Why Joe Paterno can’t be allowed to coach another game
Here's Penn State president Graham Spanier, shown with his boss Joe Paterno. (AP photo)
Penn State felt the need to cancel Joe Paterno’s news conference Tuesday, but allowed him to conduct practice later that afternoon. On Saturday the Nittany Lions will play host to Nebraska. Paterno cannot be allowed to lead Penn State onto the field.
In all likelihood, the Nebraska game would have been the 84-year-old’s last home date as coach if Jerry Sandusky had remained a footnote in Penn State’s athletic annals, but whatever Paterno wanted is immaterial now. At issue is if a proud university wants to be remembered as a school that was handed a last chance to do something and finally did it, or as an institution that again chose to do next to nothing.
The New York Times reports that, in May 1999, Paterno told Sandusky he wouldn’t become Penn State’s head coach when the incumbent, meaning Paterno, retired. Could it have been mere coincidence that, in 1998, Penn State had investigated Sandusky for showering with an underage male? No charges were filed, but Sandusky announced in the summer of 1999 that he would retire as defensive coordinator — at the not-exactly-advanced age of 55.
Did Penn State know back then that such a man couldn’t continue to represent it and nudge him aside? If so, why didn’t it inform the proper authorities? If so, why did it continue to allow Sandusky to hold emeritus privileges on campus and to use team facilities? This is no trifling issue: It was, according to the grand jury’s presentment, in a Penn State locker room that Sandusky was allegedly seen having sex with a 10-year-old — in 2002.
This was the act allegedly witnessed by Mike McQueary, then a grad assistant and now Penn State’s recruiting coordinator. McQueary told Paterno what he’d seen, and Paterno told his superiors, and then nothing much happened for a very long time. He was barred from bringing children on campus, but he maintained an office and reports indicate he was in the team’s weight room as late as last week. According to his lawyer, Sandusky has known he was being investigated for three years before the indictment was handed down.
Think about that. Penn State has sought to act as if this all has been a bolt from the blue, but in 1998 the school should have had cause, if not exactly to know, then surely to wonder. And here we must also wonder if Paterno, faced with a choice between what was right and what was best for his legacy, didn’t take the path of least resistance.
For all the lack of ostentation in Paterno’s image — the ugly glasses and the khaki pants and the football cleats — this is a man who cares very much about how he’ll be remembered. He once famously said he planned to keep coaching because he didn’t want to leave the sport to the likes of rogue operators Jackie Sherrill and Barry Switzer, but the Penn State Story is infinitely more distressing than any $100 handshakes with recruits. Lots of schools cheat in the attempt to get players. The program that has portrayed itself as above it all might well have concealed a predator.
When first the charges against Sandusky surfaced — and here we stipulate that he’s innocent until proved guilty — the reaction was, “How could he have kept such a life hidden?” After further review, it defies credulity that he could have. Someone had to know something. Someone had to wonder why a grown man was showering with boys and traveling to bowl games with adolescents who weren’t his sons.
In 1977 Sandusky founded a charity called The Second Mile, named after a verse from the Gospel according to Mathew, to provide aid and comfort to troubled boys. In the second paragraph of the grand-jury presentment is this chilling sentence: “It was within The Second Mile program that Sandusky found his victims.”
As a player and a coach, Jerry Sandusky had been part of Penn State from 1963 through 1999. Someone had to know something, and surely the 1998 shower incident was enough to generate suspicion even among those who didn’t want to know. Joe Paterno has been at Penn State since 1950. If he knew nothing, it was only because he wanted to know nothing.
But that’s the thing about being a head coach: You’re paid to know everything. Joe Paterno had come to be a case study in ethics in modern athletics, and he’ll retire with the most victories of any FBS (formerly Division I-A) coach ever. But Paterno also emphasized that there’s more to his job than winning, and that’s why he needs to coach no more. If he knew, he needs to go. If he didn’t know, he should have.
By Mark Bradley
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404 comments Add your comment
gdawginkalamazoo
November 9th, 2011
10:00 am
“JoePa has never run a dirty program and definitely would not put an assitant above the university no matter what the issue was. ”
He let a suspected child molester (98′ investigation, 2002 eye wtiness account of a child being raped) have unfettered acces(bring kids there) to the Penn State facilities for 10 additional years (up until last week). After Sandusky agreed to no longer share a shower facility with a child (results of 98 investigation.) Explain that JoePa.
If he thought that McQueary was lying in 2002 I don’t think he would have promoted the kid to WR coach and kept him on the payroll. Explain that JoePa.
You are corroect, there probably will be a lot more coming out on this entire thing and it will just get uglier IMO. Why now are these coming to light right after you got the most wins in CF history? Explain that JoePa.
GT Joe
November 9th, 2011
10:01 am
dmr: please, one guy is a child molester, and all in a sudden there is “something sinister and EVIL going on at Penn State Univesity”? Talk about hyperbole. Why not say something evil is going on in the STATE OF PENNSYLVANIA while you’re at it.
JoePa alerted the admins about what he heard from McQueary (and he didn’t even hear the full story from McQueary). Maybe if McQueary told him point blank and described the exact act to him, Joe might have called the cops too. But we’ll never know.
jvillebil
November 9th, 2011
10:01 am
Give me a break, there have been sexual pervert since the beginning of time. My 80 year old parents would know exactly what was going on. So I guess if someone came to you in a panic and said, Hey GT Joe your 10-year old son and a 50 year old man are naked horsing around in the locker room shower. DUH?? Your response, “Well tell them to make sure to hang up their towels in the right spot when their done.” You’ve got to be kidding me.
GT Joe
November 9th, 2011
10:04 am
kalamazoo: wow, stick to facts please. JoePa let him bring kids there? Source please.
gdawginkalamazoo
November 9th, 2011
10:04 am
Not saying that JoePa runs a dirty football program. His friendship with Sandusky has ruined his image.
dawg & GT fan
November 9th, 2011
10:06 am
Joe just reported will step down at end of this year….10:05AM..but Joe needs to go..RIGHT NOW!!!!!!!
President of Penn State also needs to go for taking up for schools officials and not doing his job to protect the kids…
dawg & GT fan
November 9th, 2011
10:06 am
GT Joe read the damn Grand Jury Report..and get a life.
jvillebil
November 9th, 2011
10:07 am
Latest news is that it is up to 20 victims. Yes, what we have here is a left or right (depending on your preference) conspiracy against this fine long term defensive coach. Back in my grandfather’s day this would have already have been taken care of. He’d either be a Enuch or dead! I can’t stand to discuss this anymore.
GT Joe
November 9th, 2011
10:08 am
jvillebil: in your scenario, i’d go kill the guy. But your scenario is NOT what happened.
If i was JoePa in this situation, I would have alerted the Admins (as he did, to make sure Sandusky doesn’t have access to PSU facilities any more. The admins have that kind of power). I would then tell McQueary to call the cops. MCQUEARY should have called the cops. Not Paterno. Paterno is a witness to nothing. In fact, I don’t even think he would be a witness at a trial, as he would only be reporting hearsay.
gdawginkalamazoo
November 9th, 2011
10:11 am
Gt Joe, he and the university allowed him the access per the guys retirement package. You don’t think that JoePa di not have the power to cancel that after the 2002 incident?
gdawginkalamazoo
November 9th, 2011
10:14 am
GT Joe, you’re 10:08 post I can agree with. Except he needed to follow up to make sure it was reported. It wasn’t like he didn’t see McQueary around, the kid worked for him and still does.
GT Joe
November 9th, 2011
10:15 am
gdawg: from the grand jury report:
The graduate assistant heard back from Curley a couple of weeks later. He was told that Sandusky’s keys to the locker room were taken away and that the incident had been reported to The Second Mile.
This was in 2002.
UGA Insider
November 9th, 2011
10:15 am
Sandusky was on campus last week! If Penn St allows any of these people to retain employment they have major moral issues. Recruits are already jumping ship.
GT Joe
November 9th, 2011
10:17 am
Also from the GJ Report:
Joseph V. Paterno testified to receiving the graduate assistant’s report at his home on a Saturday morning. Paterno testified that the graduate assistant was very upset. Paterno called Tim Curley (”Curley”), Penn State Athletic Director and Paterno’s immediate superior, to his home the very next day, a Sunday, and reported to him that the graduate assistant had seen Jerry Sandusky in the Lasch Building showers fondling or doing something of a sexual nature to a young boy.
What this tells me is that JoePa didn’t know exactly what was going on. Maybe McQueary didn’t have the stomach to tell him EXACTLY.
Matt
November 9th, 2011
10:19 am
This is unbelievably disgusting and the abuse of a child is the worst possible crime that can be commited. Bar none. There’s so much blame to go around. Much of it certainly rests with Joe Pa and he should be fired before close of business today. They’ll probably let him coach for the remainder of the season and then wheel him out at the end of the year, but if it were me I’d fire his ass before he could put his false teeth in to attempt an excuse for the inexusable. But the entire administration should be held accountable as well. The mothers also should have followed up with the police when they realized that nothing was being done by Penn State to punish their child’s abuser.
That said, the number one biggest P*SSY in the world (excepting of course Sandusky) is this guy, Mike McQueary. For him to be an adult, be an eye-witness to the raping of a child, and to not immediately walk in the shower and beat the living sh*t out of Sandusky is unforgivable. Then, to sit around for ten years after having witnessed the act and do nothing except collect a paycheck from a university that has tacitly condoned child molestation is the apex of evil. This guy should be prosecuted for the crime of being a coward. The guilty parties will face a punishment far worse after this life is over. It’s stories like this that make me hug my kids a little tighter when I see them. The only thing that would keep me from emptying a clip into these a$$holes would be the fact that my kids wouldn’t have a father around to drive them to therapy.
North over South
November 9th, 2011
10:19 am
Who ever thought that Coach Paterno would allowed children to be raped by a man known as a child predator just to win games.
zbulldawg
November 9th, 2011
10:22 am
VERY SAD WHAT A HORRID THING TO HIDE !!! JOE KNEW “VERY SAD” HIS STATMENT SAYS IT ALL! By telling the AD he just passed the BUCK ! JOE PUT HIMSELF ABOVE PENN ST. THE CHILDREN THEIR FAMILIES AND LIFE ITSELF. PLEASE LET”S REMEMBER ” JOE IS NOT A VICTIM HERE” THERE WILL BE ALOT OF I DID THIS FOR YOU I THIS & I THAT !!!! THE devil COMES IN MANY FACES .
GT Joe
November 9th, 2011
10:22 am
wow North, ignorance is bliss I see.
GaDawg
November 9th, 2011
10:23 am
Retire at end of the end? Really
GT Joe
November 9th, 2011
10:23 am
funny now all the religious zealots come on here talking about the devil, etc., I wonder if they will ever do what Jesus says: to forgive.
a fan
November 9th, 2011
10:24 am
Paterno is a witness to nothing….BS GTJOE. Sandusky was on campus and at all games with kids 9-10 years old..was JP blind..No red flag!..going to gym with kids..where was JP? thats BS the man took kids to all games, bowl games spend the night with him and no damn one saw shi!? give me a break..Joe knew it, are is one stupid fool.
T3
November 9th, 2011
10:29 am
The depth and extent of the WILLFUL negligence, complacency, and complicity
by SO MANY PEOPLE…FOR SO MANY YEARS is just horrifying and mind-numbing.
If the PSU Board of Trustees has ANY shred of humanity, dignity, and integrity left
then there is simply NO WAY IN HELL that JoePa can be allowed to be part of the
University any longer.
Otherwise, PSU is going to become known as:
P – Pedophile
S – State
U – University
And JoePA will be remember as: Joe (P)edophile (A)compliss.
Lastly, ANY PSU fan or Alum trying to give JoePa a “pass”
needs to…S-E-R-I-O-U-S-L-Y…STHU.
a fan
November 9th, 2011
10:33 am
I’m a GT fan …joe that the GT from in front of your name…you make us GT fans look bad…plus u a disgrace to the human race.
GT Joe
November 9th, 2011
10:36 am
Funny, people are out to lynch JoePa, but he won’t face a SINGLE charge, and did NOTHING illegal.
Bill
November 9th, 2011
10:38 am
Please get someone to fix the filter are what ever..I’ve post three times and something ate it..thanks
old dog
November 9th, 2011
10:38 am
While it may appear that folks are reveling in the downfall of a successful coach, this is a different circumstance. Sandusky should be drawn and quartered…..and that is too good for him. I realize that Joe-Pa may think he did right, but under these horific circumstances, he should have pursued it to the max! Once the higher-ups didn’t take it up a notch, he shoulda raised hell. This ain’t like the guy took a pair of shoes from the athletic department….the SOB molested kids! If somebody SEES it, and reports it at the facility, and then a trail opens up that leads to other incidences this is one thing that has to be followed through…no room for discretion! I volunteer to pull the switch!
Matt
November 9th, 2011
10:39 am
GT Joe- you’re right, being a coward is not illegal.
jimeroland
November 9th, 2011
10:42 am
paterno needs to be fired now. also president of school and anyone else who knew of this.
JSH
November 9th, 2011
10:42 am
Sane heads need to not move so fast. We don’t want another Duke Lacrosse team type of incidence.
GT Joe
November 9th, 2011
10:42 am
Matt: read my post from 10:17. I don’t think JoePa knew the extent of it.
Not to mention, Sandusky wasn’t an employee that JoePa could “fire”; hell he was a professor. The admins had the power to fire and ban, no Joe.
doc
November 9th, 2011
10:44 am
thank you psu2003 for your most credible post yet on this subject. again i am appaled at mark’s silence as lies and misrepresentations are placed on here that he knows are just that.
GT Joe
November 9th, 2011
10:47 am
“Paterno said it was obvious that the graduate student was “distraught,” but said the graduate student did not tell him about the “very specific actions” in the grand jury report.”
Again, I just don’t think JoePa knew what was going on EXACTLY.
Either way, he did nothing illegal and won’t face a single charge.
catlady
November 9th, 2011
10:47 am
Perhaps vacating the wins since then would be a strong message: You forfet any game where an ineligible player or COACH participates.
Cuz
November 9th, 2011
10:50 am
Anybody who thinks JoeGranPa did not know what was happening are as delusional as Joe. The State Police say that Joe should have notified someone in law enforcement on the assumption of criminal activity. He did not. It would have shown a light on PSU that Joe did not want.
At least he will know for the rest of his life how he made his exit. Not to the cheers of his loyal followers but quietly off in disgrace.
GT Joe
November 9th, 2011
10:52 am
catlady: what coach was ruled ineligible? JoePa has done nothing illegal and won’t face a single charge.
Cuz
November 9th, 2011
10:52 am
PSU will not vacate wins. Joe will not be charged.
The Grad assistant was “distraught”. Had senility set in so much that Joe did not ask what was wrong?
afan
November 9th, 2011
10:55 am
Joe, I refuse to put the GT in front of your name. You are a disgrace to GT fans and human race. If you love JP thats ok but don’t give me the” for give’ crap and religious stuff..you’re not a authority on that.
Eye for a eye..?
what if that was you son in the shower?
GT Joe
November 9th, 2011
10:56 am
Cuz, Happy Valley will be louder than ever this saturday. PSU vs. Nebraska will be the biggest game of the season, and JoePa will leave to the loudest cheers of his life.
Cuz, read my post at 10:17. I don’t think the grad student had the stomach to tell Paterno what he really saw.
GT Joe
November 9th, 2011
10:58 am
afan: I’m just responding to the zealots coming on here calling for him to be killed, talking about “evil has many faces, etc”. Not very Jesus-like, eh?
If that was my son: I’d kill Sandusky first. Then I’d kill McQueary for not reporting it to the cops. I wouldn’t fault Paterno, there’s no evidence he knew the extent of what was going on. Not to mention, Paterno was the ONLY ONE WHO DID ACT, by alerting the admins.
TOo Tough44
November 9th, 2011
11:01 am
Why has it taken so long for whoever brought this into light to say anything…(if he wasnt the one being molested..he should have make this know immediately!)
Bill
November 9th, 2011
11:02 am
no-one is asking Joe to face charges, just to step down and get the he!! out of the way for Penn State to clear its name and move on. As long as Joe stays, PS will be remembered for child sex abuse and etc.clean house and move on.
Always a Jacket
November 9th, 2011
11:04 am
Great Article. Interesting that some believe Paterno’s legacy trumps destroying young lives.
Paterno’s legacy is now set regardless of what he does. He will be right next to Woody Hayes.
Honky Talkin
November 9th, 2011
11:06 am
Paterno and the entire P.S. administration should go to jail for this massive cover up. Disgusting is an understatement.
College Football Expert
November 9th, 2011
11:08 am
People sticking up for Paterno are sick
Flash
November 9th, 2011
11:09 am
Joe must go now wow what a shame on Penn .i am speechless .He can not be allowed to choach another game.
Wake up
November 9th, 2011
11:10 am
PSU2003, you are a moron. I don’t care that you played for JoePa, it in fact makes you less credible. I saw your boy Matt Millen fake cry on TV last night and say the same thing.. There is WAY too much smoke here to know there isn’t a fire. And its burning your beloved alma mater to the ground. Read the report Einstein and get back to me once you have.. I can’t wait to hear JoePa explain himself more.. Because there isn’t much that he can say to make this thing go away. You’re an idiot.
Ken
November 9th, 2011
11:11 am
You’re absolutely right on this one Mark. I don’t agree with you all the time, but this one is 100% on the money. If ANYONE associated with the coaching staff back to the time these things happened is allowed to set foot on Penn State’s campus again, then it is an absolute insult to anyone victimized and is basically just raping them again. This is beyond sickening. This is just another piece of evidence that satan is real and evil really exists, for those that want to rationalize everything away. No other context makes sense. God is also real, and while he is merciful, part of that mercy demands justice for those who have suffered.
By the way- Penn State football should get the DEATH PENALTY for a minimum of 3 years. There were way too many people that knew way too much and chose to worship the holy dollar and their own sense of power. Not to mention, NOT PLAYING FOOTBALL is really the only act of atonement that could even come close to apologizing to the victims….and don’t give me a lecture about the ‘poor kids’ who are on Penn State’s team now. Please….you think the NCAA won’t waive their year of sitting out and let them transfer somewhere else the way they did at Baylor?
Ken
November 9th, 2011
11:11 am
By the way, Paterno’s wins mean NOTHING. Eddie Robinson should still be #1. They are a disgrace just like 73 home runs is a disgrace.
Wake up
November 9th, 2011
11:12 am
PSU2003, the fact that you played for JoePa makes you less credible. You’re an idiot. Read the report Einstein. There is way too much smoke here to know there isn’t fire underneath. I saw your boy Matt Millen fake cry on TV last night and say the same thing you’re saying- wait til the facts come out. Well, we’re waiting… Tick.. Tock.. Tick..
The hot seat....
November 9th, 2011
11:14 am
Hey, Mark, does Paterno now replace Richt on the “hot seat”?