The years have come, the years have gone, I'm still processing the loss of my parents over the past decade, the loss of some Penn State players who helped secure Championships, and undefeated seasons for Joe Paterno, to the legendary voice of Penn State, Fran Fisher. I think we all are still trying to process the loss of our iconic coach, yes, to many including myself he was much more than a coach, but like I have told everyone since the day I started this online petition, with the help of my then high school aged son, Blake Tobias Jr., if Joe Paterno never came to State College, never answered the call, never ran out onto the green two toned grass playing field, Penn State football would never have been what it became under Joe!

A few years ago, I was stopped by "suits" who I presume were hired by specific members of the Board of Trustees from being admitted to an open board meeting at the Penn State Berks Campus. I firmly believe these members were tipped off that I was coming to present my petition, my views, my outrage, my frustrations. I should have known not to post that I was going to attend on my two social media platforms, I have two Paterno Field pages on Facebook, and like everywhere else in life, there are moles who watch and record everything that I post. I didn't even make it to the door, and was stopped by two "suits", greeting me with you are not welcome here, this is a closed-door meeting, to which I objected, no, it's an open meeting, but to no avail, what was I going to do, a middle-aged man standing there, on disability for the rest of my life. I guess I could have gone after them with my cane, just that phrase, watch how the media who will visit this page and use my words to create something that I never said, "Tobias threatened to attack innocent men with a metal cane". I was told nobody wanted to hear about Joe Paterno, and nobody wanted to hear about honoring him with naming the field after him. I was told to leave the building, leave the campus, or campus security would be called. I did what was asked, just another slap in the face by the previous President of Penn State, and the previous Athletic Director, who both hated anything to do with Joe Paterno, and those who fight for his honor.

I have had contact with Jay Paterno over the past decade, as I'm sure everyone is aware, he was kind enough to send a beautiful sympathy card to my father after my mother passed away in 2013, just like Joe, he did something others wouldn't have bothered with, but that's what kind of man that Jay's parents have raised, respectful, human, caring. I saw Jay at the Blue White Game in 2012 and flagged him down as he was making his way through the parking lot, I told him via an online message that I was going to the game to gather signatures and hoped to see him there. Well, I did, that was my first meeting with him, and his exact words when he saw me coming at him with my clipboard and pen were, "you gotta be shittin me"! My wife was second on the scene and bobbled with her phone trying to get a picture of the two of us, after he had signed the petition. Jay looked at me and said, "I'm glad she doesn't work in ER", and I laughed and said yeah, we would be in trouble. From that point forward I have sent him updates on the petition, never asking for anything, after all, he was just a person signing the petition, he wasn't pushing for it, the family wasn't pushing for it, they have stood by and have always said that if Penn Staters want to honor Joe by naming the field after him, then we have no objections. I knew what they as a family were facing, there was a lawsuit, there were years and years of ugliness to follow, but as the years have gone by and the truth has come out a little at a time, things have now changed. There are always going to be the people who won't read, won't listen, won't change their minds about what could have, should have, might have been, and that's fine, we the real people who have followed this horrible ordeal since day one has come to understand just how unjust that Joe Paterno was treated, and we have the proof to prove it.

My late father always told me, there are so many people who literally hate Joe Paterno, and have been haters their whole life, all because Joe was a first-class man, he put academics ahead of his teams, he didn't do it their way, he did it his way. The Grand Experiment will go down as the greatest accomplishment of student athletes in the modern era, never will it be held to the standards of which Joe made it out to be, like Joe, it was just one of the many things which have made Penn State a better place, a landmark for honor and dignity. My father was right, growing up as a child during the 70's, 80's I was always taken back by the crude words said about Joe, especially by none other than Notre Dame fans, they were by far the worst of the bunch. I mean when I was only 10, I didn't understand it, but by the time I was 12 I figured it out, it came down to religion, it came down to knowing Notre Dame would never have a Catholic man by the name of Paterno leading them to National Championships, and undefeated seasons, it was that simple, and those fans still hate Joe today. I'd be remiss if I didn't mention Pitt fans, that's another school who has, and always will have a deep-seated hatred for Joe. I mean I understand, Pitt will always be second best in the state, even now they still wine about Paterno, but now that hatred is directed at coach Franklin, ah, college football, isn't it great!

Back to my relationship with Jay, I'll be upfront and honest, I really haven't heard much from him over the past 4 years, not even when my father passed away in 2018. I couldn't understand why after all my work for honoring Joe, after him being there for my father when my mother passed away, why was I getting the silent treatment? I realized when I was turned away at the Board of Trustees meeting in Reading, that he, and the few others who were supporters of Joe were under strict orders to leave it go, to stop bringing up the topic of doing something to honor Joe. They were told in a closed-door meeting which was called by the now former President of the University to end any future mentions of Joe at any future meetings, or else. I wasn't the only one getting blacklisted, can you image board elected individuals being told to shut up, move on, or else by the President of the University. This is something that we see in movies, how corruption and money controls all evils, and this was case in point! I said since day one, follow the money, big money is behind Joe Paterno being shut out of the school where he spent over 61 years helping to plaster Penn State on every map. I was right, and like me, it doesn't take a genius to figure out those orders were probably coming from yet another source, or group higher on the food chain than the President.

It's time everyone knows what I have written above, I'm over the countless texts that have been sent over the years by cowards who threatened my life, my family’s life if I persisted with my petition to honor Joe. I'm over the letters written by cowards, and the endless trolls that post idiotic statements on Facebook, or twitter, I've come to the realization that we are always going to deal with an angry few, just like Joe dealt with angry fans over his career, and letters sent to him with death threats when he was in his prime as a coach. Joe didn't run away, he didn't hide from the bullies, he put them aside like the pieces of garbage that they were, and that's what we are all going to do now, it's our time to push aside the bullies, those who don't agree with us, those who want to taunt us, guess what, it's been over a decade and WE ARE... still here, WE ARE... still fighting, because that's what Joe did for over 61 years!

I feel a change a coming, I feel "Paterno Field at Beaver Stadium" becoming a reality now more than ever, the ball is in our hands, we are steps away from scoring one final touchdown for Joe Paterno, let's cross that BLUE LINE one more time, and secure WIN #410 for JVP.

Thank you all, Blake Tobias Sr, CEO, Paterno Field at Beaver Stadium