Miller: Sainthood Revoked For Joe Paterno
According to the grand jury report, Joe Paterno did what he was legally bound to do. When an allegation of sexual abuse was made against assistant coach “emeritus” Jerry Sandusky, Paterno reported it to athletic director Tim Curley.
That’s all he’s legally required to do. Report it up the chain.
And apparently, that’s all he did. And that is outrageous. And pathetic. And immoral.
It is stunning that Paterno – who has always seemed so human, so caring, so upstanding – would do so little. How could he not defend little children?
That question is just one of many in a horrifying scandal that likely will lead to criminal trials, hearings in the state legislature, careers being destroyed and lives being ruined. If it’s true, the lives of eight boys have been irretrievably harmed.
And it’s not hard to believe that Penn State could shut down its football program. That’s right – the pride and joy of Happy Valley which, if the allegations are true, was an insulated cocoon in which the coaching staff could do whatever it wanted, and break whatever laws it wanted, without anyone even batting an eye. If what Jerry Sandusky is accused of doing was allowed to happen without any repercussions or reprisals, there cannot be a better argument for shutting down a football program.
Young boys, raped.
Monsters, roaming free.
Grownups failing at the most basic level of responsibility – protecting young people. That’s what the very graphic grand jury report says, and it is potentially just the tip of the cover-up that reaches all the way to the office of Penn State University president Graham Spanier.
If Spanier allowed it to happen, it’s shocking. But not nearly as shocking if Paterno allowed it because, let’s face it, Paterno has more power at Penn State than Spanier does.
It all happened in JoePa’s kingdom. And the buck stops there, on the desk of the 84-year-old legend. The man who has done so much for so many young men, so much for college football, so much for the football-loving people of Pennsylvania. The man who built a squeaky-clean football program, who was an icon held above all the other coaching riff-raff – you know, the men who would lie, cheat and steal to win a national title.
Paterno would never do any of that. His program was “honest.” Or so we thought.
Turns out, Paterno’s a coward who failed to confront the situation.
In a statement Sunday evening, Paterno said he was “shocked” and “we were all fooled.” And yet it seems like Penn State willfully turned a blind eye to the situation.
According to the grand jury report, Penn State conducted an investigation in 1998 into accusations against Sandusky, and found that he behaved inappropriately with a boy in the showers the football team used. There was no punishment, but the inner circle of Penn State football knew what had happened.
If you believe the report, Paterno knew something was wrong, and did virtually nothing.
If you believe the report, Paterno let Sandusky abuse children on Penn State’s campus for most of the last decade.
If you believe the report, Paterno failed the biggest test of his life.
Comments