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Jim Prisching / AP file
Joe Paterno supposedly wrote the op-ed column in the weeks before he died of lung cancer.
Joe Paterno's family sent a letter to former Penn State football players today -- an op-ed column they say the coach, himself, wrote in the month or so before he died.
For the last two months, at the request of the Attorney General's office, I have not discussed the specifics of my testimony regarding the pending cases. And while I will continue to honor that request, I do feel compelled to address comments made subsequent to November 9; specifically, I feel compelled to say, in no uncertain terms, that this is not a football scandal.
Let me say that again so I am not misunderstood: regardless of anyone's opinion of my actions or the actions of the handful of administration officials in this matter, the fact is nothing alleged is an indictment of football or evidence that the spectacular collections of accomplishments by dedicated student athletes should be in anyway tarnished.
Yet, over and over again, I have heard Penn State officials decrying the influence of football and have heard such ignorant comments like Penn State will no longer be a “football factory” and we are going to “start” focusing on integrity in athletics. These statements are simply unsupported by the five decades of evidence to the contrary - and succeed only in unfairly besmirching both a great University and the players and alumni of the football program who have given of themselves to help make it great.
For over 40 years young men have come to Penn State with the idea that they were going to do something different — they were coming to a place where they would be expected to compete at the highest levels of college football and challenged to get a degree. And they succeeded — during the last 45 years NO ONE has won more games while graduating more players. The men who made that commitment and who gave of themselves to help build the national reputation of what was once a regional school deserve better than to have their hard work and sacrifice dismissed as part of a “football factory,” all in the interests of expediency.
Read the original report at Phildelphia's NBC10.com
Penn State is not a football factory and it is ALREADY a great University. We have world-class researchers, degree programs, and students in every discipline. Penn Staters have been pioneers in medical advancements, engineering, and in the humanities. Our graduates have gone on to change the world — even graduates with football lettermen sweaters.
That is why recent comments are so perplexing and damaging — Penn Staters know we are a world class University. We can recite with pride the ranks of our academic programs and the successes of our graduates. Penn Staters (and employers) know what we are and the quality of our education. Nothing that has been alleged in any way implicates that reputation; rather, it is only the inexplicable comments of our own administration doing so.
It must stop. This is not a football scandal and should not be treated as one. It is not an academic scandal and does not in any way tarnish the hard earned and well-deserved academic reputation of Penn State. That Penn State officials would suggest otherwise is a disservice to every one of the over 500,000 living alumni.
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Forget my career in terms of my accomplishments and look at the last 40 years as I do: as the aggregate achievements of hundreds of young men working to become better people as they got an education and became better football players. Look at those men and what they have done in the world since they left Penn State and assess their contributions as an aggregate - is this a collection of jocks who did nothing but skate by at a football factory, or are these men who earned an education and built a reputation second to none as a place where academic integrity and gridiron success could thrive together?
Whatever failings that may have happened at Penn State, whatever conclusions about my or others' conduct you may wish to draw from a fair view of the allegations, it is inarguable that these actions had nothing to do with this last team or any of the hundreds of prior graduates of the "Grand Experiment."
Penn Staters across the globe should feel no shame in saying "We are…Penn State." This is a great University with one of the best academic performing football programs in major college athletics. Those are facts — and nothing that has been alleged changes them.
This is the second preemptive strike from the Paterno family before the Freeh report is released on Thursday. The report is expected to explore whether Paterno and other PSU officials helped cover up reports that Jerry Sandusky was molesting children. Just yesterday, the Paterno family sent out a long statement, defending Paterno and reminding the public that he never really got to tell his side of the story. You can click here to that family statement in its entirety.
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Leave a Comment:
R.I.P. Joe !
Agreed, "Rot In Pieces" Joe!
Nowhere was there an apology...just excuses.
This scandal is about a f*cking pervert that used his influence to f*ck little boys. Paterno could have done more and should have done more. Ditto for the AD and the President. But I agree this has nothing to do with the players on the field for the past 40 years.
I had to stop reading a couple paragraphs into the letter.... his writing style clearly shows the reason why this tragedy happened.. it is this arrogance that shows in the letter that made it easy for the predator to do what he did...
His letter does nothing to make me feel any better about him as a person. I understand he has left his family with a wave of disgrace to deal with, but nothing they say or do is going to untarnish his image. He should have turned Sandusky in when he found out what was going on. That would have made him the hero his family seems to want to portray him as. Instead, he's just as guilty as Sandusky - he may as well have raped those little boys himself.
His family needs to swallow their pride and apologize for his behavior instead of trying to gloss it all over and try to make him out to be more than he was...a man who only cared about winning football games and nothing else.
hmm, Doesn't seem to display much humility in the face of a great tragedy. Anyone who knew this happened and didn't rush to the defense of those young boys is guilty, PERIOD.
You're kidding right? Do you know anything about Joe Paterno at all? About how he gave over $9,000,000 total to Penn State for the Library and other Academic needs? How his program had some of the highest academic Standards in the Big Ten as well as the Highest Standard for the way his players behaved? Do you know that while every other major program was paying multi-million dollar salaries to big name coaches Paterno was making around $500,000. Try reading up on the man a little bit before you judge him.
I think there's at least eight boys and young men in this world (the victims that actually came forward and were brave enough to testify at trial) who don't give a flying f**k about how much money Joe Paterno has donated or how high his academic standards were.
I'm sure they would have been far happier if JoePa had instead just done the right thing at the right moment and immediately prevented this child rapist from hurting any more innocent boys. That's what real leaders do.
"You're kidding right? Do you know anything about Joe Paterno at all? About how he gave over $9,000,000 total to Penn State for the Library and other Academic needs? blah, blah, blah.."
So $9 million and the other crap is supposed to 'buy' his way out. Sorry. Doesn't work.
I've met, I know who he is. His name in my house as this came to light -- Joe Cockroach. So telling others to read up on him -- hmmmm -- you sound like you're of the same fabric as him. You'd save the institution but screw the victims. Aren't you special -- NOT
It was all about the football and $$$$ at PSU that allowed Joe Cockroach & his ilk PSU execs, etc. to do everything they could to sweep it under the carpet. If he had lived, after the report comes out -- he too would have found himself up to his eyeballs in legal bills and civil suits as he 'stepped' in it over a decade ago - all for the almighty football & $$$
PSU football should be disbanded until the institution can be totally revamped. The players -- they have other institutions whom if they are 'so good', would welcome them. But, being so fqr only PSU has been exposed, they best keep their 'privates' covered as this is happening at more than PSU.
Paterno is 100% correct, nothing that happened should in any way tarnish the accomplishments of Penn State football players past and present. This scandal is not about the football program, it is about the actions of one man and the response to those actions by a handful of others. Some say that Paterno should have done more. I say that Paterno did exactly what he was supposed to do when presented with the allegations being made by McQueary. Paterno immediately reported the allegations to his superiors so that they could conduct a full investigation. He then stepped aside to let them do their job, not wanting to interfere with their investigation. The fact that those above Paterno chose to sweep the allegations under the rug is not Paterno's fault. Could Paterno have gone to the outside police, I suppose so. Would it have made much of a difference, I do not know. The point is that MQueary's story about what he had witnessed kept changing, making him a somewhat unreliable and questionable accuser. At the time McQueary could not even identify the boy that he says he saw in the shower with Sandusky. Had Paterno gone to the outside police they likely would have contacted the campus authorities. At that point the campus authorities would have informed them that they, along with the campus police were investigating the allegations. Since the campus police at Penn State are actual police officers, not the rent-a-cops you have at many universities, it is likely that the outside police would have deferred to the jurisdiction of the campus police to handle the matter. Since Paterno did not actually see anything, no action against Sandusky could be taken on his word. The only identifiable witness at the time was McQueary. If anyone had a responsibility to report the incident to outside police it would have been him, not Paterno. However McQueary, like Paterno, followed the established rules for dealing with the situation and reported what he had seen to his superiors. It was the university president and police chief who had the power, authority, and responsibility to conduct a full investigation. To try and hold Paterno responsible for those men not doing their jobs is wrong. Neither Paterno or the Penn State football program is to blame for what happened. To hold the entire university up to scorn because of the actions of two, the university president and police chief, or maybe three, if you add the athletic director, people is equally wrong. Penn State is a great school with an outstanding academic reputation, both as a whole and among it's student athletes. They do not deserve to be tarnished by this event that had nothing to do with the university as a whole. Joe Paterno was well known and well regarded in college athletics for the standards, both academic and behavioral, that he held his players to. I do not see anything that happened here as undoing that well earned reputation. I am saddened that some see this incident as a black mark against Paterno, it is not fair or deserved. He took what he felt as the correct course of action at the time. The fact that he was so completely let down by those above him who should have done more should not be held against Paterno. And just for the record, I have no connection what-so-ever to Penn State or the Paterno family.
Sorry JS, but in a situation like that where something of such legal and moral magnitude is brought to him, JoePa bears the full burden (as do his superiors) of personally contacting police and making sure that a CRIMINAL investigation occurs, not some rinky-dink internal administrative investigation.
Joe dropped the ball, as it were, in the biggest non-gametime decision of his life. He may not have broken the law, but that doesn't mean he didn't screw up royally by just doing enough to cover his ass. And he deserves to be publicly castigated for the way he handled it, and to have his otherwise illustrious career tarnished by a major off-field decision. He didn't do enough. Period.
If it was your 10 year old son who was raped in a shower stall (or if it was in fact it was you who was being raped), I DARE you to be as forgiving as you claim others should be towards JoePa.
Paterno is 100% correct, nothing that happened should in any way tarnish the accomplishments of Penn State football players past and present. This scandal is not about the football program, it is about the actions of one man and the response to those actions by a handful of others
Sadly, we can see that he put football above the lives of children, even when he was at the end of his life. How pathetic, trying to say that all the "football" was above the well being of children.
Covering up for the scumbag Sanduski WAS not better than any football game,or any accomplishment ever. All his "accomplishments" went down the toilet by covering the actions of a pedophile. It is too bad that you continue thinking that as well. There is NOTHING worse than allowing a criminal comitt crimes, especially against children.
I'd love to have direct access to the personal lives of all the people so willing to condemn Paterno. It's a safe bet that their lives have been a heck of a lot lest than holy and pure. The bottom line is that, by all accounts, he had a very positive impact on thousands of young men. He reported the report made to him to his superiors. Now, all those with 20/20 hindsight want to condemn him for not doing more. Seriously though, what could he have done? He didn't witness anything. He took the information and conveyed it up the chain of command as was the policy of the University. Since what he did appears wrong to some, I can only assume that all of you who want to condemn Paterno have contacted the police every time someone told you that someone hit them, beat them or conveyed that they witnessed a crime. If your girlfriend confided in you that her husband/boyfriend beat her, then you obviously called the police. I doubt it.
What I find absolutely amazing is that everyone appears to be focused on Paterno. After all, there was someone who walked by Sandusky in the act of whatever he was doing and the only apparent response was, at best, "knock it off." If anyone should have followed up it was him. And, if he doesn't follow up, can you blame anyone who he told, from not doing the same? I'd question whether that person's original report was accurate.
But, I guess Paterno's reputation is such that he is expected to be a benevolent investigator, judge, jury and executioner. Good Grief! Oh, and he expressed remorse at the end for not doing more. Of course, if nothing else came of it, then we wouldn't be having this discussion. Damned if you do, damned if you don't, at least by the pure judgmental crowd. Come to think of it, there aren't any around anymore.
witchrunner
You're joking...right??
News flash: if it appears everyone here is focused on Paterno, it's because this article is focused on Paterno.
But make no mistake about it, everyone involved in this did the wrong thing. No one, from McQueary to Paterno to the AD or PSU president or campus police ever followed up on this or in fact ever did the right thing in the first place, which was to relate these accusations to the POLICE and follow up on it so they could be investigated and prosecuted or dismissed in full. It's a huge @!$%# sandwich, and EVERYBODY involved gets to take a huge bite of blame.
And why do you believe that people who believe in doing the ethical and correct thing, in this case informing the police about even the mere whisper of an accusation of potential child rape, must be broken somehow and hold dark secrets of their own? You can "doubt it" if you want, but if someone related a story like this to me I would do everything in my power to make sure the authorities at least knew of the allegation. Let the right people investigate it and condemn the accuser or the accused. I wouldn't be able to sleep at night otherwise.
And I assure you, it wouldn't have taken this story breaking out for me to KNOW that would simply be my duty as a boss and a citizen, AND THE RIGHT THING TO DO.
What I'd like to know is what kind of f**ked up ethical barometer do you have that you believe the right thing to do if someone told you they saw (or even heard) a grown man was raping a ten year old was to write an email to the AD and wash your hands of it forevermore?
The fact that there are people like you out there who continue to defend JoePa's actions (or anyone else involved) absolutely blows my mind. From McQueary on up, they all blew it big time. THEY DID NOT DO ENOUGH TO STOP A CHILD RAPIST FROM HURTING ANYONE ELSE. The only person who was responsible for besmirching JoePa's career and reputation was looking right back at him in the mirror every morning.
I'm not sure what's so difficult to grasp about that, or why you and others insist on excusing their behavior.
You said it, forkchops. There seems to be an astonishing lack of empathy for the victims. Anyone who appreciates the magnitude of the suffering they experienced and continue to experience could never advocate that telling your boss is a sufficient response.
I know all I have to ever know about Joe Paterno. I think he is a scumbag. He allowed his buddy to continue raping young boys shattering their dreams and hopes and sense of self value.
I hope Joe is rotting in hell.
justoneguy: And you've gone the extra mile to make sure that not only are you holy and pure, but also you have reported to the police every time someone told you that someone else violated the law.
The fact is that almost all businesses have rules for reporting alleged criminal activities. And, almost in every case, it is to report it to a supervisor. And, as anyone who has ever worked for someone else knows, if you don't follow procedure, you are subject to being fired. As part of that is the inherent assumption that the supervisors know how to handle things. They either deal with it or pass it up the line. If you own a business, do you really want every employee to call the cops every time they see an illegal activity? Of course not! You don't want Joe Blow to be the one to determine when to bring in the cops. Nor do you want Joe Blow to do anything other than what he has been hired to do. But, you do want Joe Blow to follow the rules and trust the people above him in the organization. Why? Well, look at the flip side of it. Let's say that Joe Blow reports to his supervisor that employee A broke the law in such a way. The organization investigates it and determines that there wasn't enough evidence to support the claim. So, the organization decides not to do anything about it. Of course, they don't tell Joe Blow what the results of their investigation is or what they decided to do about it. Do you really expect Joe Blow to pester his supervisors about what he has reported, at the risk of being fired? If they say they are dealing with it, do you continue to insist that you demand to know how they are dealing with it and to prove to you that they are so handling it?
I'm not exactly sure what your point was. Are you saying that most people are holy and pure? Are you saying that liars, cheats and frauds should be given the same credibility as others?
All I'm saying is that I find it amusing that there appear to be so many people who think they have lived their lives in such a superior why that they think that they are "correct" in condemning Paterno, even though they haven't lived their lives to suggest that they would have done anything different.
I am pretty sure Joe could have gotten his good buddy fired and banned from the campus with one phone call. Instead he did nothing. He protected his buddy instead of the children. His letter is pure BS. And I don't the academic degree. He shows zero remorse and zero shame. I hope the university gets smacked with huge civil judgements. Whether his family likes it or not he will always be tarnished by his shameful actions or should I say lack of action.
Joe dropped the ball ?
That's an understatement. No disrespect to you at all forkChops, but It just made me wonder what was going through Joes mind when he allowed Sanduskys sweaty old man balls to continue slapping the back of childrens thighs as he was ripping their ass apart.....and the screaming.......
"Dropped the ball" ?
F*ck Paterno and Penn State. This is about doing the right thing above all else. Yes, ALL else. Joe is spending the remainder of time in hell with the Devil and Saddam.
Too little, too late Joe! If you were really that concerned about the reputation of the school and the pride of its students and Alums, then you should not have stuck your head in the sand while children continued to get raped. And then to make demands of the public like this after your actions (or lack thereof) shows extreme arrogance. What nerve...
I know Joe's points are based in logic. We shouldn't criticize EVERYONE associated with the University, but the unfortunate reality of the situation (which the JoePa backers on this forum don't seem to get) is that when stuff like this scandal happens it creates a stigma for the organization which prevents all other accomplishments from being at the forefront of the public's minds.
It's all to easy for some of you to blame society or the media. But ultimately it was the decisions of individuals like Joe that created the dark cloud that now hovers over the campus, and will for some time. People like Joe who were more concerned about their personal careers than the well being of innocent boys or even the precious reputation of Penn State which he attempted to protect by writing this.
If he had focused as much effort on protecting that reputation as he did helping to sweep this scandal under the rug for years and years.... well.... we would be having this discussion, now would we? Maybe the JoePa cheerleaders should consider that before they blindly rush to his defense.
I am not saying PennStaters should be ashamed of attending the university, but they should at least stop being so surprised when people cringe at their admission of it!
.... meant we would NOT
Joe - How's the weather in Hell? is it as hot as its been up here? Yeah - see that whole letter was BS. Shame I can't spit in your face right now. You lost all integrity, honor or whatever it is you believe you have when McQueary came to you and you didn't tell his sniveling little ass that A) HE SHOULD HAVE PHYSICALLY INTERVENED AND TAKEN THAT CHILD OUT OF THAT SHOWER; B) Ask why in the HELL isn't he telling this to the police and C) picked up the damn phone and called the police yourself.
THAT'S what you should have done - you would have saved your beloved football program and your soul.
SAYS WITCHRUNNER:
Witchrunner, you are truly a scary, scary human being. THE F*CKING RAPE OF CHILDREN isn't just your average violation of the law. He didn't run a stop sign or cheat on his taxes. His crime harmed other human beings...for the rest of their lives. Not adults who could defend themselves...CHILDREN. Are you seriously THAT callous that you think your comparison to the NORMAL persons less than holy and pure life is just?
I can only wish upon you the same measure of torment that these boys suffered at the hands of Sandusky and every person who stood by and knowingly allowed it to happen. They are all guilty of rape and anyone who dares to defend them is guilty as well. Every time you defend these people you are twisting the knife in the heart and soul of each one of these boys.
Absolutely VILE.
Joe Paterno is the only person in this case, besides Mike McQuery in his testimony at trial, to publicly acknowledge and show compassion for the victims in this case. After the scandal was made public, Joe Paterno admitted that he did not do enough and that he was sorry that he didn't. This letter addresses something different. All of the Penn State alumni should not be burned at the stake, and their accomplishments belittled, due to the actions of one man. What Sandusky did was immoral and disgusting, and as a mother I have no pity for him. He still lives in a state of denial and delusion, however he will one day pay, whether in this life time or another.
Joe Paterno was a leader...a leader of young men. He not only cared about winning football games, but he wanted his players to be a success in every aspect. While many football coaches are just looking for the wins, he did not accept mediocre work ethics from his players but held them to the highest standards, both on and off the field. He was a multi-millionaire, who lived on the same street in the same house in State College for all of his coaching career. Him and his wife and children not only did for Penn State, and football, but for their community. He was a normal man, not holding himself above any other person. In life you could have probably passed his house and caught him on the lawn and talked to him as though he were just a normal everyday "joe".
It is human to err, and the first of you that have not should go ahead and point fingers. I don't think that Joe Paterno did anything maliciously...he felt the disappointment in this life that he caused, and he felt remorse for his actions or lack of. Let him be judged by God, as the rest of us shall wait for our turn. I can only hope that he is more forgiving than most of the posters here, or we are all going to hell...
MESSYJESSIE: Beautifully written. Now go read the report that says they found proof that Paterno repeatedly covered up Sandusky's crimes for years. This wasn't "hear say" of a one-time event - this was something that went on for years and he continued to cover it up.
To err is human? I hope you feel that same way if someone rapes you or someone you love.
You can forgive Paterno and his sick and twisted cronies all you want. I, for one, will not spit in the faces of the boys/men who have come forward and testified and gave up their secrets to protect any more potential victims.
K.
Thank you for the compliment...and yes to err is human. I am not perfect and have yet had the opportunity to meet another human that is. I have not had the opportunity to read the report, and I have been raped before. I have dealt with that and forgiven the predator...forgiveness is for the self, not for the satisfation of the predator. No heart can heal without for forgiveness.
If what you are saying is true then that will show Joe Paterno in another light...but it should not reflect poorly on Penn State Alumni and football players that gave their blood, sweat, tears and hard work over the last 15 years.
Wow...people should be more cautious about what they say to others, because sometimes you never know who your talking to or the struggles they've experienced. I pray for the victims and hope that with time, especially now that their story has been told, they can heal and even learn to forgive...carrying a grudge tends to make people bitter and I believe that in the end you reap what you sow...unfortunately for the Paterno's the surviving ones will pay for Joe's transgressions...and if there is an afterlife he will suffer watching...
I do not spit in anyone's face...it is a rather nasty habit to pick up.
I do not claim to be holy or pure-but I certainly would not have let kids be abused to protect a football program.
Joe's actions must be condemned as we as a society need to condemn anyone who does not do all they can to protect kids. We need to say "this is wrong and we are not going to look the other way because it is more convenient."
This article made me sick. Where is his remorse? Where is his concern for anyone or anything other than the football program. His protection of that football program is why he encouraged the cover up-and he we still doing it when he wrote this.
At the time he wrote this-it was known that children had been raped-and he chose to focus his response on protecting the football program? However many games he won, however many kids he coached-nothing makes up for this.
It's amazing how people give much more importance to football than the life and well being of children. I see that many here have their values and priorities really messed up. Please remember: football is ONLY a sport, designed to entertain. Nothing else! It's grown men in tight pants trying to carry out a strange-shaped ball beyond a chalked-line in an open field, while they clash, push and knock each other....it means nothing more than entertainment. For Pete's sake, where are your values and priorities?
MessyJessie: What I'm saying is true, it's all over the news today. And I agree, it should not reflect poorly on the the people of Penn State who were not directly involved in the cover up - and I do talk about that in another post. The actions of these few people should not be a burden to anyone who wasn't involved. It's not the school, it's the individuals themselves that carry that burden alone. I hope the public will understand that.
And, I'm sorry to hear that you are a victim of rape. My sister and best friend were also raped by a neighborhood man when we were just teenagers. I know that's a healing that takes a very long time, if ever. In fact, neither of these two girls could be considered "normal" and it has been over 30 years since then. Sad. What makes things worse is they let him out after serving just 20 years and he is now living directly across from an elementary school - and it's all within the law.
I'm sorry you felt that "some people" - meaning me - should be more cautious because they don't understand the struggles of others - in this case - yes, I do know the struggles. It hits very close to home. As far as forgiveness, it would be much easier to forgive these men if it was a single incident that wasn't handled correctly - but over and over and over again? Too many victims fell into the web of lies and cover ups these men perpetrated. I can forgive a mistake, this is waaaay more than just a single mistake or misunderstanding.
Best of luck to you.
It is a football scandal since neither Paterno nor the administration wanted to risk the program by coming forward and outing the child predator.
WRONG!!!
Except that Joe Pa reported it to his superior and it was his superior that did nothing.
Then why didn't he CALL THE POLICE!
The people he should have reported this to are the police. I don't know where some of this child rapers supporters live .. but here when you see or hear about kids being raped ... you call the police.
The fact his so called superior didn't do this only proves to me this team needs to be disbanded in shame forever and some more people send to prison.
Don't listen to the silly french speaking Candienne.
There are recent pics of Paterno with his arm around Sandusky (they are both very old in the pics). He apparently accepted the guy after he knew what he did. Reporting it to "superiors" was not good enough when he was the major power on campus.
Joe Paterno had no superiors at Penn State. He was the power.
I don't get why people want Paterno to have called the police, but McQueary says he witnessed the rape and ... wait for it ... slammed the locker door, went home, and called his dad. Why isn't he in jail along with Sandusky? What would he have had to witness to actually do something? Would Sandusky have to have been cutting off the boy's head with a dull hacksaw for McQueary to have taken action? Paterno may have covered it up later; we will know more tomorrow, but we all know that McQueary witnessed the rape of a boy and did nothing. How is this guy still walking the streets?
I believe that Paterno told this to his superiors. These superiors along with the schools president wanted to protect the schools image did nothing. Paterno most likely was told they would take care of this issue, which was swept under the carpet. My belief of Paterno's integrety was much more than PU's upper officials.
Penn State should be held accountable for all charges and be prosecuted to the fullest. This was dispicable that an employee of this school was allowed to do this criminal act for over 10 years...
Shame on you Penn State...
If a co-worker comes to you and says that he just witnessed a rape, you DON'T call your boss, YOU CALL THE POLICE! Unless you are trying to protect your beloved football program at the victim's expense. If it was your kid, who would you have wanted the coach to call?
and if you talk to the police yourself and not witnessed the act yourself, the police will not take the report because it will be based on heresay. You cannot be a witness if you did not witness the act yourself. Why does McCreary get a walk on this and no one else? Please tell me.
There is no rule against heresay in a police report. Heresay is only a rule in court.
To believe that Joe Paterno did his diligent duty as a Head Football coach when something like this was going on in his athletic building, that he seems to have known about, is so funny I want to cry......
How is child molestation funny? I mean really? There is nothing funny about this.
I say this as an OSU alum with Penn State as one of our Rivals.
God bless you Joe Paterno and may you rest in peace.
I'm am sorry that this one bad thing may overshadow the 40 years of great things you did for Penn State and college football.
Before everyone starts putting Joe Paterno down. He did report the claim by his assistant to his superior. It was that man that failed not Joe Pa. Joe Paterno is a football coach not an investigator. He did his duty.
The minute he heard about this and didn't call the police is the minute he made himself a criminal in my eyes. His duty was to call the police. He did not thus enabling the rape of more kids. I think you need to do some research into what duties and responsibilities a citizen has. Whatever you do .. please don't move here .. thanks.
GBR in O-H, I-O: when it comes to child rape, EVERYONE who has knowledge of the acts is required by common decency and humanity to be an investigator and to not ever stop until the child is safe. For you to claim that Joe Paterno did his duty by checking-off a legal box is terrifying. Had one of your children been repeatedly raped by someone I would expect you wouldn't agree that Joe making a phone call was the limit of his moral responsibility.
He didn't call the police, he did his "duty" to the program, not to his fellow human being. Epic Fail!
To all of you. Here is the problem with your assessments. Joe Paterno was an agent of Penn State and as I said is not an investigator. If he did what you two suggest he could be held liable if the allegations were not true. In other words, he could have been sued, Penn State could have been sued and there would be a different scandal going on.
I'm was just hired by a Fortune 500 company and am going through orientation right now. We have been going over all the security, ethics and legal stuff the past two days and the first thing they tell you in problematic cases such as this is tell your supervisor, if you can't tell them, tell your manager, if not them, call said phone number for the ethics board. YOU DO NOT CALL THE POLICE, YOU DO NOT INVESTIGATE THIS YOURSELF. IT IS NOT YOUR JOB. It's a termination offense.
His legal duty was met, hence he was never charged and they even said his legal responsibility was met. You really need to understand that. Allegations are not facts or proof. The proper chain of command needs to be followed and Joe Pa as a football coach at a major program understood that.
I know you might not understand all the legality involved here but it's not as simple as you make out.
GBR: His legal duty was met? How about his f*cking moral duty? He stood by knowing Sandusky was raping young boys in the locker room at Penn State and he did nothing to stop it.
He only cared about football. He let young boys' childhoods be ruined because he cared more about football than anything else. As far as I'm concerned he SACRIFICED those boys for his own glorious football career.
Anyone who defends him is just as sick as Sandusky - you may as well be raping those boys yourself.
"Proper Chain of Command" goes out the window when you're talking about the rape of children. We aren't talking about whether or not to fire someone because they were late to work too many times or because we know they've been drinking on the job. We are talking about a CRIME...you know, RAPE. Harm to CHILDREN!!!
I cannot believe you seriously believe the crap you are writing. You must be related to him or something. It takes an incredibly vile person to stand by and allow children to be harmed and then blame it on a technical point as lame as "proper chain of command." Give me a break.
That';s bull@!$%# GBR. In a "fortune 500 company" you're not going to see a child being raped in the shower! I guarantee you that if you ask your "esteemed bosses" at this fortune 500 company "hey if I see a child being raped by a coworker do I just tell you and then go home as if nothing happened?" Hell no! You call the police! Geeeez excuses it's all crap.
I would be angry at the person whose job it was to report it. It was the AD's and the Presidents job, not the Football Coaches. As I've already stated, Joe Paterno did not witness the incident. He heard about it second hand. That is called Hearsay and it is usually inadmissible in court. Not to mention that the accused is a man that he had known for 30 years and the incident happened at work. This isn't some random person on the street. It's easy to sit here and say you would have called the police if you were in the same situation but then have you been in that situation? I see you comments like the soldier who constantly talks about wanting to be in battle but when the bullets start to fly he's cowering in the corner. You have no real idea what you would do.
As to morals, morality is subjective and we live in a diverse country with many different types of people and religions and moralities. The only consistent and fair application is the legal one.
Wrong, he didn't know, he heard, he's a football coach at a major university. He hears lots of things, many are not true. Again he told his supervisor which was his legal duty. He did what he was supposed to do. He wasn't the rapist/molester and he wasn't even the witness. Not to mention the man is dead. Would you like him disinterred so you can flog him?
I'm not talking about being late to work, who calls the police over people being late? I mean really did you read what I typed before you wrote that? It's an industry highly regulated by the government and we actually work closely with the FBI and other law enforcement to prevent crime. Said crimes can be committed by almost anyone, random persons off the street, customers, employees etc...
I can't believe that you are so vindictive of a person as you are, that you think some person defending a man that led an overall great life that helped thousands of people, that did his legal duty to tell his superior about child molestation is somehow akin to the molester himself. I suppose you want to hang Sandusky's legal defense team too.
God forbid you ever get charged with a crime. I bet your the first person crying about what your legal rights are and how they are being violated.
Joe Pa didn't witness a child being raped by a coworker or by anyone, so your point is invalid. Please read the facts of the case before commenting.
GBR, I have stated the same and been shot down like you. I am not a Penn State person or a person who likes any sports, and I hate football especially. What these folks seem to think is that Joe Paterno didn't care, but the truth is he would have been laughed out of court with these allegations. Yes, he might have been the head honcho on campus, but he cared about football. He did not witness the act, McQueary did, and yet McQueary gets a walk and I love how folks say well he was a young man... 28 is not young. That is old enough to do something. Another thing that bothers me is how folks are quick to say moral obligation. Well where was the moral obligation of McQueary? Why didn't he call the police? What about McQueary's dad moral obligation, the president of the school, etc. What about the middle school coach who caught Sandusky with a boy on a mat? Where is his moral obligation? What a lot of folks do not understand is that there are rules and if you don't follow them, you can be terminated. But what I have realized is that the majority of folks who want to blame Paterno are the same ones who are "shocked" that parents/family friends do things like this to their own children and have excuses. These are the same folks who will join the mob mentality and accuse a person of something based on heresay. These are the same folks who do not wait for evidence which can prove the guilt or innocence of the person. Don't get me wrong, I truly believe that Sandusky is guilty as sin, but what I wonder about is why didn't the mother in the 1988 case go to the organization to report what Sandusky had done to her son as a warning to other parents whose kids used the program? I'm not blaming her but she could have warned them not to let their sons around or alone with that man.
Exactly val. I agree with you 100%.
GBR and val . . . sorry, epic fail. Given the seriousness of the allegations you ask said employee or whatever capacity this person was who supposedly witnessed this several questions to make sure you understand what is was they saw . . . then one more question. It's not like Sandusky was witnessed taking some paper and pens from the supply cabinet. . it's really not that hard a question really.
"Are you willing to the tell the police what you just told me"? If this person says yes . . . you place damn phone call to the administration and inform them your getting the proper authorites involved. If this witness and/or administrator says no, then you ask them why not.
You don't tell this person "thank you", then tell your administrator who's first concern may be the institution and then walk away. I also don't let McQuery of the hook either . . his silence this last 10 years doesn't tell well of his character either . . although he did come through in the end unlike others around him.
valhallaarwen, GBR in O-H, I-O
Maybe you would feel the same way if it was yourself as a child being raped in the showers, or being coerced to suck on his sweaty thing until you get the "bonus ?
Perhaps if it was your own son you may feel the particular homocidal feelings that one might get toward these cowards and rapists and this rogue institution.
If that were the case, you would more than likely pick up a handgun and kill somebody.
A friend of mine did just that when he was 15, and big enough to get revenge; 3 pumps to the chest with a 12 gauge shotgun from about 8 feet away.
Ethics committee my ass. If this were me, or mine, there would be blood spilled.
Joe Paterno made a terrible mistake, but that's only because he is human. I'm pretty sure everyone on this website has made a terrible mistake, including myself. The only reason you guys are bashing Paterno is because his mistake was public. What if all of your terrible mistakes were made public? Would you want people bashing you for one mistake? I forgive Joe and so should the rest of you. If you don't forgive, how do you expect anyone to forgive you?
Are you serious Random pennsylvanian??? Yes, I have made mistakes but they're in the order of: colouring outside the lines, when I was 5. And slow rolling at an intersection instead of stopping. NOT hiding facts and the perpetuating of a pedophile.My 'mistakes' didn't involve police and a grand jury, and scarring children for a long time.
You could probably say, Hitler made a mistake or two...or BinLaden. Are they your friends now, too?
GBR: So now the report comes out that Paterno REPEATEDLY ran interference between Sandusky and the law - covering up his crime over and over.
Your arguments hold absolutely NO WATER. He didn't just hear about it once and dutifully report it and no one took action. He was well aware - had absolute knowledge of the crimes being committed AND DID NOTHING!!! N-O-T-H-I-N-G! He allowed boys to be raped FOR YEARS and covered it up because FOOTBALL WAS MORE IMPORTANT than anything else to him.
Rot in hell Paterno - and take GBR with you. He obviously finds nothing wrong with child rape either.
Woodshed the difference is I would have done something about it. I would go after the person with all my life. Maybe it's because I know that if someone touched me inappropriately, that he/she would get it. People keep bringing up well what if it was you or your child, but trust me I would be doing serious time for murder.
borncynic, if you call the police without being a witness you will get laughed at or told if you did not witness the act yourself, I can charge you.
Let me tell you about something that happened. I live in an apartment where we have shutters for doors. One night I heard someone walk on our balcony trying to get in. We called the police and they came and arrested the guy. Come to find out, someone in the other building bought a drunk guy home for sex, he panicked, and couldn't find his way out. He broke a fake tree with ornaments and I wanted to go after him for that. Months later the court day comes up, and before the case, I was told that I needed to talk to the domestic violence person. I asked why? I was told I had to do it. The defense lawyer wanted to go in the room and he was told no. I go in the room and I am talking to this person. I was asked how do I know this guy. I said I didn't know him never seen him before that night. I was asked again how did I know him, I said I didn't. Then I am told that the cops wrote that this guy was my exboyfriend who was trying to get to me to beat me and was jealous I had a new boyfriend. I looked at him like they were crazy, and told them I never told the cops any of that, and I was just there to talk about him trying to get into the apartment. The case was dismissed, and the guy ended up going into rehab for alcoholism.
Hey, I'm sure that you made a mistake much more worse than the ones you admitted. Who ever said that a terrible mistake had to involve the police? You can make one without them getting involved. As for Hitler and Bin Laden, they made more than one mistake. In fact, they didn't make a mistake, they did their actions on purpose with no regret. Do I hate them? No. Do I hate their decisions? Yes.
Where's GBR now that the official report is out? Ohhhh, yeah, not so vocal now huh? Yeah, I'd be embarrassed too.
Sorry val . . . read my post again . . .
"Are you willing to the tell the police what you just told me"? If this person says yes . . . you place damn phone call to the administration and inform them your getting the proper authorites involved. If this witness and/or administrator says no, then you ask them why not.
I'm not reporting what someone else saw . . . I'm only dialing the phone call, the witness will be doing the actual reporting. Or maybe I'll drive him down to the police department. This is what management does and Paterno was management.
Paterno for all those years stood for integrity, moral fiber and character to name few. He should have listened to himself.
Do you read my comments at all? I did say I have a job. See, I do this thing called go to work everyday. Not sit in internet forums and wait for people to respond so I can tell them to burn in hell. Do you have a boyfriend? I bet he loves that attitude of yours.
As to your comments on the other story, that apparently just surfaced, I have not read it. Refer to the paragraph above if you inquire as to why. When I read it I will respond further.
OK, I both watched the today show video and read the article. Obviously I have not read the report. So I have no first hand knowledge of what is said in it. However, there are two separate sets of comments by Michael Isikoff and Savannah Guthrie which reveal much.
No where in the article or in the video on the front page of MSNBC as I write this does it state what you just wrote. NO WHERE! So unless you can cite to me where you got that information I will assume that you are merely reading into this what you want to and not what is actually there.
There are two key pieces here that Joe Paterno had knowledge of. The reported incident and investigation from 1998 that nothing came of and there was an email trail for. However it says nothing of what was in the emails in regards to Joe Paterno other than Joe Paterno wanted updates on the situation. The other is the McQueary incident. In that case Joe said to Mcqueary something to the effect of, "You've done what you're supposed to do, now we have to figure out what to do." That seems to be a fair response to me. It's not the best response, it could have been better, like saying "I will report this to my superiors immediately" however Joe did do that. The thing that smells fishy is that they had resolved to report the issue to the police but then after a supposed conversation with Paterno that decision was changed. However, we have no idea what was said in that conversation and legally or even logically speaking you can't assume what was said there. It is strictly circumstantial. It should be investigated further what was said in that conversation if it has not been already.
The most revealing thing to me about this were Savannah's comments. She spoke nothing of criminal liability for Joe Paterno because with the evidence that has been presented there isn't any. She did however say there was a great case for Civil Liability against Penn State. I agree. Given this information there is but I've never disagreed with that. I always thought the administration dropped the ball. My comments were specific to one person not all of Penn State.
Now if you have more factual information and not an angry response telling me to burn in hell etc... We can discuss this further.
It's become quite obvious to me that you are one of those people who are going to defend this guy no matter what proof comes to the surface.
Any further conversation with you is a waste of time.
I think you need to look up what the definition of proof is, particularly in a legal setting. Then feel free to provide it. You do know you can put links in comments or even quote something and cite the source. That is if you can type for that long without going into a rage.
borncynic, I have read your post, and you know something, what if he might have been charged with making a false accusation. Do you honestly think that he would have been arrested on the heresay of Paterno? Why didn't McQueary call the police? The real police?
You have a funny idea of what going into a rage is.
Go read the report for yourself. http://msnbcmedia.msn.com/i/MSNBC/Sections/NEWS/REPORTFINAL071212 .pdf (take out the spaces) There's enough proof that Paterno knew what was going on since 1998 and that he discussed it with the other men several times over the years. There are copies of all the emails, hand written notes and more.
You will read that not only did they allow Sandusky to continue abusing children but knowingly provided him the place to do it...even after they discussed not allowing him to bring children to the locker rooms any more - they STILL allowed it and he continued to abuse more children. What good is it to ban him from bringing children to the locker rooms and not stick to the ban? They discuss that there is a problem and he needs help and they were going to offer to get him help and also help him tell the charity he headed up what was going on...they never followed through on those solutions either. They just let it keep happening.
It is a long document but if you take the time to go through the timeline and note when abuses happened in relation to when the emails and handwritten notes were created you can't possibly defend him.
Children were being raped. These men all chose not to save those boys. They even talk about how it may one day come back that they should have reported it and decided they would assess that if it happened.
They knew it was happening. They chose to look the other way. I know you're trying to convince me that there's justification in their not reporting in, but there isn't. There is nothing you can say or do to change my mind just as there is nothing I can say or do to change yours.
We are at an impasse, my friend.
Did you notice the number of times that you used plural personal pronouns versus the singular or referenced Joe Paterno specifically in that post?
The count was 14 plural and 1 singular/specific reference. You are clearly looking at the total happenings and negligence of the case and applying them all to Joe Paterno. When you should be looking at what each persons role with the organization is/was, what their responsibilities were, what each individual did with the information that they had at the time and the decisions or actions they took with that information. Clearly the organization as a whole failed but the responsibility to report the allegation.
I read 20 some pages in and from what I've read Schultz is the real problem. I got to this "On Sunday February 11, Schultz consults with University outside counsel Wendell Courtney "re, reporting of suspected child abuse." and was shocked.
So Schultz consulted an attorney about this. Well what did the attorney say and was an opinion letter written? I suppose it was not as it is not mentioned and all conversation are confidential.
I've read/skimmed the first 30 pages. The document refers to Schultz often and it is very telling of him basically covering it up and I do agree with the assessment that they are apparently unaware of whistle-blower protections. However, whistle-blower protections still require legal action and in the example of the Janitors, they are not educated enough nor do they make enough money to fight a protracted legal battle over a possible termination for whistle-blowing. So they looked out for themselves. Morally bereft but understandable given the circumstances. It rarely mentions Joe Paterno in the first 30 other than he told Schultz and Curley and that he testified. So in fact Joe Paterno told his superiors about an incident that he heard about through another party when other members of Penn State did nothing and his superiors did something but it did not include reporting it which they should have.
Now granted I have not read the whole document yet but based on what I've read it is primarily Schultz's fault for not reporting it. Paterno told his superiors which is more than many others did and met his legal responsibility given the timeline. There may be more later on in the report but I don't have time to read the rest right now. Feel free to read through it and find pages numbers that have statements that refer to Joe Paterno. However, given what I've read so far, all my statements do hold water.
Val . . . I have no idea why Mcquery didn't call the police that night . . hell, I'm not sure I fully understand how he could leave that boy in the shower. I understand that at that moment, the shock of what he heard and saw could unnerve him into not acting decisively at that moment, but at some point his mind had to clear and I would imagine he's kicking himself for it periodically.
Mcquery, Mcquery's father, Paterno, Curly, Shultz and Spainer all had to one degree or another the legal and moral responsibility to do the right thing. They collectively had a first hand eye witness and they wrapped him up in the glory that is Penn State and hid the whole thing from the everyone without so much as a single word or thought about the "possible" (sarcasm) victims. As each one was brought into the fold in the first few days and was made aware of what Mcquery saw they all had some legal and moral responisbility to do the right thing. Instead however we now have the knowledge that we do now . . that they, for lack of a better word . . . COVERED IT UP!!!. Mike McQuery had a duty to go to the police and tell what he witnessed and not a single person from his father to the president of Penn State had him do exactly that.
All of them had valid reasons (in their minds) for not doing the legal and moral thing. All you've presented so far is just another reason (in your mind) why these people (and other people in the past and future) shouldn't do the right thing. If they had done the right thing from the get go you wouldn't be here now justifying their inaction at the time.
By your comments you seem to say that no one should ever suggest to anyone that they report for fear of being wrong and being sued. The people at Penn State acted they way they did based on fear and your suggesting that everybody should not act as well out of fear. Fortunately it appears that these type of mentalities are rare reading the responses of most people on the news vines. Hopefully with time the human race will naturally breed this type of low grade behaviour out of the gene pool.
GBR: It's not just Paterno who is a pig in this case - it is all of the men who stood by and allowed this to happen. If you truly read this entire thing and still want to defend Paterno, that's something only you can embrace.
Here are some excerpts from an article on NPR about how Freeh was able to uncover more than the Attorney General's office was and what those discoveries showed:
— "Freeh's team found emails that the AG's investigators couldn't get. Freeh called those emails the 'most important pieces of evidence in the case.' "
— Those emails helped Freeh conclude that "Joe Paterno did know about a 1998 police investigation into Sandusky's behavior and followed it closely, even though he testified he hadn't heard of allegations other than in 2001."
— And, the emails helped Freeh conclude that Paterno and three other top Penn State officials "actively concealed similar allegations three years later in 2001" when a graduate assistant told Paterno he had seen Sandusky assaulting a young boy in a Penn State shower.
Also, as Ganim notes, "those emails and other correspondence, according to Freeh, helped the attorney general's office correct the date of the infamous Mike McQueary incident [the shower assault reported by McQueary] from 2002 to 2001."
All in all, she writes, it's clear that "the Freeh investigators had been more successful in burrowing into the traditionally closed university."
You must have some sort of personal involvement/attachment with Paterno to be defending him to this degree, much like Sandusky's adopted son before he finally admitted that he, too, was a victim - but this isn't about you or me or who is right or wrong. There is no reason for us to keep debating the issue. Obviously neither one of is going to change our position no matter what the other says.
Nice chatting though. Enjoyed reading a different view point.
borncynic, I have never said that people shouldn't be afraid to report anything due to being fired or sued. My point is that he would have been laughed at by the cops/others for suggesting it. Yes, it can get the person in trouble, and that is why some folks don't do it. Trust me, I get yelled at because I have stated that if my husband commits a crime, he's going down because I will not provide an alibi for him. How do you get that from me simply because I stated that the cops wouldn't believe paterno if he would have called the cops? That is a fact. Sorry if you disagree with me, but that is how cops work. If you don't believe me, try reporting something to cops that you have heard from someone and see how far it gets you. Not very far.
Wow, and the subject goes dead. People must have read the whole report now and are thinking they may want to rethink their position.
A lot of people let all those boys down. Joe just takes the heat. A detective tried to get the DA to charge Sandusky in 1998. More than Paterno knew more than Paterno could have stopped him. It is just easy to lay it all on a dead man. He is just one of many do not forget all the others. Spread all your hate around. There are plenty to share
The only "heat" Joe is taking is to his reputation; he's getting off easy. He should be rotting in prison with Sandusky and the rest of Penn State cowards who enabled these heinous crimes.
He did not do his duty to those kids. He allowed it to continue under his roof and buried his head in the sand. He should have contacted the police after notifying his superiors. His superiors should have then also contacted the police. when he noticed that nothing had been done he should have questioned it and did not.
He cared nothing about those poor kids and only about his precious football. What a lousy person.
Nothing in that letter directed towards the scandal itself. Just him protecting PS football.
All I know is this, from his own deposition, when told about Sanduskys' behavior on a Friday, he waited until Monday to contact the Pres of PS, because "he didn't want to ruin the Presidents' weekend." I wonder what type of weekend the boy had after being raped?
And after that incident, why didn't he go confront Sandusky? They were close friends. And at the very least, make him turn in his keys and passes to Penn State facilities?
I think after the report is released, it may be time to start moving on from this story. Mr Paterno is gone. Sandusky is locked up for the rest of his life. And the lawsuits have been filed. Let the lawyers fight over how much everybody's getting.
Mis-directed letter. Joe is talking about football and graduation, while the issue is pedophilia and the values of the institution that tolerated it. That one damages and possibly destroys the good work of the other is tragic, yet real. Must be accountable.
Joe... u old fart.... u never got it. The devil is explaining it to him now. No care bout football. It's bout the kids he let get victimized by Jerry.
Pervert papa Jyoe should burn in hell. He know what was going on but all he cared about was winning football games. So what if a child molester was among his staff, he needed to win. All of his assets and his families assets should go to the innocent children that was molested. He could have done something but put his head up his butt not to get involved. Apologize is not in this monsters heart. F him and his family.
WRONG!!! It became ALL ABOUT FOOTBALL the very moment you put FOOTBALL and WINNING ahead of the safety of young boys. PENN STATE FOOTBALL took precedence over keeping Coach Pervy from buggering young boys...at ALL LEVELS. Paterno did nothing, the coaching staff did nothing, the university did nothing, the community did nothing. So take that sad letter and wipe your dick with it Paterno!!
An amazing and failed attempt at spin. The program would have been tarnished and he knew it had it been reported. Had that red headed coach who saw the incident stopped that rape and called the police right then and there a lot of this would have been avoided. But just as the bishops and cardinals are hiding pedophile priests by moving them to other parishes and into homes where they can still violate young children, they should all be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. Had Paterno been prosecuted as he should have the football program would have suffered. This is VERY MUCH a football issue and the attempt to deflect is quite obvious.
Yup, they got to do "something different" all right...
It sounds like Paterno is trying to correct a small percentage of thoughts some people had regarding the situation in thinking that the students and the entire football program was involved and not selected individuals. What is called into question is the administration's questionable actions when they heard about this problem, not all of the people who are connected with the football program from past/present involvement. Most of the assistant coaches, trainers and players knew nothing of what was going. It's already been shown that all players and past alumni knew nothing of what was happening as well as some of the football staff members. It was a matter that was isolated between McQueary, Paterno, Sandusky and select administration staff members who received the report of the incident.
I think this part of the scandal regarding Paterno was over when he passed away. He was already excused from any legal responsibility in the case and now the family is holding on to whatever spotlight they can to continue trying to clear Paterno's name of any wrong doing when it no longer matters now. The sole focus should now be on Sandusky and the others who still have to go through the trial process. It's agreed upon by many that he should have done more when it was brought to his attention and should not have stopped at only following the protocol in place for reporting such incidents, but this part of the case has been covered enough. The man is gone and can't atone for the "shoulda, coulda, wouldas". He did part of his job, but failed in doing more when it was apparent that nothing was being done by administration. End of story. It's pointless to continue going after what Paterno did in handling the situation when nothing can be done about it now regarding his part in this.
Not true. Paterno left a sizeable estate and the victims should get it all.
Sandusky should be doing that as he was the one who pretty much corrupted the victims. He's the one that owes a hell of a lot more to the victims than Paterno.
Sorry, Joe.
You protected a pervert criminal. You simply can't win enough games or graduate enough players to make up for that.
Well said, NevadaJ. Quite amazing that some people just don't seem to get that. Of course, that was Sandusky's argument too. "I've helped so many young people..."
This self serving drivel simply proves what a myopic, pedophile enabling weasel Paterno was. Anyone with an iota of moral and ethical decency would have at least attempted to stop the abuse that was happening right under Paterno's big nose. The Paterno family can try to resurrect the Penn faithful's support for the Coach, by releasing this "letter", which was supposedly penned by the Coach, but this is going to ultimately backfire.
Exactly. JoePa, the Paterno clan, and all the JoePa apologists do not seem to understand that they are endorsing a version of the events (i.e., JoePa told his "boss" and then had nothing more to do with the matter) that is ethically and morally as repugnant as being involved in a cover-up.
Thought Curley and Graham were ready to go to the authorities, notify child welfare and 2nd Mile, but after speaking with Joe, decided talking to Sandusky and telliing him to change was the new strategy.
It was and is a football scandal: The heinous crimes of a coach were covered up, and the victims of those crimes were sacrificed on the altar of the God-almighty WIN. That's all it was to these people: WINNING, at literally any cost.
Wilmer
You have said it all!
Sandusky might be the one that did the evil but this POS was the more evil of the two, knowing what he knew but sacrificing these kids in order to just win a damn game!! In the end he was still more worried about his precious football program than he was the victims and this letter only proves that. If the Penn State world wants to hold him up as some kind of "legend" then their program will and should be always tarnished!
F#@$ Joe Pa!!! The man willing covered up a person anally raping and molesting children, most done at PSU football facilities or during road trips for PSU football. He was in the President's booth weeks before his arrest! Joe Pa knew about it and stepped in front to keep it from being reported to the proper authorities - all in the name of protecting his legacy and football program. You senile sick delusional old POS may you rot in the farthest reaches of hell for what you let happen! This has EVERYTHING to do with PSU football scandal and your precious legacy and college is going to be forever trashed and deserving so!
All I can say is, yuck. From the grave this guy is still trying to protect the almighty football team and, for what? This was all about football and the fact that the game and all the money that went with it meant more to the university than poor kids. If these kids had been middle or upper class kids, it would have been a whole different story. But these were poor kids who were just not worthy of besmirching the reputation of this prestigious university and it's winning-est coach! Who cares if Sandusky was violently raping these boys? The program and JoePa must be protected! And, his family is still trying to polish this tarnished image, hoping everyone will pretend to see the gleam. Sorry, Paterno family, JoePa let boys get raped to protect his reputation as a football coach and his football team's reputation. It was ALL about football.
Ah, the guy who coached football for 40 years defends the sport. What else was he going to say?
His whole life was a lie, a cheat? That football the sports of the Gods in his mind should not be tarnished because he hid facts about what was going on under the squeaky clean image of the sport.
His whole letter is nothing more than a smoke screen to cover up his own part in it, not reporting what he knew and to ease his own conscience before he died. Maybe he died thinking he cleaned up his image.
He DIDN'T.
Well, I've got news for the Paterno family. It IS a football scandal and it IS an academic scandal. One can sugarcoat it until the sun doesn't shine but that will not change the facts. It was a continuous concealment by Paterno, his assistant and the administrators, done for one reason and one reason only, so that the university's name would not be tarnished. They didn't give a damn about the damage caused to the victims.
You are certainly entitled to your opinion. But how is this an academic issue? Seems to be institutional leadership and athletics dept leadership issue to me. I don't see how it has anything to do with academics since no students or academic programs were involved.
Boo-Hoo. Meanwhile the man had one of the grossest and most severe cases of MAN-BOOBS I ever had the displeasure to witness. And thank God he was wearing sweaters!
Just stop... that's a stupid comment...
I hope Satan is squeezing Paternos "moobs" right now as they shower together with Joe up against the was screaming for help that will never come.
BOYCOTT EVERYTHING PENN STATE !
The Paterno family needs to keep their mouths shut. There is no amount of spin that can refute the simple fact that "Coach" Paterno knowingly allowed a serial pedophile to rape little boys. That fact is going to taint the Paterno name and legacy for eternity.