Two months after a scandal that rocked the college football world – and the country, for that matter – former Penn State head coach Joe Paterno is gone, leaving a much different legacy than originally planned.

Instead of going out as a legend, the game’s winningest coach and the last standing throwback to a completely different era of loyalty and consistency, Paterno will forever be tied to the sex scandal of his former assistant Jerry Sandusky, a predator who used his position of power and football resume to prey on teenage boys.

Sadly, Paterno’s legacy is tainted. There will always be an asterisk. Child molestation will forever be a footnote to a six-decade long coaching career. This is something that can never be escaped.

It should also be a lesson to all of us still in the process of writing our legacies and creating our storylines; one mistake can wipe out and bury a lifetime of ultimate success.

Years back, Joe Pa was faced with one of those life-changing decision we all encounter on some level. There was a fork in the road and sadly, he chose wrong.

Paterno had do or die moment and he failed. Maybe it would’ve impacted his career path and tenure at Penn State, but he could’ve made a difference in the lives of some young men who were violated and forever damaged. If he had it all to do over again, there’s no doubt, knowing what he eventually knew, how he’d have reacted.

Of course life doesn’t allow do-overs. Flinch in the moment, choose wrong and you’ll forever be plagued and haunted.

So many are quick to point the finger at Paterno, talking about what he should’ve done and how they’d have handled a similar predicament, but it’s all theory until you’re truly facing something of that magnitude.

Paterno was in his seventies when his friend and co-worker Sandusky went off the rails and for an old schooler born in Brooklyn back in 1926, the world was a different place. Certain things simply weren’t discussed or dealt with. Especially anything of a taboo nature or dealing with perversion and mental illness.

It begs the question; did Paterno really turn a blind eye in effort to protect a friend, or did is simply not know how to process how to deal and how to truly react, based on age, generation and growing up in a world that didn’t “deal” with offenses of that nature?

Over time we’ve become a much more open society, ready to deal, ready to get to the bottom of things, ready to work through, ready to educate and ready lie on a therapist’s coach, in effort to heal. But those are relatively newer ways of thinking and processing. That didn’t exist in the don’t ask / don’t tell type of world that today’s eighty-somethings grew up in.

There was a lot of denial and an inability to truly face something as grave as the molestation of children.

None of this is meant to deter from the fact that Paterno colossally failed in the biggest moment of his life. It’s simply to explain the “why” regarding how a good man from the Greatest Generation lacked the know-how to process and deal with something of this nature, despite being a successful leader in so many other aspects of life and career.

For those who don’t know the Paterno story, the Cliff Notes version.

Joseph Vincent Paterno was born in Brooklyn on December 21st, 1926. He played football at Brown University and was hired as an assistant at Penn State in 1950, where he’d earn a check for the next six decades.

Fifteen years into his tenure, Paterno was named head coach, shortly after the 1965 season came to a close. He would remain the face and leader of the Nittany Lions football program for the next forty-six years.

During that span Paterno accumulated 409 wins – the most in Division I-A history – and reached 37 bowl games. Penn State won two national championships under Paterno, the first in 1982 and a second in 1986, topping a seemingly-invincible Miami squad, 14-10, in the 1987 Fiesta Bowl.

Paterno’s 1994 squad went 12-0, beating No. 12 Oregon in the Rose Bowl, but in the pre-BCS days, didn’t get a shot at No. 1 Nebraska, which beat No. 3 Miami in the 1995 Orange Bowl.

Over a decade later, Penn State strung together an 11-1 run, topping Florida State in the 2006 Orange Bowl, capping a 2005 season whose lone blemish was a last-second loss to Michigan, 27-25.

Off-the-field Paterno donated millions of dollars to his beloved university and has shaped the lives of an untold number of players, coaches and staffers, including former tight end, team captain and current Miami head football coach Al Golden. Golden took to Twitter to state the following about his former coach and mentor:

“Walter Payton once said, “Always remember that every opportunity you have to meet someone is an opportunity to leave a piece of yourself.” Joe Paterno not only fulfilled a promise he made to his father by making an impact, he left an indelible piece of himself with everyone he touched. The values Coach Paterno instilled in each of us fortunate enough to play for or work alongside him will never be diminished. They are manifested in our leadership, character, class and dedication to improving the lives of others in the classroom, workforce, and community. They are distinctly evident in the way we raise our children and the types of husbands and fathers we have grown to be. I am forever grateful for the impact that Joseph Vincent Paterno has made on my life and I am not ashamed to say to Coach and his family … that the way of your former players will carry your legacy forward is by humbly improving the lives of those we touch every day. #ThankUJoe!”

Former player Adam Taliaferro also talks of Paterno shaping his life. Taliaferro was paralyzed as a freshman back in 2000 and credits his former coach for helping him through that frightening moment, as well as the long road to recovery that followed.

Paterno few to Philadelphia every other week to spend hospital time with Taliaferro. A year later he led Penn State onto the field for the 2001 season opener against Miami. where he skipped and then jogged onto the field -after originally only being given a 3% chance to walk again.

Taliaferro was a student-assistant under Paterno, earned a degree from Penn State in 2005, enrolled at Rutgers School of Law, earned a J.D in 2008 and became an attorney. He runs his own foundation which helps student athletics with head or spinal injuries, is a motivational speaker and was recently elected to serve on the Gloucester County Board of Chosen Freeholders, where he assumed office three weeks ago.

Golden and Taliaferro-like stories exist by the hundreds regarding Paterno’s long-reaching impact, but unfortunately a crater-sized blemish has the ability to shadow decades of amazingness.

The general public, outsiders and critics aren’t at fault for choosing to define Paterno for his role in the Sandusky cover up. Paterno was a father. He had sons. How would he have reacted if it was a young man with his surname being abused in a locker room shower?

A safe bet there’s have been more follow through and desire for justice.

That said, in time hopefully folks remember that Paterno isn’t the villain. He could’ve and should’ve done more, but others could’ve have as well. Sandusky is the sick bastard, while Paterno is just one of many who was stunned, needed to react properly and didn’t know how to do so.

When you look at the life ledger now that Joe’s time has passed, the win column infinitely outweighs the losses. There will always be a huge blemish, but that can’t be discussed without taking the time to point out all the good, as well.

Rest in peace, Coach. You were a game-changer and true legend. – C.B.