Thoughts on Joe Paterno?

[Bevo Ryan]

This story has been all over the news and I must say I really have no way of putting this into words... For those of you who dont know, there is huge controversy as to whether or not Joe Paterno should be fired from his position as head coach for the Penn State football team based on a sexual assault scandal involving a former assistant coach in the program.

More info here: Penn State, Joe Paterno and failure of power - ESPN however here are the consolidated facts as I have read:

1.) Paterno's former assistant coach, Jerry Sandusky, was arrested for 40 counts related to allegations of sexual abuse of young boys over a 15-year period

2.) Sandusky retired from the university in 1999, however still worked closely with the football program and used the PSU facilities on a regular basis.

3.) In 2002, a graduate assistant saw Sandusky assaulting a boy in the football locker room shower. The graduate assistant then went home, called his father for advice, and later went to Joe Paterno's house to explain what he saw.

4.) Paterno reported the incident, and organized a meeting between the athletic director, the head of campus police, and the graduate assistant to explain what the GA saw in the shower.

5.) The Athletic Director told Paterno the issue was being taken care of, and Paterno did no more action....

6.) The AD only disallowed Sandusky from bringing people onto the campus facilities, however Sandusky still continued to work closely with the program.

7.) This year, Paterno testified infront of a grand jury and explained the exact situation of what he was told by the grad assistant. The Grand Jury Report can be found here: http://www.attorneygeneral.gov/uploadedFiles/Press/Sandusky-Grand-Jury-Presentment.pdf (warning: it is a bit graphic, very detailed descriptions of how the assaults occured)

8.) There is a huge outroar from the media saying Joe Paterno could have done more to stop this predator from destroying more kids lives. This becomes a moral conflict because Paterno, legally, did "what he was suppose to do", by reporting the incident to his higher ups, however many believe that since Sandusky was still around, that Paterno didn't do enough to do justice against Sandusky.


As a native of state of Pennsylvania, I know how big of a deal Penn State football is to the community (I went to few football camps up in Penn State when i was playing football in high school). Joe Paterno, before this incident, is about as legendary of a sports figure humanly possible, and has been known for his squeeky clean record and his ability to "do the right thing". People calling for his head in the media now... and everyone seems to have their own opinion on the matter... The media is saying that if this is the reason Joe Paterno's career ends, it may be the biggest sports and civil scandals of all time, and ultimately destroy a once perfect legacy of Joe Paterno.

Many believe Paterno is going to be resigning before the end of the week... however, many also believe that Paterno did his part by relaying the information he was told (and didnt see) to the proper authorities, and should not be fired...

I really have no idea what to think, but I think there is much more information that needs to be released in order to see how much Paterno really did know...

Curious to hear more thoughts...

 

[dmnEPC]

If he didnt touch the boy or watch or do anything other than report it how can you force the guy out? Hey reported it its the university and they wanted to keep things quite and swept it under the rug. Its the head of the university that should have his head cut off. The sad reality of it is Paterno will wind up being hurt. I heard this story yesterday and thought it was Paterno that did the actual assault. Thats fucked up if I miss heard that story I can guarantee millions of others will think the same thing he is going to go down as a pedophile and thats a crying shame.

 

[turbolapp]

Is he getting singled out? Or are all of them burning? (the AD, the assaliant...etc)

Yeah I'd like to say that he's being treated unfairly, and there's no question it was a rock and hard place for the poor guy but the simple truth is after he reported it to the university, this child rapist still worked around children and he worked with this child rapist as they all worked around children. If the proper channels didn't work, he should have gone outside....or stayed silent, like he did, and now face the consequences.

 

[jsphfcll]

since when is the AD the same thing as law enforcement?

if you see someone being raped... do you tell the cops... or do you tell your boss?

 

[BilltheButcher]

The American media doing what the American media does. A shit job on providing the public the facts and using their medium to provide the opinion they want the average American to have.

 

[leadsupplier]

@OP, i graduated from Penn State two years ago and this whole thing just sucks.I have not been following the story as closely as everyone else, but what you said pretty much sums up what i've heard.personally i think Joe Pa did what he could. He heard about it, reported it ... done. Sure when you look at it in retrospect maybe someone should have called the cops but hindsight is 20/20.I think joe pa being thrown into this and having his name smeared is really fucked up and something that the media just loves to do. I really don't think this should hurt his career or force him into early retirement.

 

[turbolapp]

since when is the AD the same thing as law enforcement?

if you see someone being raped... do you tell the cops... or do you tell your boss?

Totally agree. The problem has become that universities have their own law enforcement, to an extent. So unfortunately crap like this gets muddled. Especially when you think about how easy it is to sweep things under the rug when there is an extremely biased "law enforcement" agency that is owned by the school.

Hopefully this situation aids with some policy changes.

 

[justo_tx]

Paterno needs to hang (metaphorically of course), he has the clout and pull at Penn to get the right thing done when a chickenshit administrator tries to sweep it under the rug.

Until people like Paterno and the Penn administrators and Cardinals in the Catholic church and others in power stop thinking that "out of site, out of mind" is an ethical absolution you're just going to keep ending up with kids getting abused.

I've got no sympathy for Paterno getting hung out to dry on this one. If he would have stepped up he wouldn't have to worry about being made an example of.

 

[Scutter]

I haven't read Joe Paterno's grand jury testimony but I think everything should hinge on exactly what he was told. Look, if he was aware that a child was being assaulted by an adult, sexually or otherwise, the first call should have been the police. Period. It's a crime, and a heinous one at that, and we all have a moral and often legal responsibility to take action in situations like this.

Should Paterno be crucified by the media? No. But should he have gone to the police? Most likely. Should he have grabbed a baseball bat and gone down to the gym to personally pummel Sandusky's head in? Yeah, then he'd be my hero.

 

[jeffrey]

My thoughts? It's a FUCKING shame that this story has become about Joe Paterno instead of about the victims who were sexually assaulted by a fucking pervert.

 

[moratraffic]

I am lifelong PSU fan and probably the only worse thing that could happen in sports would be Cal Ripken saying he used steroids.

With that being said, yes, he should have gone to the police, but that guy was also one of his best friends. So when a student comes to you and tells you something happened that involves your best friend, what do you do? Go to the cops or follow campus protocol so an investigation can be done first? I know that I don't want to be put in that situation at all.

Oh, and Sandusky can rot in jail. Hopefully he gets put in with the general population and not in seclusion.

 

[natewitt]

Joe Paterno is not without tremendous blame here.


A graduate assistant walked in on Sandusky anally raping a 10-year-old boy in the shower. He goes to Joe's house the next morning and tells him exactly what he saw.

What did Joe do other than promote that graduate assistant to a position as recruiter within a couple of years?

If you cannot see that dozens of people were complicit in this, including and up to Joe, you are wrong.

The difference is Joe is viewed as the patron saint of college football and his actions are scrutinized much more closely. He is a leader and he failed.

 

[lschmidt]

Totally agree. The problem has become that universities have their own law enforcement, to an extent. So unfortunately crap like this gets muddled. Especially when you think about how easy it is to sweep things under the rug when there is an extremely biased "law enforcement" agency that is owned by the school.

Hopefully this situation aids with some policy changes.

Not sure how Penn State works, but at my university the "campus police" are part of the MPD (milwaukee police dept). So they are the real deal so to speak.

 

[Magic Hat]

since when is the AD the same thing as law enforcement?

if you see someone being raped... do you tell the cops... or do you tell your boss?

Not to justify Paterno's actions at all, but one of the guys he did go to was in charge of overseeing the campus PD. So, technically, he did go to the authorities. Not sure why he didn't follow up on it when no real action was taken, that is inexcusable.

It's a shame that Joe Pa's career might end this way. Sandusky is a real piece of shit.

The interesting thing will be to see how high this goes. Something tells me this cover up went further than just the heads of Penn St. PA Government officials are going to get caught up in this shitstorm, no doubt about it.

 

[Falian]

I just read the brief over. Joe Paterno is getting called out because he's Joe Paterno.

Do you know how busy that guy is? He received a disturbing report and forwarded it to the Athletic Director, who's responsible for handling these matters. Should he have called the police? Yeah, in hindsight, that's what he should have done. There's a lot to be said about following the chain-of-command when allegations like this come in. Paterno followed the chain-of-command. He didn't see the rape, he was told about it.

And if you actually read the brief, Sandusky was already investigated in 1998. It's obvious he was abusing children in 1998 as well, and they didn't catch him then. The government is also to blame here. Paterno didn't even see inappropriate conduct, there are reports of plenty of adults who did see and didn't pursue appropriate action.

To all of you white knights in this thread act, thanks Captain Hindsight. It's easy to say what you would of done in a situation you weren't in.. Everybody is a hero and savior in their head.

This is a terrible situation and a lot of people really messed up in handling this situation properly. I'm sure every single person involved feels terrible and will never forgive themselves. Let God and the Court judge, no need for all your White Knights to as well.

Instead, let's all learn a lesson here. When you see something inappropriate, go the extra mile to investigate and pursue action, instead of letting doubt push it to the back of your mind. No kid should ever have to grow through what these victims experienced. Do your part, I'm going to try to do mine.

 

[turbolapp]

Not sure how Penn State works, but at my university the "campus police" are part of the MPD (milwaukee police dept). So they are the real deal so to speak.

I'm not seeing anything here that says they're connected to the city/state municipality

Penn State University Police

Infact it seems to say they are their own entity working side by side with the Police

a. Campus police and municipalities are authorized to enter into an agreement with the municipality wherein the college or university is located to exercise concurrently those powers and to perform those duties conferred pursuant to a cooperative police service agreement in accordance with 42 Pa.C.S. § 8953 (relating to statewide municipal police jurisdiction). When so acting, the campus police of the college or university shall have the same powers, immunities, and benefits granted to police officers in 42 Pa.C.S. Ch. 89 Subch. D.

The question really is what is the process after arrest? Shouldn't this have gone to the state prosecutor? (Obviously it did much later)

 

[jeffrey]

Joe Paterno is not without tremendous blame here.


A graduate assistant walked in on Sandusky anally raping a 10-year-old boy in the shower. He goes to Joe's house the next morning and tells him exactly what he saw.

What did Joe do other than promote that graduate assistant to a position as recruiter within a couple of years?

If you cannot see that dozens of people were complicit in this, including and up to Joe, you are wrong.

The difference is Joe is viewed as the patron saint of college football and his actions are scrutinized much more closely. He is a leader and he failed.

Great post, you are as ignorant as they come.

 

[dchuk]

According to the indictment, in 2002 assistant coach Mike McQueary, then a Penn State graduate assistant [16], walked in on Sandusky having anal intercourse with a ten-year-old boy. The next day, he reported the incident to Paterno, who informed Curley. Ultimately, the only action Curley and Schultz took was to order Sandusky not to bring any children from Second Mile to the football building, an action that was approved by school president Graham Spanier.

Fuck em all, fry the bitches. The entire program and administration should have taken every step possible to fire that piece of shit pedo, and because they didn't, they're all implicated.

 

[HustlinHard]

My view on this is similar to those saying Joe Paterno and all others involved should take their fair shair of the blame, this kind of activity is unacceptable.

Rape and abuse is not at all uncommon in college wrestling/football, it's a huge problem actually. Many of these kids look up to their coaches as roll models making it easy for the scumbags to take advantage of that. I've been aware of these sorts of situations for a long time, so don't for one second think that Joe Paterno was naive about this kind of shit going on or the fact that it would likely be covered up.

I don't feel bad for Joe, and for once I am glad the media is blowing this up. I hope they set a precedent in this case so that all the other colleges and programs where this commonly happens think twice about their 'one hand washes the other' old boys club.

Think about how you'd feel if this happened to your kid.

EDIT: To the guys who said "Joe Paterno's a busy guy", give me a break.. How does reporting child abuse/rape not sky rocket to the top of your list of things to do?

 

[parrot head]

That grand jury report is pretty detailed and disturbing. As someone who follows CFB very closely, this is completely unacceptable. Anyone who "saw", "heard", or even had "reason to believe" anything was going on should have spoken out immediately until it was known, disgrace one those who did not. CFB does not need this now or ever. Terminate dem' bitches.