PENN STATE FOOTBALL players past and present filed past the closed casket of Joe Paterno at the campus spiritual centre today, mourning the coach who helped shape the university for more than a half century.

Among those paying their respects was Mike McQueary, a key figure in the events that led to Paterno’s firing.

The players wore dark suits and filed out of three blue Penn State buses — the same buses that once carried Paterno and the team to games at Beaver Stadium on fall Saturdays.

Son Scott Paterno was seen coming in and out of the centre.

McQueary, then a graduate assistant for Penn State, went to Paterno in 2002 saying he had witnessed former defensive coordinator Jerry Sandusky assaulting a boy in the shower at the Penn State football building.

Paterno relayed that to his bosses — including the head of campus police — but university trustees felt he should have done more, and it played into their decision to fire the longtime coach on 9 November.

That came four days after Sandusky was arrested on multiple child sex-abuse counts.

Crowds

Dressed in a blue coat and tie with a white shirt, the school colors, McQueary was among thousands of expected mourners at an event that was to stretch late into Tuesday night.

One current and one former team member will stand guard over the casket for the duration of the public viewing, athletic department spokesman Jeff Nelson said.

“He left us too early and I think about the impact he could have made once he retired from coaching,” Nelson said.

The 85-year-old Paterno, the most sucessful coach in major college football, died Sunday. His lung cancer was disclosed in November, just days after he was fired.

Paterno’s family gathered earlier Tuesday for a private viewing, Nelson said. The family was joined by current players and new Penn State coach Bill O’Brien, followed by former players.

A line of ex-players stretched around the corner and down the block. Among the mourners were former Penn State and Pittsburgh Steelers great Franco Harris. Others there included NFL receivers Deon Butler and Jordan Norwood, Norwood’s father and Baylor assistant coach Brian Norwood and former quarterback Daryll Clark.

The event marked the start of three days of public mourning as the Penn State community in State College and beyond said goodbye to the man who led the Nittany Lions to 409 wins over 46 years.

Big crowds were expected to show their love for Paterno, starting with a 10-hour public viewing that begins in early afternoon at Pasquerilla Spiritual Center. There is another public viewing Wednesday, and after that Paterno’s family will hold a private funeral and procession through State College.

Former Penn State assistant football coach Mike McQueary while waiting in line for a viewing for legendary Penn State football coach Joe Paterno. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)

On Thursday, the school’s basketball arena will be the site of a public service called “A Memorial for Joe.” Penn State was expecting a huge demand for seats and set a two-per-person limit on tickets.

Former players began arriving shortly after members of Paterno’s last team filed in. Some players hugged and O’Brien shook hands at the curb outside the center. By midmorning, with two busloads of players still paying respects, dozens more mourners showed up, lined up along the sidewalk.

With crowds spilling onto the curb, traffic slowed. A few people stared out windows from a classroom building across street.

Penn State linebacker Khairi Fortt recalled his coach’s lessons.

“He said the most important thing for us was to keep the Penn State tradition going,” the sophomore from Stamford, Conn., said after leaving the viewing.

Scott Paterno has said that despite the turmoil surrounding his termination from the school, Paterno remained peaceful and upbeat in his final days and still loved Penn State.

Bitterness over Paterno’s firing has turned up in many forms, from online postings to a rewritten newspaper headline placed next to Paterno’s statue at the football stadium blaming the trustees for his death. A headline that read “FIRED” was crossed out and made to read, “Killed by Trustees.” Lanny Davis, lawyer for the school’s board, said threats have been made against the trustees.

Scott Paterno, however, stressed his father did not die with a broken heart and did not harbor resentment toward Penn State.

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