As Penn State coach Joe Paterno is planning his retirement at season's end in the wake of a sex-abuse scandal centered on former assistant Jerry Sandusky, reaction poured in from NFL players once coached by the legendary 85-year-old coach.
"It's a tough situation. I read about it all Saturday. I read all the reports," Carolina Panthers linebacker Dan Connor, who played under Paterno from 2004 to 2007, told The Charlotte Observer. "It's sad. That's the only way you can look at it. I guess there hasn't been a trial yet, but it was tough to read and it's going to be a scar.
"(Sandusky) had retired when I was there, but he was still around the building. Guys were familiar with him. He was tight with (linebacker Paul) Posluszny and a couple of other guys. It caught us off guard. You never see that coming."
Posluszny, who played at Penn State through the 2006 season, was equally shocked and disturbed.
"It's obviously a very, very disturbing situation for everybody involved," the Jacksonville Jaguars linebacker told The Florida Times-Union. "And if it's true, you feel so awful for the kids, their families, and it's just one of those things you say, 'I can't believe it. I can't believe it.'
"It's really, really hard to believe because he's -- Sandusky was a legendary coach that everybody held in such high regard. He was a very respectable, very honorable guy. That's what we all were led to believe. I just can't believe it happened."
"(Really) tough hearing about this penn state scandal as it unfolds," tweeted Washington Redskins running back Evan Royster, according to CBSSports.com.
Seattle Seahawks running back Michael Robinson, a Nittany Lion from 2002 to 2005, invoked his faith in delivering a pointed Twitter message directed at people who have rushed to judgment.
"Don't think so highly of yourself that u think God will not discover your sins. Psalm 36: 2. God will condemn because he sees everything," he tweeted.