PENN STATE UPDATE II

Tonight the Penn State Board of Trustees informed longtime head coach Joe Paterno that he would be fired. This comes on the heels of Penn State school president Graham Spanier being let go as well. As of right now, wide receiver coach and the infamous former graduate assistnat Mike McQueary is still on staff. Currently students at Penn State are rioting on campus and chanting Paterno's name. Its left to everyones opinion whether to be sorry for Paterno or not, but tonight, finally, the university got something right. That is something rare in this day and age, that a legendary coach of Paterno's stature be let go because of scandal. I had my doubts that Paterno would be fired. Now it's time to move on, and hopefully this can be a lesson to people in and out of the sports world that if you see something, say something, do something. 

Hot Topic: How I Will Remember Joe Paterno

409 wins. Two-time national champion. 1986 Sportsman of the Year. College Football Hall of Fame class of 2007. 

Father. Grandfather. Family man. Role model. Hero. 

Accessory to sexual abuse. Enabler. Hypocrite.

All words that can describe Joseph Vincent Paterno. A legend in his field, Paterno has won more collegiate football games than anyone ever has. He built a football program out of nothing and turned it into one of the most popular sports teams in the world. As we watch the end of Paterno’s career play out, the question must be asked, how will you remember JoePa? I’ll tell you exactly how I’ll remember him. 

Paterno is arguably the most successful football coach in the history of the sport. More wins than any other coach, ever. He has been a fixture in the sport since before my parents could even read. That’s all well and good, but another 409 wins could not erase what has transpired in the last week out of my mind. 

We all know the story, the relationship between Paterno and Jerry Sandusky. The details have been read and talked about to the point that saying the former defensive coordinators name makes my stomach curl. Paterno’s role in all of this is not nearly fully uncovered, not yet. What we do know is that at some point, Paterno was made aware of the relationship and sexual abuse that Sandusky had forced onto a 10-year-old boy in 2002 in a Penn State facility. A Joe Paterno facility. 

What Paterno did next is the most quetionable part to all of this. Paterno did not call the police. He (presumably) did not confront his friend and former colleague. Paterno simply told his superiors what had happened. 

At this point I want to address Paterno’s legacy, pre-scandal, at Penn State. The man is a God at Happy Valley. His face is on everything; from t-shirts to coffee mugs. I go to a school where the men’s basketball coach has brought three national championships to a state with no professional sports team. Jim Calhoun’s popularity can’t hold the jock of Paterno’s popularity at Penn State. 

Paterno has been coaching at PSU for 61 seasons, 45 of them as the head coach. Joe Paterno does not have any superiors at Penn State, not really. In name, Paterno is just the football coach at Penn State. In terms of power and control when it comes to sports, Paterno IS Penn State. 

Legally, Joe Paterno did the minimal amount of action after learning of Sandusky’s indiscretions. According to the law, Paterno, based on chain of command, did nothing wrong. To me, however, what Paterno did morally is the equivalent to seeing a murder and just saying “Stop.” 

Yesterday, Paterno stepped out onto his front lawn and addressed the hoards of media members and fans who had been camping out at his doorstep. Paterno, after canceling his weekly press conference, did not address the allegations against Sandusky or the legal proceedings that were going on. Paterno simply said that he would say a prayer for those victims, eloquently stating, “it’s a tough life when people do certain things to you.” The past couple of days, I started to wonder how I would remember Joe Paterno after he leaves Penn State. Today I made my decision. 

I read the 23 page grand jury report on the Sandusky victims. I actually read it five times. I know how old Victim 1 was when he first went to The Second Mile charity and found himself a role model who took the boy to football games, let him sleep at his house, and forced the boy to give him oral sex (11). I can tell you the details of the encounter then graduate assistant Mike McQueary had as a 28-year-old when he walked into the locker room at the Lasch Building at Penn State and witnessed Sandusky pinning a naked 10-year-old against a wall and raped him. I can also tell you how McQueary told Joe Paterno about the incident, and that neither men called the police. 

I’ve put myself in McQueary’s position and wondered what I would have done as a 28-year-old former football player if I witnessed a man twice my age taking advantage of a boy. Would I be so shell-shocked that I ran out of the room crying as McQueary did? Or would I beat the **** out Sandusky until the police showed up? 

I’ve also put myself in the shoes of Paterno, wondering what i would have done if given this information about a friend. I’ve had some of the greatest friends in the world, and I can tell all of you that if I ever was given information like the information Paterno was given, I wouldn’t sleep until my friend was behind bars. What did Paterno do? The bare minimum. 

Joe Paterno will forever be immortalized as one of the greatest coaches ever to many people. If they want to celebrate Paterno the coach, then that’s fine by me. However, I’m not going to remember Joe Paterno as a football coach. I’m going to remember Joe Paterno as a coward. Paterno’s “by the book” actions have forever turned him into a moral demon in my eyes. As you read this, think about how you want to remember Paterno. If I ever got a chance to speak to the coach myself, I’d simply ask him one question. “Do you ever wonder if you had said something, done anything more than what you did, that you wouldn’t have to pray for as many victims as you do tonight?” Paterno’s silence helped take the innocence from children at the hands of a monster. Paterno is not alone in this, don’t get me wrong. But as we watch PSU senior vice president Gary Schultz and athletic director Tim Curley step down, it’s only fair that Paterno to be treated the same. 

409 wins, two national championships, Hall of Fame. Those words can all be used to remember Joe Paterno the coach. 

Only one word can ever help me describe Joe Paterno the man. 

Coward. 

Hot Topic: Penn State and the Future of Joe Paterno

Happy Valley seems to have gotten a whole new meaning this week after former Penn State football coach Jerry Sandusky was revealed to have sexual harassed eight boys in a span of fifteen years while affiliated with the football program. This morning we learned that Penn State athletic director Tim Curley and school vice president for finance and business Gary Schultz with both leave their posts amid the scandal. 

The details of the scandal are gut-wrenching, to say the least. Sandusky, who played for Penn State for four years and coached another 23 under Joe Paterno, started a charity for troubled boys called The Second Mile. The Second Mile was started in 1977 by Sandusky and it was affiliated with Penn State throughout the years. According to the Grand Jury’s report (which can be found HERE), Sandusky performed oral sex on the first victim, “more than 20 times through 2007 and 2008”. The first victim, named “Victim 1” in the grand jury’s report, began to stay in Sandusky’s basement during the summers (starting as early as 2005). Victim 1 was taken around the Penn State campus and to Philadelphia Eagles games by Sandusky. 

The details of the report or sickening, to the point that I don’t even want to talk about the other seven victims as I originally had planned. In terms of the court case and the fate of Sandusky, what may be the most terrible thing is that the first evidence was gathered thirteen years ago, and it took this long to bring this pervert to justice. The lives of he other boys could be drastically different if it weren’t for the preverbal “red tape” that causes court cases to be dragged out to no end. However, all that is to be saved for a justice and law blog, not a sports blog. 

Penn State has been, for years, an esteemed and respected program for college football. Joe Paterno, who just won his NCAA record 409th career game, has been coaching at Penn State for 61 years, with little to no controversy. Needless to say, Paterno’s legacy is now tarnished. The fact that Sandusky was once considered the “coach in waiting” to Paterno is a black mark against Penn State. However, with Sandusky being a longtime coordinator under Paterno, the question has to be raised as to whether or not Paterno had any knowledge of Sandusky’s actions throughout the 15 year period of his...extracurricular activities. Sandusky and Paterno have had to be close, for him to name Sandusky the coach in waiting and keep him on staff as the defensive coordinator for all those years. 

Sandusky retired in 1999 from the Penn State coaching staff, while still maintaining a relationship with the school and Paterno. Whether or not the 55 year old Sandusky retired due to age (not likely) or because Paterno found out of the despicable actions remain to be seen. 

One thing that needs to be kept in mind is the case of Jim Tressel and the Ohio State Buckeyes. Tressel was fired this past summer when it came out that he had knowledge that a number of his players, including captain quarterback Terrelle Pryor, had willingly accepted gifts from local Columbus businesses, most notably a tattoo parlor that gave Buckeye players free tattoos, violating NCAA rules. Tressel was an esteemed coach, but not as esteemed as the NCAA darling Paterno. 

If Paterno had any knowledge of the actions by his former coordinator, then he needs to fired immediately. Paterno no longer coaches on the sidelines at Penn State games, instead sitting in the coaches booth. Cameras during the game show that Paterno doesn’t even wear a headset or call plays during the games. It is as if Paterno is just a face for recruiting and the aura of Penn State. People at Penn State believe Paterno to be a God (or more fittingly, a cult leader). They worship him, as do members of the media (watch last weekends Sports Reporters on ESPN, where they all backed Paterno 100%). If the NCAA wants to play judge and jury with student athletes and the coaches that oversee them, then Paterno needs to be fired. Now, if JoePa had no idea of what was going on (not likely), then sure, he deserves a pass. But, it needs to be reiterated over and over again, Paterno can not continue to be head coach at Penn State if he failed to report Sandusky to authorities after learning the facts. Forget his legacy or the aura at Penn State, 15-year-old kids lives have been ruined because a sicko took advantage of them in their weakest moments. The NCAA needs to do the right thing. Knowing sports and how prominent figures are treated in today’s realm, don’t be shocked to see Paterno retire at the end of this season, cashing his last paycheck and riding off into the sunset forever considered one of the greatest, cleanest, coaches in sports history.