JOE PATERNO Hand Signed PENN STATE Mini Helmet

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FEATURED IS A PENN STATE NITTANY LIONS RIDDELL MINI HELMET HAND SIGNED BY MR. JOE PATERNO

Joseph Vincent Paterno (born December 21, 1926, in Brooklyn, New York), nicknamed JoePa, is the iconic head coach of Pennsylvania State University's college football team, a position he has held since 1966

Paterno grew up during the Depression. He nearly had to leave high school because the tuition of $20 a month was such a burden for his family. In 1944, Paterno graduated from Brooklyn Prep and headed to Brown University to study and play football. At Brown he was a member of Delta Kappa Epsilon fraternity. There, he was a capable but unspectacular quarterback and also played cornerback. He currently still shares, along with Greg Parker, the Brown University record for career interceptions with 14. It was at Brown that he honed his skills as a leader, allowing him to go into coaching after graduation in 1950, joining Hall of Famer Rip Engle at Penn State as an assistant coach. Paterno thought his stint as an assistant coach would be brief, before going to law school. He never went to law school and instead became one of the most famous and recognizable coaches of any sport in the United States.

At age 80, Paterno will be entering his 57th season at the University as an assistant or head coach in 2007, holding the record for any football coach at any university. The 2006 season marked Joe Paterno’s 41st season pacing the sidelines as head coach of the Nittany Lions, tying him for the most years at a single institution with Amos Alonzo Stagg.

With Penn State's latest win over the Tennessee Volunteers, Joe Paterno has the second most NCAA Division I-A football wins with a total record of 363 wins, 121 losses, and 3 ties. He is second after Bobby Bowden, currently of Florida State. Following a 3-overtime victory over FSU in the 2006 Orange Bowl, Paterno has a 7-1 all-time record against Bowden (6-0 against Bowden's West Virginia teams and 1-1 against Bowden's Florida State teams).

Paterno holds more bowl victories (22) than any coach in history. He also tops the list of bowl appearances with 33. He has a bowl record of 22 wins, 10 losses, and 1 tie. Paterno is the only coach with the distinction of having won each of the current four major bowls -- Rose, Orange, Fiesta, and Sugar -- as well as the Cotton Bowl, at least once.

Overall, Paterno has led Penn State to two National Championships (1982 and 1986) and five undefeated seasons (1968, 1969, 1973, 1986, and 1994). With Penn State, he has won the Orange Bowl (1968, 1969, 1973, and 2005), the Cotton Bowl (1972 and 1974), the Fiesta Bowl (1977, 1980, 1981, 1986, 1991, and 1996), the Liberty Bowl (1979), the Sugar Bowl (1982), the Aloha Bowl (1983), the Holiday Bowl (1989), the Citrus Bowl (1993), the Rose Bowl (1994), the Outback Bowl (1995, 1998, and 2007), and the Alamo Bowl (1999). Under Paterno, Penn State has been the Big Ten Conference Football Champions two times (1994 and 2005). Joe has had 21 finishes in the Top 10 national rankings.

Following the 1986 championship season, Paterno was named "Sportsman of the Year" by Sports Illustrated magazine. In 2005, following an 11-1 comeback season in which the Lions won a share of the Big Ten title and a BCS berth, Paterno was named the 2005 AP Coach of the Year, and the 2005 Walter Camp Coach of the Year.

On May 16, 2006 Paterno was elected to the College Football Hall of Fame along with Bobby Bowden after the National Football Foundation decided to change its rules and allow any coach over the age of 75 to be eligible for the Hall of Fame instead of having to wait for an individual to be retired. However, on November 4, 2006, he was injured during a sideline collision that occurred during a game against Wisconsin. As a result of his injuries, he was unable to travel to the induction ceremonies in New York City and the National Football Foundation announced that he will instead be inducted as a part of the hall of fame class of 2007

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