SATE COLLEGE, PA — Penn State University’s football coach Joe Paterno, 83, is being nominated for a Presidential Medal of Freedom by a Pennsylvania lawmaker. U.S. Rep. Glenn Thompson sent a letter to President Barack Obama with 17 other signatures to ask that Paterno be awarded the medal, Thompson said on his website.

“The Medal of Freedom has always stood for those who make a contribution to making our nation a better place to live,” Thompson wrote. “I believe Joe Paterno represents an ideal of what student and college athletics should be.”

Thompson’s Fifth District includes State College.

This award is the highest civilian award in the U.S., recognizing those “who make an especially meritorious contribution to the security or national interests of the United States, world peace, cultural or other significant public or private endeavors,” according to the White House.

“Rarely has the award been made to someone who has personified sportsmanship on the field of play and academic achievement in the classroom,” Thompson wrote in the letter. “It is our hope that this year the Medal of Freedom does just that by honoring Joe Paterno for his contribution to the coaching of football, his commitment to the academic integrity of the young men under his charge, and his deep dedication to education in general.”

The letter was signed by 16 other representatives from Pennsylvania and one from Virginia, Rep. Frank Wolf, a Penn State alumnus.

Credit: Patriot News

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