Echoes of Shane McMahon’s Here Comes the Money rang through Central Pennsylvania on Monday when Penn State announced a $50 million deal to rename Beaver Stadium’s field, West Shore Home Field.
West Shore Home Field at Beaver Stadium has a certain ring to it that is eerily reminiscent to Winchestertonfieldville, Iowa as named in the Adam Sandler movie, Mr. Deeds.
But alas, money talks, walks and rules everything in this era of college football. So it should come as no surprise— even to the eight Board of Trustees members who voted no— that this was inevitable.
And that’s okay!
Let’s be honest: Not a single person will be belting out how excited they will be to go to the White Out game at West Shore Home Field at Beaver Stadium this year, not because it won’t be a great time, but because simply it’s still Beaver Stadium.
While we’re being honest, it was never going to be Joe Paterno Field at Beaver Stadium.
And that’s also okay!
His legacy is undeniable both good and bad. Paterno won 409 games and laid the foundation of the Penn State football program in his decades of coaching in Happy Valley but the naming of the field was never going to be a thing, at least not now.
Could it have happened before?
Add Nittany Sports Now as a preferred source in Google! Click here to add us.Sure, but Paterno’s unceremonious exit during the Jerry Sandusky scandal has led to a plethora of changes in University Park, many of them good and some questionable.
When Paterno was leading the program, Success with Honor was the mantra. Success with Honor was an ode to doing things the right way, focusing on academics and the student-athlete rather than solely academics while also developing men of high character. Paterno was largely successful in this aspect and that’s why former players like Matt McGloin spoke out passionately about why the naming rights should have been Paterno’s.
Matt McGloin was Joe Paterno’s last quarterback at Penn State. He wants Beaver Stadium to be named after Joe Paterno. Listen here. pic.twitter.com/rgPjXkCWtg
— Joe Smeltzer (@joesmeltzer775) March 10, 2025
One of the few things not taken from Paterno was his family’s name atop the school library. That perfectly honors Paterno and his widow, Sue, in a way a grass field never could. It highlights their love of academia and their university while ensuring Penn State students have the resources necessary to learn and grow.
The right way to honor Paterno and Success with Honor outside of the library has been going on since James Franklin came to Penn State, a focus on the whole man, not just the athlete and Franklin for the most part has done a remarkable job at continuing on that tradition while also giving appropriate nods to the past when it’s due.
Paterno’s Nike shoes and khaki pants get roars from the Beaver Stadium crowd (see, it’s pretty easy to just say Beaver Stadium) every time the pre-game hype video is shown. His legacy should not be and will not be forgotten despite the university distancing itself from it, though, it’s been better embraced as the years wander further from 2011.
Somewhere out there rests the Paterno Statue, perhaps in a room or area remodeled by West Shore Home. While there might be a time for the statue to return, now is not that time, either.
His legacy will always remain complex, but for now, it’s still honored and present in ways that truly honor Paterno in the way it’s deserved despite there not being a field named after him.
