Paterno hospitalized after re-injuring pelvis
The Associated Press reported Sunday afternoon that former Penn State coach Joe Paterno was admitted to the hospital Sunday after re-fracturing his pelvis after falling at home. The report, which cites a source close to the Paterno family, told the AP that no surgery would be required.
STATE COLLEGE, Pa. - Former Penn State football coach Joe Paterno re-fractured his pelvis after falling at his home Saturday but was expected to make a full recovery, the family's lawyer confirmed through a firm spokesman on Sunday.
Paterno was admitted to the hospital on Sunday and will not require surgery, according to the Associated Press, which initially broke the news of the injury on Sunday.
Wick Sollers, who the Paternos retained last month in the wake of the scandal that led to the coach's firing, confirmed that the AP report was "accurate" through a spokesman from the law firm of King and Spalding.
Paterno, who was fired by Penn State's Board of Trustees Nov. 9 in the fallout from child sex abuse allegations against former assistant Jerry Sandusky, has also been undergoing treatment for lung cancer. The AP reported that Paterno will remain in the hospital so he can receive cancer treatments as he recovers from his pelvis injury, though a source told The Inquirer Sunday that that element of the story was "unclear."
Paterno, the winningest coach in the history of Division I football, has not spoken publicly since his firing. He turns 85 on Dec. 21.
Just days after his removal from the post he held since 1966, Paterno was diagnosed with what his son Scott described as a treatable form of lung cancer. He has been undergoing radiation and chemotherapy, and a source said Thursday that Paterno was "progressing."
This is the second time this year that Paterno has injured his pelvis. On Aug. 7, wide receiver Devon Smith accidentally blindsided the coach in a preseason practice. Paterno walked with the aid of a cane early in the season and spent a majority of the season coaching upstairs in the coaches' box.
On Saturday, the same day as the injury, Paterno's son Jay, who is also Penn State's quarterbacks coach, tweeted "great walk with my dad this afternoon."
--Jake Kaplan