Published November 9, 2011 - 10:45am
NEW: Discuss this topic in the Google+ community for SEC fans.
We’ll start off this article with a re-post of a guest post written by another blog and Penn State fan regarding Joe Paterno (read it here):
Bulls**t. I’m not speaking for all PSU fans, but it’s simply ridiculous to think a man that transcends just football is as easily replaceable as you make it sound. This statement — much like the so-called “informed” opinion of other talking heads who haven’t spent a lot of time in State College, Pennsylvania — is gravely absent of Paterno’s off-the-field role at Penn State. Remember, PSU is located in a small, rural community where people know him as a neighbor and a human-being, not just a mutant football machine for ESPN to throw darts at. JoePa has built a huge library, resuscitated failing academic programs (there was a time when he was essentially bankrolling PSU’s Classics department), helped fund an on-campus spiritual center, and continues to actively contribute to various student-run charities such as Penn State IFC/Panhellenic Dance Marathon .The vast majority of Penn State alum (and thus, contributors to the university’s endowment), realize this. Paterno’s salary was around $500,000 in 2007; it’s a little over a million now. For many years in the 70s, 80s, and 90s he was working for much less than average D1 coach. Thus, to simply force out a man who has given so much (beyond football, too) yet asked for so little a la Bobby Bowden, would absolutely disgust — and even alienate — a huge tribe of Penn State’s fan base.
Will Urban Meyer go down as a great coach? Sure. Do I want Penn State football win the Big 10 everywhere and have a chance to compete in the National Championship? Absolutely. Do I think Paterno is a figurehead? Certainly. It’s borderline tragic to see the media throw the man in his grave and close the coffin while he’s still breathing and running out of the gate at Beaver Stadium. Yet last year the Nittany Lions beat LSU in the Capital One Bowl; two years ago we earned a trip to the Rose Bowl. One building season isn’t the end of the world.
One last point: For the last two years the graduation rate of Penn State football players was higher than any other team in the Top 25. Call me a romantic, but PSU fans and alum cherish Paterno for a reason. He’s symbolizes the once-sacred ideals of college athletics; ideals that have been swept aside in lieu of bigger ratings, fatter endorsement deals, and a well-oiled pipeline to the NFL. It’s damn refreshing to have a a D1 program who actually takes the “molder of men”part of his school’s fight song so damn literally. Penn State and Big 10 football in general may never be like SEC football, but, after seeing the PR quagmire down in Auburn this past year, maybe that’s not such a bad thing.
That gives you a glimpse of how PSU fans view Joe Pa.
Does the current scandal take away from any of the past achievements? No. But, Joe Pa failed miserably in probably his biggest test ever given to him. That failure had horrific potential consequences for a number of young boys. You can celebrate Joe Pa’s past achievements and hang on to them, but under no circumstances should Joe Pa ever run out onto the field again for the Penn State Nittany Lions.
There are videos going around of PSU students rallying to support Joe Pa. If Joe Pa runs out onto the field on Saturday, it will be a big pep rally to support Joe Pa. Such a crowd reaction would be a mockery to the victims in the situation and should be avoided at all costs by PSU.
Fans of a specific team are terrible sources of objectivity when it comes to anything of their team and that ranges from play calling to covering up child sexual abuse.
Joe Pa achieved much in his decades at Penn State. This current scandal doesn’t change any of that. However, there is no acceptable reaction from PSU other than complete acknowledgment that the University and a number of people involved there utterly failed in this situation – and as a result, PSU needs to clean house including Joe Pa. Now.
Thoughts?
JoePa did what he was supposed to do. He reported it to his superiors. That’s the point of the failure. I believe that if JoePa is drummed out of PSU, the school and the program will start dropping off tremendously. I can’t imagine Penn State football without JoePa and I think that he should stay.
I, for one, will stand by JoePa. The rest of the administration, well, are a bunch of idiots. When the incident was reported to them (by JoePa and McQueary), they just swept it under the rug. Therein lies the failure. It was not Paterno that failed the victims, but his superiors.
I know that some will disagree with me, but, to force JoePa out, is quite frankly the last thing that the PSU board should do. After this mess, they need someone that they can lean on to repair the mess and I still think that is gonna be and should be Joe Paterno…
Joe Pa did the bare minimum that was required in this situation. The bare minimum was not good enough.
The state of the football program is irrelevant once multiple kids had their lives shattered by Sandusky and the coaches and administration failed to bring the situation to light over a freaking decade.
If Joe Pa runs out on the field on Saturday, it will be a travesty to the victims in this situation. I don’t care what he has done in the past. It doesn’t matter.
@ClarkWalker. This situation is SO much more serious than if Penn State will drop off or if Paterno’s legacy will live on. Look beyond and see the reality! A head coach who was informed about sexual abuse on a child by one his coaches/authorized athletic leaders and yet did not properly inform authorities, follow up on the report, directly confront Sandusky, and continued on as if nothing had been reported to him by an adult. And worse yet, he ALLOWED this pedophile to continued and unlimited access to his atheletic program is negligible at best, possibly criminal! Read the grand jury report! There are multiple testimonies on multiple incidents. And, multiple witnesses, including the mother of a child in whom Sandusky apologized for molesting her son. And, over 10 years Paterno did next to nothing, and actually supported Sandusky by allowing him on Penn State campus -truly disturbing! Put yourself in the shoes of one of the fathers of the victims. Imagine how you would feel if your son had been raped by someone that Penn State had sanctioned to lead children on their campus, and the head coach really did nothing about it!! Yeah, I think Paterno should continue to stay, even run in front of his group of boys on the field on game day as a great example of how much THIS atheletic program VALUES the education and life-building of it’s young men! Disgusting!
You said it yourself… Paterno was informed. He did not witness what Sandusky allegedly did, therefore, anything that he said would only be hearsay. He did exactly what he was supposed to do. He reported it to his superiors.
The report to police actually should have been made by the grad asst that actually saw what happened. If anyone should be held accountable for a failure to report this, it should be that person. Not JoePa.
The bare minimum is fine when players are selling things for tattoos, but when children are being abused the question should not be “how far do I need to go?” but rather, “How far is too far?” The first natural response when regarding sexual abuse should be violence towards the predator. Of course this is not how the situation should be handled, but it startles me that someone could have the polar opposite reaction. It’s even more disheartening that one of the people who did not react is someone I have respected since childhood, regardless of my football affiliation. This is not only a tragedy for all involved, but for the nation as a whole. It is like watching a hero fall. Its a sad week. On the other hand, at least we have a new inappropriate name in the sports world, Pope Joe Pa I.
Bare minimum? How do you know he did the bare minimum. He reported to the athletic director something he HEARD, not witnessed, but something that could’ve been blown out of proportion. At the time he didn’t know. Somehow, Gary Schultz, VP of Finance and Business AND head of Penn State Campus Police got involved. Whether JoePa told him or the AD told him its not clear, because there are vary reports. ESPN says JoePa told Schultz, USA Today says Cuffey (AD) told him. Either way Schultz was involved. And what happened… Sandusky’s keys were removed from him. This is all a travesty, the whole mess. However, JoePa has been apart of Penn State for 61 years. Thats, more than HALF A CENTURY. Penn State, at least owed it to him to get to the bottom of this before firing him. They could’ve put him on administrative leave until the facts sorted themselves out. Because, what if JoePa did notify campus police? I’m not saying he could’ve had done more, but damn, he was reporting on something he HEARD. Of all people to drop the ball in this matter, JoePa was owed to at least gone through a thorough investigation before a firing.
He did as much as could be expected of a bureaucrat. And while thats not enough, firing him is simply a PR copout by the university. Its a sad end to a tragic story.
Well, this is truly a tough one. Let’s start by saying that no one has been convicted of anything, Sandusky is maintaining his innocence, and we have a ton of accusations but nothing is proven yet.
It is inconceivable to me that a man like Paterno could know that this was going on and not take action beyond reporting it to higher. I would think that if this abuse was going on and Paterno knew, he would call the cops immediately.
And what do we do if the charges turn out to be false? Everyone is screaming for blood and yet no one has been convicted of any crime. Obviously, the evidence needed to fire the entire athletic staff is much lower than for conviction in a court of law, but what solid evidence do we have? For me to say that Paterno should be destroyed, I need more than what I’ve seen reported so far.
Okay, well, never mind. I just read a story where Paterno said that the sexual abuse was reported to him and he reported it to his superiors and never followed up. So, yeah, he needs to go. You can’t not follow up on something as serious as that.
Here is the grand jury report: http://www.scribd.com/doc/72061109/Grand-Jury-Report-on-Penn-State-Sex-Abuse-Scandal
There are numerous witness accounts supporting the victims claims, by people that have no vested interest in seeing Sandursky convicted of a crime… we are talking about school Janitors, wrestling coaches, school principles, etc…
Paterno has acknowledged reporting the crime to the University but not the Police?
So, based on his deposition to the Grand Jury, JoePa states that McQueary told him what he saw (in disgusting detail, I may add) and he alerted his boss. Okay, thats great… but he knew that they did nothing for the next 10 years! He knew that there was a child molester working with kids, having kids over to his house, working with local grade schools… and he did not have the decency to see why this guy was not in jail much less having direct access to potential victims. His legacy is screwed… it begs the question, what if his grandkid or kid was the one that was getting anal raped in the shower?
As a healthcare professional, I am required by law to report suspected abuse to my superiors. If it is not handled appropriately, I am required, by law, to report to the authorities. That is true, to my knowledge, of anyone in a position of authority – healthcare providers, teachers, etc. As Joe Pa is a coach, he is required to follow that same ‘chain of command’. Aside from the fact that it is, simply, the right thing to do. I have great respect for Joe Pa and his accomplishments at PSU. However, that does not mean that I don’t think he should be let go. I just hate to see him go out this way.
Let’s ask the people who think Joe did all he was suppose to do~ What if it was Les Miles or Nick Saban who let it go for 10 years….He let it go that’s the problem he did not follow up, he is not a role model any longer he dropped the ball for all the young boys who were assaulted after and before the fact!!!! If you don’t believe that then put your son, grandson, younger brother in the picture….hmmmm I bet you are having second thoughts. The Football program can live without Joe Pa……
Paterno allowed the scandal to be swept under the rug so to speak. In a criminal case that is called conspiracy. Knowledge of the crime and failure to act is equally complicit in the crime itself . Paterno elected to take the path of least resistance for the Football Program and the University and in so doing was a co-conspirator in the crime. Not only should he be dismissed immediately but he should also be prosecuted by the Courts and sued by the Victims. This is way beyond coaching or Football. It is called human decency and doing what is right regardless of the consequences to the Football program or the University.
@bosshog. absolutely! why is this so hard for people to see??! being a “hero” brings extra responsibility. and, being a leader of children, youth, and young adults involves going the extra mile, in this case beyond Saturday game day! and, knowing that Paterno commanded over a million dollars salary -maybe some of that money should go as a trivial reparation payment to the young men who were abused as boys by that perverted monster, Sandusky!
I have for as long as I can remember, been a JoePa fan. I remember seeing he and Coach Bryant on the sidelines at more than 1 excellent game. And the reason I liked him was the class he always conducted himself with. All that being said, this blows all that away! If the GJ transcript had not specificly stated it was his words, I wouldn’t have believed it!
He did exactly what he was required by law. But being a man sometimes requires extra effort! And he may be the most notable person involved. But he isn’t the only one guilty. In my opinnion, ALL the administrators involved in this horrific thing should have charges against them for negligents(sp)! I would’ve expected to hear about a cover up. But still allowing the guilty party to have access to the facilities and continue like nothing had happened…. That’s HORRIFIC! And the whole bunch needs to be fired!
I’ve generally liked Penn State for years and admired JoePa’s accomplishments (despite his comments in younger days about Jackie Sherril); I have several friends who are alums. After skimming through the grand jury report, I’ve got to say that at a bare minimum, it smacks of the dreaded “Lack of Institutional Control” at the very least. Maybe not specifically on JoePa’s part — although he was a part of it — but certianly on the Athletic Administration as a whole. IMO, allow activity like this by a staff member to continue over this period of time is negligent
The NCAA should also step in and investigate in parallel with law enforcement; it seems highly likely that NCAA regulations were violated here. Whether JoePa is forced out or not, the school should probably receive sanctions by the NCAA. This is much more serious that any of the recruiting violations I’ve ever seen.
It’s really a sad, sad state of affairs, no matter how you look at it.
If JoePa needs to step down then so should the Pope.
AMEN!!!!
One can read in the grand jury report that the grad student who discovered and identified Sandusky performing intercourse on a 10 yr old boy, subsequently reported this to Paterno in 2002 (pages 6-7). And Paterno only reported this information to Penn. State offials and not to police?! Over nine years he NEVER reported directly to police what had been told to him by a trusted adult who witness the abuse being perpetrated on a child??
Anyone in education knows this policy -it is the law! ANY abuse reported or observed by an educator or anyone in the position of leadership within an education facitly must report directly any stated or observed incidences of abuse on minors. PERIOD! Penn State is an education facility which had given the right for an adult to lead children in physcial education. Paterno is an educator/leader in this program, even one with some authority. The fact that he KNEW about the incident and did not follow up to see that it had been reported to the appropriate authorities makes him negligible. The fact that he KNEW that a 10 yr old boy had had sexual intercourse performed on him by one of his coaches/authorized atheletic leaders and turned his back on this -he deserves to be fired and indicted for contributing to the deliquency of children! PERIOD! Educators take on this responsibility when they sign a contract with an institution. His legacy will suffer, and He rightly deserves the consequences!
OK…. You’re all missing one point. Joe Paterno was a middle man. The grad student who witnessed this was the person who should have reported it to the police. By reporting it to Paterno, he did was he was legally required to do, report the accusation to his superiors. Paterno didn’t witness this. He was passing along hearsay evidence. If he had gone to the police, he would be passing along information on something he didn’t witness. The person who witnessed this should be the one who followed up and reported it to the police.
How many times has someone falsely accused a superior, or someone they had a bone to pick with, of a criminal act? It happens all the time. Again, JoePa was required to report any accustaions to his superiors. That’s all. As he was not the person who witnessed the assault, he should not be held accountable for not reporting it to the police. At that point, he didn’t know if there was any truth to it or not. The ones who should be answering questions as to why the police were never called are the administrators that JoePa reported the accusation to, and the person who personally witnessed it.
I disagree. If someone came up to me and said, “Hey, I just saw Mr. X sexually assaulting a kid,” I’d call the cops and say, “Mr. Y just told me he saw Mr. X sexually assaulting a kid.” They can do the investigation and determine whether or not it’s true. This is not something you just brush off.
@Johnny. you’ve missed the point! read the grand jury report. Paterno KNEW, and at best, he stopped halfway instead of following up and seeing the result of the claims (yeah, claims!-again the report) The fact that he had direct knowlege of possible abuse and he, as head coach of the football program, still sanctioned Sandusky to come on campus and to continue to lead children in football exercises -this is where HE is directly involved. If he had followed up at the point of sexual abuse allegations with Sandusky he would have indeed found out that it had happened (according to the testimony of a mother of a victim, Sandusky admitted and apoligized for his behavior). Something tells me that Paterno NEVER investigated this incident, and did nothing to investigate the safety of the children being lead in a football program on Penn State campus. Again, he is directly responsible for this, too. I ask you this question, too. If you had a son who was in the center of a report from an adult witness who had seen your son being raped by a school sanctioned official, and you knew that the head coach had known about the incident and didn’t follow through…..how then would you view your golden patronage of this head coach, no matter who is?? READ the report!
@ClarkWalker. educators who receive ANY report from anyone regarding ANY abuse on a minor, hearsay or confirmed ARE required to report the to proper authorities. As a head coach, he bound to follow up on the validity and outcome of the incident (especially if the accused returns to coach children) as a condition of allowing someone like Sandusky to continue to lead on campus. This is required! The fact that he didn’t brings up ethical questions on Paterno’s part. The fact that he is a father, and yet did nothing makes my stomach turn! At this point, there are 17 allegations against Sandusky. The main point is this: children were violated on Penn State campus. PERIOD! no amount of glorious coaching and football legacy can transcend this!
Here’s a question: How do you witness someone raping a child and not step in yourself? If I saw something like that, I’d pick up a stick and knock that SOB in the head several times. And I don’t even like children.
the report further states that the first report of abuse on a child by Sandusky was made by a maintenance/cleaner staff member inn 1998 who witnessed sex being peformed on a child. this we brought to the attention of Paterno then. Paterno did report this to Shultz and Curley. So, he had knowlege of 2 allegations of sexual deviant child abuse with one of his coaches. he was later told that Sandusky was banned from the building (according to the report) and that Sandusky could not bring children to the campus. yet, in fact, Sandusky continued to have access to all areas of the building and even retained an office within the Larsche building. Paterno undoubtedly knew this, and having knowlege of the allegations of abuse and inappropriate behavior with others, one questioned by the victim’s mother -at what point does Paterno have to take responsibiblity as head football coach for what he knows/sees right in front of him??
We all know he quit “coaching” the team YEARS ago.
Okay… Look, I don’t like what Sandusky did anymore than anyone else, but I still can’t see where JoePa should pay for Sandusky’s sins. Yes, he should have done more about it, but he did what was required of him by law. A social worker that I know was floored by this as well. Her statement was that “he didn’t f*** those kids.” As a matter of fact, he met his responsibility when he reported it to his superiors.
and you still miss it! no, he didn’t do all that was required of him! again, read the report!
he knew as far back as 1998, especially when Paterno brockered a retirement deal for Sandusky in 1999.
there was an allegation then of sexual deviant abuse. another in 2002. it doesn’t take much for one to see the pattern, and Paterno, as head football coach should have investigated it and followed through, at least to disprove the allegations against a “friend” and for a man who had worked for him.
but, he didn’t. and subsequent abuses happened because Sandusky was allowed to have access to a place where he could bring boys and shower with them. (read the report)
Now, there are as many as 17 possible abuse cases against this man and the school, because no one took seriously the allegations. No one. Not Schultz, Curley, nor even Patarno! He turned his back.
for the sake of the glory of the school, is it one’s best to turn a back when one knows that one’s friend and “allumni” coach is forcing young boys into sodomy in the Penn State lockerroom!
Really, you know a social worker and that was the comment she made? Wow, glad to know she’s in the system – NOT! JoePa might have met his LEGAL responsibility but he didn’t even come close to meeting a human being’s MORAL responsibility! He shut his eyes to what was happening and deserves to be fired. All you idiot football fans can puff all you want about how it’s “not his fault” but he’s part of the whole pack of people who didn’t deal with this and enabled a child molester to abuse mutiple young boys. And any of you deluded enough to think this won’t be proven – go drink some more kool-aid! And I have a nice bridge to sell ya -
I hate this happened, period, but especially at the twilight of Coach Paterno’s outstanding career. I pray that the truth comes out & all guilty parties are properly dealt with harshly. There’s absolutely no excuse for this crap. They should change their “Happy Valley” nickname.
I am astounded as to why the grad asst did not stop what Sandusky was doing. Why didn’t he step in and help the poor child instead of running away? I realize he was probably stunned, upset and embarrased to witness such cruel acts but he should have stepped in and saved the poor boy and then should have called the police. Forget University protocols, it was a felony act on a CHILD….. I hope Sandusky rots in jail and then rots in hell for what he has done let alone tarnish the good name of Joe Paterno. JP shouldn’t have to go out amid this horrible scandal but I also wonder why did didn’t call the police himself either or at least go with the grad asst when he saw nothing being done.
This is officially the most disturbing story I’ve ever heard of or seen in college football…ever.
Agreed…this is truly shocking
I am blown away by how many people dont understand or dont agree with Penn States decsison regarding Paterno. Unless, I am mistaken…. and I dont believe that I am …he is mandated by law to report any creditable report of child abuse because of the position he holds as an educator and someone who works with youth. I understand that he did not commit the alleged abuse but besides having a legal obligation what about the moral obligation of a human being? I am an educator and a coach. If i fail to report something like this I face a loss of job and criminal charges. Its mind blowing at what is going on in Penn State and the number of people who think this man should keep his job another day.
Paterno is fired. the president of PSU also.
seems as if the Board believes that more should have been done!
With Joe Paterno now officially out of coaching, I’d bet Bobby Bowden wishes he could have stuck a round a few more years. He and Paterno stayed neck and neck in most career wins as a head coach in the FBS.
Id be willing to bet that thought hasnt even entered Bowdens mind….any man of integrity would not look at this tragedy as an opportunity for individual advancement.
None of this talk should even be about football…none of Paternos 400+ wins are more important than the fact that he and others associated could have saved some of those boys from this tragedy. Kevin, your analysis is spot on and I completely agree that Penn State is making the right moves. There is no way that he should ever represent any institution that values the feelings of these victims and their families. Anyone making references to records or that think him coaching on saturday is more important than that should seriously reevaluate their priorities.
First & foremost, football is not the issue here! I love football & am always anxious for the season to arrive each year win or lose, the issue here is your moral & legal responsibility to report crimes against children to the proper authorities. What you do for your players, the community, etc. doesn’t count, what you didn’t do does. You have turned your back on a crime committed against children; not only have you turned your back on it, you have allowed it to continue. Then you help broker a retirement package for the individual committing the crime, why? Is football more important than such perversion being preformed on a child in the facility that is your domain? When do we stop our hero worship of mere mortals, & step up to the plate even if it does put your program in a bad light & do the right thing? 1998, that is 13 years, how many children could have been saved? Tell me, if one of you children, grandchildren, brothers, etc.; had been a VICTIM, would football be your concern? You don’t turn your back on something this incomprehensible, get over the hero concept of the issue. Do the right thing!
Even worse…this sick f–k has been involved with young boys since the 70s…this couldve been going on for 30 years…pardon my french
I thought that Joe Paterno should have retired years ago. I am certain that…college football recruiting at that level being as cut-throat as it is…that other schools were recruiting AGAINST PSU because of Paterno’s age and conservative approach to the game. (An old army buddy…big PSU fan who grew up in Pennsylvania…swears that Terrelle Pryor wanted to attend Penn State, but didn’t because of Paterno’s conservative offense. Not getting Pryor might have actually been a blessing, but still…) I realize that you want to let a legend like Joe Pa go out on his own terms, but when that doesn’t happen there comes a time when you sit down and say “Coach, it’s time for a change. We’ll do this your way, but it’s going to be done now.”
Many states have laws that a person in Coach Paterno’s position…teacher, coach, band director, etc….must report any suspected child abuse…not just to their supervisor…but to county health officials, who then investigate. I don’t know what Pennsylvania law requires. It may be that reporting suspected abuse to your boss meets the legal requirements…but I do think that you break all contact with the accused violater.
I have always liked and respected Joe Paterno. I think he’s run an honest and clean program, and I hate to see such a legendary career end this way, tarred by a horrible scandal.