Just in time for the college football season, a beer company in Latrobe, Pennsylvania is getting filthy rich off of disgraced Penn State football coach Joe Paterno, reported ESPN.
Mark Dudash, owner of Duquesne Brewing, put Paterno and his lifetime record on beer cans to massive results. The company has already sold 3,000 barrels (324 cans per barrel) of the beer that honors Paterno. “We’ve sold close to a million cans,” said Dudash.
“In the beginning, there was some reluctance,” Dudash said. “Wholesalers didn’t want to overbuy and then have some fire sale. One distributor would order one palette, then the next day four palettes and then next day a half of a truckload. We had hoped by the fifth Penn State game to have sold 500 barrels worth. We’re up to 3,000 barrels already.”
Paterno was considered royalty in the state of Pennsylvania, having led the Penn State Nittany Lions football team to 409 wins over his 45-year career, making him the Division I winningest college football coach of all time. However, scandal rocked Penn State when defensive coordinator Jerry Sandusky was arrested on 48 counts of child sexual abuse, which he eventually was convicted. Paterno was forced to retire after he became connected to the scandal, with allegations that he failed to report knowledge of Sandusky’s sexual assaults on minors.
After Paterno’s death in 2012, an investigation revealed that the late head coach was aware of Sandusky’s actions for over a decade and actively covered up the abuse in order to protect Penn State’s reputation.
Despite Paterno and the program’s hard fall from grace, purists still rally around the memory of Paterno, which could explain why this beer is so successful. It’s also a scheme to get rich by way of controversy.
