“What is a coach? We are teachers. Educators. We have the same obligations as all teachers, except we probably have more influence than anybody but their families. And, in a lot of cases, more than their families.” – Coach Joe Paterno
For those of you that know me, or have occasionally read one of my columns, you know that I have a great passion for ice hockey. It has been a tremendous joy in my life. My current obsession with softball aside, I have played, coached, administered and volunteered in hockey for the better part of 55 years. My career in hockey would have never gotten started if it weren’t for the help of a certain former Penn State athletic director, who most of you know as legendary Penn State football coach Joe Paterno.
As I look back on my college experience, and my career, a couple of “God-incidences” occurred. I was a struggling nuclear engineering student when that “Miracle on Ice” USA hockey team won the 1980 Olympics. That event changed my career trajectory as I realized I wanted to be involved in sports, and specifically hockey. I switched my major to marketing and then put myself in a position to get hands-on sport management experience by becoming the vice president and eventually president of the Penn State Ice Hockey Club, affectionately known as the Icers.
Then a second God-incidence occurred. Coach Paterno became the athletic director for just a brief period of time. So, in a nod to Paul Harvey, here is “The Rest of the Story.”
Author, editor and speaker Deborah Kevin is spearheading The Dear JoePa Project, which is described as “an endeavor steeped in heart and history dedicated to celebrating the centennial of Joe Paterno’s birthday on December 21, 2026.” Deborah texted me last week to tell me about the project:
“It celebrates the profound impact JoePa had on all of us at Penn State and beyond. We are collecting letters from alumni, students, faculty and anyone whose life was touched by Joe, to be shared on our dedicated platform, DearJoePa.org. You can read about how this project came to be on the website.”
So, on the “Your Stories” column on the website’s homepage, you will find the link to the following story:
Joe Changed My Life
It was February 1982, and I was a 21-year-old senior marketing major at Penn State and president of the PSU Ice Hockey Club. The job/internship market was brutal as I prepared for my future as we were in a deep recession (mortgage rates were a whopping 17%!) so things looked pretty dire.
During that time Coach Joe Paterno was also the Penn State Athletic Director. I got to see Coach often because his office was directly above the entrance to the old Greenberg Ice Pavilion and because I had numerous meetings with “AD” Paterno to pitch ice hockey as a Division I varsity sport.
It took a while, but I got up the courage to ask Coach to write a letter of recommendation for me for an internship with my hometown Pittsburgh Penguins. Coach willingly did so and wrote a glowing recommendation on February 5, 1982, to Paul Steigerwald, who was the Director of Marketing for the Penguins at that time.
Several weeks went by and I didn’t hear anything back. I even went to Pittsburgh during spring break and waited for Paul Steigerwald in the Civic Arena lobby to come back from lunch to talk to him. I got a polite brush off and didn’t make much progress. Then it dawned on me that when Coach Paterno was an assistant coach at Penn State, he likely would have recruited a standout running back from Shadyside Academy in Pittsburgh, J. Paul Martha. Paul ultimately went to become an All-American at Pitt and played in the NFL. Mr. Martha just happened to be the current president of the Pittsburgh Penguins.
So, I went back to coach Paterno during the middle of spring football practice, when he’s incredibly busy, and I asked him if he would please contact Mr. Martha personally. Coach did so without hesitation. The next thing I know I get a call from Paul Steigerwald, and I have an internship with my hometown Pittsburgh Penguins! I even got to announce it at my senior hockey banquet later that evening, so the timing was perfect.
Paul Steigerwald would later tell me the story of how after a meeting with Paul Martha about marketing initiatives, Mr. Martha said to him, “Hey Staggy, get this kid “Baptista” an internship.” I was actually able to parlay that internship into a full-time job and was affectionately known as “The Baptist” by the office staff.
I never played football for Coach Paterno. I was just some kid from Pittsburgh who had a passion for hockey, and he took the time to meet with me and his recommendation and phone call on my behalf changed my life forever! Returning to Penn State as Hockey Coach and eventually Nittany Lion Club Executive Director, afforded me the opportunity to actually work with Coach Paterno. His positive influence on me will never be forgotten.
Joe Battista
PSU Class of ‘83
I am proud to share my personal story about how Coach Paterno impacted me directly but there isn’t enough room in this column to do justice to what I saw him do for so many others. My time as the Nittany Lion Club executive director was priceless. I made numerous trips with Coach for speaking engagements with Alumni Chapters and Nittany Lion Clubs around the state and in New York and Washington, D.C. Everywhere we went I saw Coach’s genuine and sincere interactions with former players, donors, alumni and fans.
One stands out in particular to me and that was a PSAA event in Washington, D.C. Because of a registration snafu there was a much larger crowd that showed up than expected and we literally ran out of space. The hotel staff would not let us put any more bodies in the main ballroom. They set up an adjacent room with speakers so the crowd could hear JoePa. When I made him aware of the situation, he was initially upset that this snafu came about. But he turned lemons into lemonade, and he quietly snuck out of the main ballroom and to everyone’s surprise in the smaller room, he made a private appearance. He spoke passionately to the crowd and apologized and then signed autographs and had pictures taken. So, in many ways that group ended up with the better deal. It didn’t end there.
Once back in the main ballroom and after he spoke, it was time for a Q&A session. Way in the back of the room was this young boy in a wheelchair whose father had picked him up on his shoulders so he could ask Coach if he would sign his football. Joe motioned for the youngster and his father to make their way to the front of the room and only then did Coach realize the young boy had a disability. Coach got down off the stage to meet the young boy and chatted with him before signing his ball.
He was clearly moved by the young boy’s circumstances. When he returned to the stage he said, “Everyone looks at me like I’m a big deal, I’m a hero because I’m a football coach.” He continued, “Well if you want to see real courage look at that young man. He’s the real hero.” The room erupted into thunderous applause.
I will state for the record that of the few negatives involving my 47-year Penn State experience, the greatest sorrow was in the way that Coach Paterno was treated by the university, and especially the media, back in 2011. In hindsight, and in my humble opinion, it couldn’t have been handled any worse by the “media consultants” that were brought in by PSU at the time. It was the first major crisis in the “Twitter Age,” and we used a playbook from corporate America from the late ‘90s before social media was even a thing.
While we will not debate those events here, I will say this…”He who is without sin can cast the first stone.” May your life’s work never be judged by your PERCEIVED worst action.
So, I am proud to say, “Thank you Coach Paterno.” Like you did for so many others, you changed my life.
