Former Penn State coach Joe Paterno's sons took to Twitter on Saturday night to shoot down reports from student blog site OnwardState.com's Twitter page that their father has died. Onward State has since deleted the tweets, which CBS Sports used, to report Paterno's death as well. CBS now says the following about its decision.
Penn State student website Onward State has reported that Penn State players were notified of longtime head coach Joe Paterno's passing via email, and CBSSports.com went on this report. Paterno, 85, had been receiving chemotherapy as part of his treatment for lung cancer.
Paterno's son Jay tweeted, "I appreciate the support & prayers. Joe is continuing to fight." at 9:21 PM on Saturday. Another son, Scott, tweeted, "CBS report is wrong - Dad is alive but in serious condition. We continue to ask for your prayers and privacy during this time," at 9:22 PM.
Those tweets followed one by the New York Times' Mark Viera at 9:00 PM: "Dan McGinn, the Paterno family spokesman, at 8:57 PM on reports about Joe Paterno's death: 'Absolutely not true.' "
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