Book: Paterno Sobbed After Penn State Firing

Joe Paterno spent the day after he was fired from his position as Penn State's legendary football coach crying "continually," writes Joe Posnanski in his new biography of the coach, Paterno. "He sobbed uncontrollably" in a meeting with his coaches at his home. Later, speaking to a former captain, Paterno again started crying and said, "I don't know what I'm going to do with myself." He told his son Jay, "My name. I have spent my whole life trying to make that name mean something. And now it's gone."

Last summer, Paterno gave Posnanski the OK to write his biography and follow him throughout the next season in the process. That gave the Sports Illustrated writer a front-row seat to the Jerry Sandusky sex abuse scandal as it broke. GQ features a brief excerpt of Posnanski's book, out Tuesday, with a full excerpt coming to GQ.com Monday. The currently posted selection also reveals that Paterno's son Scott was the first person to realize that the Sandusky scandal could end his father's career. "Dad, you have to face the possibility that you will never coach another game," he said after reading the grand jury case against Sandusky. Click for more. (More Joe Paterno stories.)