Joe Paterno should be glad he’s 84.
At least now he can provide a senility defense if somebody brings up the fact that his statement contradicts information in the grand jury indictment of former Pennsylvania State University defensive coordinator Jerry Sandusky.
He can also take solace knowing that after the Sandusky scandal inevitably leads to his resignation/termination as head coach that he can say he coached for 62 years under the façade of doing things the right way.
This is the type of thing that stains a legacy. And I’m not talking about a small ketchup stain – more like gasoline and lit matches being thrown onto the JoePa we thought we knew just last week.
Woody Hayes had his legacy tarnished when he punched a Clemson player in the 1978 Gator Bowl. That poor decision-making led to his firing, and his three national championships were suddenly trumped by one instance of violence. Paterno stands to lose so much more than Hayes.
For those late to the party, Sandusky is being charged with 40 counts of sex crimes against under-aged boys. Paterno had direct knowledge of an incident involving one of his victims, and he did little about it.
In 2002, according to the grand jury’s 23-page summary of the Sandusky investigation, graduate assistant Mike McQueary walked into the Penn State locker room to find Sandusky, in the shower, engaging in anal sex with a boy appearing to be about 10 years old.
A distraught McQueary told Paterno of the incident the next day. Instead of doing the right thing and going to the police, Paterno chose to only inform Athletic Director Tim Curley. According to Paterno’s testimony, Paterno reported that McQueary had seen Sandusky “in the Lasch Building showers fondling or doing something of a sexual nature to a young boy.”
Wait a second.
That makes it sound pretty clear Paterno knew SOMETHING wrong went down. Which begs the question: Why did Paterno deny knowledge in his statement to the public this weekend?
If true, the nature and amount of charges made are very shocking to me and all Penn Staters. While I did what I was supposed to with the one charge brought to my attention, like anyone else involved I can’t help but be deeply saddened these matters are alleged to have occurred.
Paterno went on to say the following:
As my grand jury testimony stated, I was informed in 2002 by an assistant coach that he had witnessed an incident in the shower of our locker room facility. It was obvious that the witness was distraught over what he saw, but he at no time related to me the very specific actions contained in the Grand Jury report. Regardless, it was clear that the witness saw something very inappropriate involving Mr. Sandusky. As Coach Sandusky was retired from our coaching staff at the time, I referred the matter to university administrators.
Bull.
This is Paterno denying all responsibility. He claims to not have knowledge of what exactly happened but he TESTIFIED that something inappropriate occurred. In such a case involving sexual abuse of a CHILD, you go to the police. Not the athletic director.
And why does it matter that Sandusky was retired from the coaching staff? He still had complete access to the facilities in Happy Valley. Curley has stepped down. So has university Vice President Gary Schultz. Next to lose his job should be Paterno.
Because no matter what he says now, he did have knowledge of what went on. And the fact that the university did NOT inform law enforcement does not excuse Paterno.
He had a moral, if not legal, obligation to inform the police. He is the czar of Happy Valley. Is it not reasonable to assume he had friends with legal influence in the area? Somebody who could have launched some sort of an investigation? Somebody that could have prevented Sandusky from being allowed to continue his reign of terror upon young boys?
This scandal is big news, regardless of how much ESPN chooses to cover it. It will result in the end of Paterno’s 62-year coaching career. And the stain of this incident will be something Paterno won’t be able to recover from.
It doesn’t matter anymore that Paterno has the most wins in Division I football history. Years from now, when people look back at the JoePa era, the first thing they’ll examine will be the tragedy that was Jerry Sandusky and how Paterno had the power to stop him and refused to do so.