No Joe: Death of Paterno

"A man reaches out to touch the statue of Joe Paterno, the former Penn State football coach, shortly after hearing of Paterno's death outside of Beaver Stadium on January 22, 2012 in State College, Pennsylvania. Paterno, the winningest coach in major college football, died at 85 due to complications of lung cancer."

State College, known as Happy Valley, turned into a somber depression this past week.

Legendary Penn State coach Joe Paterno, the winningest coach in major college football, died at the age of 85

Last Saturday, driving up late into the night with conflicting information of Paterno's death gave me a lot of time to prepare for the story that I'd be covering for Getty Images.

On Sunday morning, I'd later come to find out that after taking a simple building mug of the hospital where Paterno was fighting for his life, that he passed, seconds later.

From that point on, those in the community, whether students, alumni or residents, near and afar, would spend the week reflecting, remembering the man they knew as "JoePa."

From chanting students at the bronze statue outside the football stadium, which was turned into a memorial, growing by the hour, to the quiet mourners filling every square-foot of concrete sidewalk through town, it was all clear, yet complicated to understand.

It was obvious that things took a turn for a worse after his firing in November 2011

Loss and celebration, hands joined at the memorial, tears shed at the viewings, it was a tranquil week that took an emotion toll on nearly everyone I passed and talked to. Though I try, it's difficult to sum up, I don't think a single adjective could describe the week.

The above images are my initial edit of the second part of my story entitled, "No Joe." I never once saw Joe Paterno - not last time I was there covering his firing, and not this time assigned to document the reaction of his death. The first part can be seen here.

I hope these images, from my previous visit and now, show and evoke an emotion.