JoePa, forever

Penn State football coach Joe Paterno has been given a new three-year contract extension.

How many times have sports fans read that headline?

Well, considering that “JoePa,” to use his charming nickname, is incredibly old, I’m guessing that sports fans have read that sentence many, many times.

In fact, JoePa will turn 82 on Sunday. I’m not sure that his life on this earth will be extended three more years.

He’s already been at Penn State for a lifetime or two.

For 16 years, he was an assistant coach. He took over the top spot in 1966, when a war in a place called Vietnam was starting to heat up.

If he makes it through next season, that would be 60 full years on the Nittany Lion coaching staff.

And he’s not easing out the door, either.

When asked how much longer he would keep holding the university hostage, I mean, coaching the football team, he said. “There’s no reason for me not to think that I can go for a while. Now how long is a while? I don’t know.”

Here’s a hint, Joe: When you start coaching the grandchildren of kids you coached years ago, it’s time to hang it up.