DeAndre Levy: Breaking Joe Paterno’s Leg ‘My Proudest Moment in College’

Five years have passed since Joe Paterno’s ugly and scandalous firing from Penn State amid child sexual abuse allegations against former assistant Jerry Sandusky. In that time something of a reputation reclamation project has occurred, and just this past September the school formally honored and commemorated the 50th anniversary of Paterno’s first game as head coach of the Nittany Lions.

Another fond memory of the coach came from Detroit Lions linebacker DeAndre Levy, who called accidentally breaking Joe Paterno’s leg the “proudest moment” of his college career.

According to the Men’s Journal profile, “Born and raised in Milwaukee, where his mother is an assistant at a medical office and his father works on the line in a steel factory, Levy was a star linebacker at Wisconsin. He was most famous for a 2006 play against Penn State, a sideline tackle that accidentally drove him into coach Joe Paterno, breaking JoePa’s left leg. Ten years later, Levy now calls that incident ‘my proudest moment in college,’ as history has since revealed Happy Valley’s sad secrets.”

Levy then gave his opinion of Paterno and the glorification of sports figures. Levy said, “That dirtbag, man. We’ve gotta stop prioritizing sports over humanity. Just because somebody can throw a football or coach football, they’re excluded from their wicked acts.”

Follow Dylan Gwinn on Twitter: @themightygwinn