Sens. Bob Casey and Pat Toomey, and U.S. Rep. Glenn Thompson — all who represent Pennsylvania — have teamed up to write a letter to President Obama nominating Penn State football legend Joe Paterno for the Presidential Medal of Freedom. the highest honor given to civilians.
The letter rattled off many of coach Paterno’s accomplishments, including 402 career wins, five undefeated teams, two national championship teams, three Big Ten conference championship wins, and — of course — being named “Coach Of The Year” five times by the American Football Coaches Association. It also made mention of Paterno’s generous financial donations and his contributions to academic life at Penn State, where he’s been conducting his “Grand Experiment” in successfully melding academics and athletics since 1966 — producing “16 Hall of Fame Scholar-Athletes, 47 Academic All-Americans, and 18 NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship winners.”
The Presidential Medal of Freedom was first created by President Harry Truman after World War II to honor people who’ve made an “especially meritorious contribution” to their respective fields, or for protecting or serving the interests of the country at large. Previous recipients have included journalist Edward R. Murrow (1964), artist Norman Rockwell (1977), actor John Wayne (1980) and poet Maya Angelou (2011). Paterno was actually nominated for the Medal of Freedom last year, but he didn’t make the final cut.
