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Community Support Following Joe Paterno's Death Has 'Really Helped Sustain Us,' Says Jay Paterno

The support the Paterno family has received since the passing of patriarch and legendary Penn St. Nittany Lions coach Joe Paterno on Sunday evening "has been beyond what any of us even imagined," Paterno's son Jay told Tom Rinaldi of ESPN in a SportsCenter interview. "The students, the people in town, the letters and cards, the phone calls from all kinds of people, it's just been... it's really helped sustain us." The full video is below:

More: Goodbye Joe

Paterno passed away at 85 after battling lung cancer. He holds the FBS record for career victories, with 409, and won national championships in 1982 and 1986. He served on Penn State's coaching staff fpr 62 years, beginning in 1950, and took over as head coach in 1966.

The Paterno family laid Joe to rest in a private ceremony Wednesday. A public memorial service will be held Thursday at 2:00 PM at Bryce Jordan Center.

For more on the Nittany Lions, please visit Black Shoe Diaries, SB Nation's Penn State blog.

Photographs by dizfunk used in background montage under Creative Commons. Thank you.