JoePa on top by himself; Reaches exclusive 400-win mark
By Susan Lulgjuraj | Contributing Editor
Penn State coaching legend Joe Paterno reached 400 career wins today in dramatic fashion.
The Nittany Lions came back from a 21-point deficit to beat Northwestern 35-21 on Saturday at Beaver Stadium.
Paterno became the first major Division I coach to hit the 400-win plateau. Two offensive lineman carried Paterno as he smiled and waved to the crowd in Happy Valley. It only took 45 years to get there.
“People ask me why I’ve stayed here so long, and you know what, look around, look around,” Paterno said to a crowd of 100,000-plus. “Now that the celebration’s over, let’s go beat Ohio State!”
Even though he has been a coach and player, Paterno is featured on just 18 trading cards dating back to 1950 Topps Felt Backs Rookie Card, which books for $2,000.
Most recently, Paterno has one card – just one – in 2010 Sportskings Coaches Corner Cut Autographs and in 2009, he had a Donruss Classics Classic Cut auto, which was numbered to 3.
Some of his more abundant cards can be found in the late 1980s and early 1990s when Penn State Legends cards were created. Paterno had a number of cards that book for a just a few bucka, but there were also short-prints of the famous coach from 1997 Press Pass.
Susan Lulgjuraj is a contributing editor for Beckett Media. You can email Susan here. Follow her on Twitter here.
[…] By Susan Lulgjuraj | Contributing Editor Penn State coaching legend Joe Paterno reached 400 career wins today in dramatic fashion. The Nittany Lions came back from a 21-point deficit to beat Northwestern 35-21 on Saturday at Beaver Stadium. Paterno became the first major Division I coach to hit the 400-win plateau. Two offensive lineman carried […] The Beckett Blog […]