The Legacy of Joe Paterno

Joe Paterno coached Penn State's Nittany Lions from 1966 to 2011 racking up the most wins by a coach in NCAA football history, however yesterday the NCAA fined PSU over $60 million, vacated all wins dating back to 1998, and banned Penn State from awarding any football scholarships for the next four years in response to accusations of Paterno and college administrators covering up years of child abuse crimes of Coach Jerry Sandusky on the grounds of the training facility. The new university president ordered the removal of Paterno's controversial statue from the stadium entrance to quell the conflict between Joe Pa supporters and those who accuse him of actively abetting his friend's abuse of young boys in the shower room. Over a hundred students watched workers forklift the statue from the pedestal, some chanting, "We are Penn State." The decision by the NCAA and University came after the release of the Freeh report outlining the sordid history of Paterno and three other top Penn State administrators concealing crimes former defensive coordinator Jerry Sandusky to protect the university and its football program. Joe Paterno has passed away, but his family released the following statement; "We believe the only way to help the victims is to uncover the full truth and consider the Freeh Report the equivalent of an indictment -- a charging document written by a prosecutor -- and an incomplete and unofficial one at that." I know people love their football and no one is condoning Sandusky's crimes, but Penn State football fans have reacted with outrage to the accusations against Paterno and the removal of the statue. One facebook fan concerned about confrontations suggested, "Moving the statue TEMPORARILY for the safety of all, perhaps to the All-Sports Museum, until high emotions subside and a more balanced perspective can return, might make a lot of sense, even to those of us who think it should stay. Thoughts I disagreed and wrote. paterno blatantly turned a blind eye to the chronic abuse by his coach. the criminal terminology for that crime is aiding and abetting child abuse. maybe they should warehouse the statue with namla. remember football is just a game One female Paterno fan disagreed by responding, "Sounds like Peter is basing his statement on media hype and Freeh's summary and not on any factual information. Peter, did you READ the Freeh report? It is 267 pages, you know. Please let me know when you read it, and then tell me where you found the "facts" that lead to your statement. Thank you." I wrote, "I read it. paterno was given a report in 2001 about allegations of child abuse in the showers and did pass it to the administration because "did not want to interfere with their administrators' weekends. In 2011, following a two-year grand jury investigation, Sandusky was arrested and charged with 52 counts of sexual abuse of young boys over a 15-year period. You can paint this donkey any color you want, but it still is a donkey." Female fan: "In 2001, he DID report it. Only person who did, btw. He reported it to the head of University police, and to the AD. In 1998, the police investigated the shower incident and the DA determined there was not enough evidence to file charges." Me: "When i was a young man in boston, i heard about the priests abusing deaf children at a school for the hearing impaired. i told the parents of the girl who described the abuse. they didn't believe us. we informed the police. they did nothing. finally my parish priest investigated the matter. he was transferred to another state. the girl signed her thanks, but no adult protected her and paterno only protected his friend." Another female supporter; "I don't agree! We are being held hostage by the media and anonymous planes, trains, etc! We need a backbone to say, "Enough is enough!" Joe Paterno was not convicted of any wrongdoing . . . nor was he indicted. The Freeh report is fraught with errors. It's just another rush to judgement and showing, once again, that there is no leadership at the helm." I don't know what Paterno did or didn't do, but fourteen years is a long time to not know anything about what's happening in your organization for a control freak like Paterno. Joe Paterno was a great football coach, but on this matter he fumbled ball year after year and that's the truth no matter how you review the replay