I first met him in 1968, interviewed him in the 1970s, renewed acquaintances in the 1980s, and mourn his passing in 2012.

Joe Paterno passed away early Sunday morning in a State College, Pennsylvania hospital less than two months after being diagnosed with lung cancer. He went fast and elected to end his suffering, the suffering of his family, and the suffering of those who love Penn State.

According to family members, he requested to be taken off a respirator as his frail system broke down.

I met Joe Paterno at the beginning of his glorious run as Penn State's football coach, in November of 1968. I broadcast the Nittany Lions win over Ohio University on a cold blustery late season afternoon.

His team had Franco Harris and Lydell Mitchell at running back, and a contingent from Linebacker U that would all wind up in the NFL. We had a terrified kid quarterback, Steve Skiver, who threw 6 interceptions before 86,000 fans in a lopsided loss.

Paterno was gracious with his time to do a pregame interview for the Bobcats network. His team was relentless. He made an impression on me that never left. It was the beginning of the rebirth of Eastern College football.

Paterno had come from the Ivy League with all types of ideals, and he made them work, the co-existence of academics and athletics. He would build a national football power after leaving Brown University, replacing Rip Engel.

Fast forward to the era of Sugar Bowl games, national prominence, showdown games with the legendary Bear Bryant and Alabama.

He was relentless in his demand for respect. All those undefeated seasons with very little national respect, and few national championships. He knew who he was, and how he wanted to be treated.

Interviews became lectures filled with philosophies. It was a unique experience for me. The mid 1980s brought Paterno to Phoenix for the Fiesta Bowl, where the greatness of the Nittany Lions defense would be tested by the brilliance of Marcus Allen and USC.

Paterno had become crusty and demanding with tolerance for little. It looked as if the program would start to slip, and he was not willing to change his ways or give it up.

He remained stoic in his beliefs of how great his university was, and how special Lions football was. He eventually reinvented Penn State football multiple times in the last two decades, rallying them from losing seasons, bringing them back to bowl games.

He never lost his core values. As the players changed, the game changed - the media was very different and the competition fierce as Paterno dug in and did things his own way. He recruited nationally. He marketed Penn State and willed their entrance into the Big 10 Conference.

The traditional Blue & White jerseys; the white helmet without a logo; the closed practices; the limits to availability of anybody outside the Penn State football circle. He was the ruler of his empire, though the globe had changed. In his final years at Penn State, he had become almost grandfatherly in his approach to running the Nittany Lions.

He spoke once a week to the media, seldom did TV shows and quit making alumni appearances across the state.

Change would come, but no one could see it happen the way it played out. The Jerry Sandusky sex-scandal rocked the community of State College. It cost every top executive in the University hierarchy their jobs.

There are some 52 felony sex allegations hanging out there against Penn State's longtime assistant coach, and at one time, the man who was believed to be heir apparent to Joe Pa.

We have yet to sort out who knew what and when and why it was allowed to go on for so long. His nearly six decade stay at the school ended in a three minute phone call from the Trustees.

There is be a split amongst alumni and faculty about how Paterno should be treated and terminated.

There are 803 members of the Penn State Lettermen's Club, all Nittany Lions football players, who wore the colors over his 43 years as head coach. Even amongst them, there is a divisive split over the scandal and his exile.

No one knows for sure what Paterno knew or understood. I believe the further the story went up the Penn State ladder, it was filtered time and time again.

In his last interview a week ago with the Washington Post, a frail Paterno said he could not understand the term "Man Rape" as described to him years ago by a grad assistant, who had witnessed the Sandusky incident.

Some have said Paterno built such power on the campus, he was his own nation. He wanted the right to control any and all issues that involved Penn State football. His football program was the financial catalyst for the financing of 43 varsity sports and club sports on that campus.

Joe Paterno's coaching record has 409 career victories, 2 National championships, 5 undefeated teams and 24 Bowl victories. But there was so much more to the man they called JoePa.

He was the father figure to so many players (49 Academic All Americans) whom he recruited and helped mold as players and people. Some came from great backgrounds, others came from the streets.

Some became NFL stars, others became doctors and lawyers. He donated $12 million to buildings on the campus, including a chapel and library now bearing his name. He historically had the highest graduation rates in all of Division 1 football.

Saturdays were special in State College, but every other day was equally important on that campus too. Just two weeks ago, hospitalized in the beginning stage of his chemo battle with cancer, Paterno welcomed Bill O'Brien, of the New England Patriots, into the Penn State family.

And as the community, alumni and some former players raged about the hiring, Paterno spoke out, "if you love Penn State, you support this coach."

Cancer may have taken Joe Paterno's life, but a broken heart may have contributed to his death as well. In an eerie parallel, he died two months after leaving the job, just like his iconic competitor Bear Bryant, passed two months after leaving Alabama.

I went back to Penn State to lecture about the Radio industry for a professor, a longtime friend. I saw Beaver Stadium, where I had broadcast years before.

I walked the tree lined historic campus, I saw the unique Paterno statue outside the stadium. It's where prayer vigils were held this past weekend, and will be a lasting symbol of his leadership.

He was portrayed in his final days as a man out of touch with modern day football and maybe even society. But in the overall picture, this man contributed so much to Penn State, football, academics and the community.

I will remember him for all that. College football fans and the often critical media should too.

Lee "Hacksaw" Hamilton talks sports weekday mornings at 10am on XX-1090-Sportsardio