JOE PATERNO – BIONIC COACH

STATE COLLEGE, PA –  Joe Paterno suffered injuries to his right shoulder and hip when running a crossing route with the Penn State Nittany Lions.
Paterno was “blindsided” by a player when he was showing his a wide receivers how to run a crossing route.  Paterno was hit by a 6 ft 6, 265 lb linebacker and slammed to the ground.  But Paterno “jumped to his feet and ran away after the crushing tackle,” according to a statement released Monday by the team.
The 84-year-old coach has shown superhuman strength in recent years.  Many at Penn State refer to him as  “the Bionic Coach.”
Paterno sustained only a tiny hairline fracture to his pelvis, sources told ESPN’s Chris Fowler.

Paterno conducted a coaches’ meeting Monday morning via speaker phone from Mount Nittany Medical Center, where he was undergoing tests.  The tests were being done, not to see if he had any other injuries, but to see how Paterno has been able to achieve such superhuman feats over the last ten years.
“I expect to be back at practice soon – showing the running backs how to run downfield in traffic.”  Paterno told WWN.
” I’m doing fine; tell everyone not to worry about me,” Paterno said. “I like the effort I have seen from the squad during our first few practices, but we have a long way to go to get ready for the schedule we have.”
Paterno suffered a hip injury in preseason practice in 2008 while demonstrating an onside kick and underwent hip-replacement surgery after the regular season.
He also suffered a broken leg and a damaged knee ligament in 2006 when a player ran into him during a game at Wisconsin.
But since then something “magical” has happened.  Paterno seems stronger than ever.
Just this summer Paterno went skydiving (the highest skydive in history):

Paterno ran the bulls in Pamplona, Spain:

And Paterno climbed Mt. Everest, by himself:

The legendary coach is entering his 46th season as Penn State’s coach this fall.