Deadspin Archives: Brent Musburger Offers Some Troubling News About Joe Paterno

In October 2008, before most of the world knew anything about Jerry Sandusky, Brent Musburger was a guest on the Dan Patrick Show and offered a now seemingly prophetic glimpse into what kept Joe Paterno going. Originally published October 15, 2008.

Yesterday, ABC sportscaster Brent Musburger popped by the Dan Patrick Show to talk about all things college football and one of the topics that came up was the remarkable success of Penn State this season under 82-year-old head coach Joe Paterno.

But then the conversation turned a little grim.

Musburger admits to having a personal friendship with Paterno and says that through his candid conversations with JoePa, he knows exactly why he continues to after all of these years.

"This is a tough one for me because I have to say up front that JoePa is a dear friend of mine...I'll tell your listeners the truth as to why he still does it. He is fearful — and he looks back at Bear Bryant as the example — he is fearful that he would not be with us if he stepped away. He is a man that doesn't fish, doesn't play golf...he has no other interest other than his family and football. And he's just afraid what would happen with the rest of his life if he walks away from it."

Now, this is not Musburger speculating, but Paterno admitting he's afraid he'll keel over once he retires, which is just extremely sad. Remember,Bear Bryant died just 28 days after announcing his retirement from Alabama.

No pressure on Penn State to give Paterno another one year contract or anything, though.

Brent Musburger on national title contenders, Joe Paterno [Dan Patrick]