend and rival

Paterno and Florida State coach Bobby Bowden are competing against each other for the most victories by a Division I-A coach. Bowden, 74 and entering his 51st season in college football, has 342 victories. Paterno, 77 and entering his 54th season, has 339.

Neither has plans to retire soon. Bowden signed a five-year contract last year that runs through 2008, the same year Paterno's new pact is set to expire.

"When I think of Joe I think of one of the greatest coaches in the history of college football," Bowden said. "People won't realize it until he dies. Joe has to go down as one of the finest examples of what a coach should be. I don't know of any weak points with him. The rest of us have weak points. He doesn't have any. His record at Penn State is impeccable. He's an icon. It goes beyond football."

Bowden has known Paterno for 42 years. He can recall without pause his first meeting with Penn State's legendary coach.

Click photo for larger image.

Bowden was a young head coach at a small school in Alabama and wanted to meet with the man who had one of the most prolific offenses in the country.

Short on cash but eager to learn from someone at a bigger school, Bowden set out on a winding road trip that finally landed him in University Park, where he met with coach Rip Engle and his talented assistant coach.

"I met him first in 1962," Bowden said. "I was at Howard College (now Samford) in Alabama. I saw Penn State play Georgia Tech play in the Gator Bowl that year. I had six children and was making $7,000 a year, so I had no money. I caught a train to Pittsburgh and then caught another train to Lewistown. When I got to Lewistown there was no transportation to Penn State, so I thumbed it. Some lady with three kids picked me up and took me to Penn State, and I stayed at the Nittany Lion Inn. Is that still there?"

It is and so is Paterno after all these years.

His friends the presidents

Paterno, a Republican, counts among his friends George Herbert Walker Bush, the 41st President of the United States, and Gerald Ford, the 38th President.

President Ford spoke to the Post-Gazette by telephone this week and discussed how much he and Paterno had in common. Both played college football: Ford at Michigan; Paterno at Brown. Both spent time at Ivy League institutions. Ford was the head boxing coach and assistant football coach at Yale in the late 1930s while attending law school there.

But their careers went in different directions when Ford practiced law and ran for Congress while Paterno shunned law school to pursue coaching.

"He transcends football," said Ford, who served as president from 1974-77. "I tried very strongly to get him to run for Congress. But he was so dedicated to Penn State and young people, he turned me down. Joe could have done anything he wanted to do in life because he's so dedicated."

Ford, who will turn 90 in July, marvels at Paterno's ability to coach the game at his age. As a former center at Michigan who was offered pro football contracts, Ford knows the physical demands on a coach who teaches the game.

"He's a real inspiration," Ford said. "I have nothing but the highest admiration for a classy guy like Joe. He's not only a great motivator of young people, but he always has the best interests of his community at heart. Penn State is lucky to have him agree to stay. He's had a superb career at Penn State and this contract extension is a reward for all of the work he has done there."

Bush, 79, who served as president from 1989-93, has known Paterno for more than a quarter century. Paterno campaigned for Bush in 1980 and helped Bush carry the Pennsylvania primary. Ronald Reagan eventually won the nomination and became president with Bush serving as his vice president for eight years. When Bush won the Republican nomination for president in 1988, Paterno seconded the nomination at the Republican National Convention.

	Paterno with Florida State coach Bobby Bowden -- the two winningest coaches in major-college football history -- before the 1990 Blockbuster Bowl. Click photo for larger image.

Earlier this spring, Bush helped Paterno's son, Scott, raise $50,000 at a fund-raiser for Scott's congressional campaign. The two families are close and Bush, who was traveling out of the country last week, took the time to e-mail some thoughts on Paterno.

"I think it's great that Joe has signed on for a long time to come," Bush wrote. "He is a great coach, a great man, a sports hero and an icon. He loves the game and the game loves him. This new contract sends out a strong message to the entire country namely, even if one is along in years one can still be in the arena, still be leading and in Joe's case teaching not just football but character as well."

A state treasure

Democratic governor Ed Rendell got to know Paterno on a personal basis for the first time at a governor's dinner last year that recognized excellence in sports. Paterno, Julius Erving and Franco Harris were honored at the dinner.

"Joe is a great football coach and a teacher of life lessons," Rendell said. "I wish I would have transcribed the dinner. The things Franco was saying about him. ... A good football coach can change lives. That's what Joe does."

Rendell applauds Penn State's decision to extend Paterno's contract. He said it should send a message to the rest of the NCAA member schools.

"I was pleased when I heard," he said. "Age is always relative. Listen, when I was growing up the leaders of the free world were Charles de Gaul and Winston Churchill. They were both in their 80s. If people can run countries in their 80s, I think they can run a football team. Joe has more energy than a lot of 50 year old people I know.

Paterno on the campaign trail with President Bush at a 1992 fund-raiser in Bowmansdale, Pa. Click photo for larger image.

"And I think Penn State made a great statement for college athletics. Wins and losses don't mean as much as education. College athletics should stand for something more than winning or losing."

Rendell only has one complaint concerning Paterno: "He's a little bit conservative on offense, more than I would be," Rendell said. "But what do I know? I'm just a fan."

Almost a Steeler

Steelers owner Dan Rooney has known Paterno for more than 40 years. Three years into his stint as head coach at Penn State, Rooney tried to hire Paterno as Steelers head coach in 1969.

Paterno was a hot commodity after leading Penn State to an undefeated 11-0 record and a No. 2 ranking in the Associated Press poll.

Paterno remained at Penn State, turning down a generous offer from Rooney, and the Steelers hired Chuck Noll. How different things might have been in Pittsburgh and University Park had Paterno accepted the offer. Would the Steelers have won four Super Bowls in six years and hold the title as greatest pro football dynasty of all-time? Would Penn State have gone on to win 315 games and two national championships over the next 35 years?

"I can tell you Penn State would have been the loser in that situation," Rooney said. "I wrote him a letter once and told him he was ideal for college football. This was coming from a guy who tried to take him away from that. He is the perfect coach for college football. But that doesn't mean I don't think he could have done it in the pros because I think he could have."

VWHC Campbell, Post-Gazette As a democrat, you might expect Gov. Ed Rendell to view Paterno as too conservative. But it has nothing to do with his politics and everything to do with his play calling. Click photo for larger image.

It was around that time that Paterno had begun dreaming up his Grand Experiment, which he described as "not football that puts winning first, but first-class football played by students who put first-class lives first." It was an ideal he brought with him from Brown. He wanted players who strived for learning as much as winning.

Paterno has proved the Grand Experiment a success. He graduated 86 percent of his players according to the 2003 NCAA Division I graduation rates report, the fourth highest rate among the 117 Division I-A schools that compete in football.

Rooney said he thinks of one word when he thinks of Paterno: "Greatness."

"He's an outstanding coach and he's done it the right way. He's been not only a leader but an inspiration to other colleges in how you conduct a program, thinking of kids and their education and graduation rates. I have heard so many stories over the years of how he has backed kids and helped get guys into medical school after they played for him. He's been that kind of guy. He's an outstanding human being. I don't think there's a person I would rate any higher than Joe."

A view from afar

Pulitzer prize wining journalist and noted sports essayist David Halberstam has never met Paterno, but has admired him for years. He is a Penn State rooter because his father attended school there and is impressed with Paterno's ability to maintain a winning program while not circumventing the rules.

"It's always seemed to me that Paterno is one of those special men," Halberstam said. "He brings honor to what he does. He's one of those rare people who has lived up to the ideals of intercollegiate athletics.

"He's one of those people who has a mystique that you hear about and then it turns out to be true. There have been no flaws in his career. I know him only distantly from television and sports news, but he seems to be one of those people who transcends sports."