Smallwood: On Paterno, his legacy, and the latest allegations

JOE PATERNO is dead.

Whether or not you believe the Penn State football coach knew of and ignored the horrible acts committed by former defensive coordinator Jerry Sandusky, convicted of child sex abuse, it is a fight over Paterno's legacy.

Paterno died of lung cancer before release of the report by investigator Louis Freeh on Penn State's role in the case. He did not have to face the shame of an independent investigation stating that he was aware of Sandusky's vile acts and put the sanctity of his program ahead of the victims.

Former Penn State assistant football coaches Tom Bradley and Greg Schiano are alive, and, after court documents were unsealed Tuesday, those two must face the scrutiny Paterno never had to.

According to the court documents, part of the testimony by another former Penn State assistant, Mike McQueary, implies that Bradley — now defensive coordinator at UCLA — and Schiano — now the defensive coordinator at Ohio State — were aware children were abused by Sandusky.

McQueary, who had said he reported an incident he witnessed in 2001 to Paterno and went on to testify at Sandusky's criminal trial, claimed in his deposition that Bradley "said he knew of some things" about Sandusky dating back to the 1980s.

McQueary also said Bradley told him that in the 1990s, Schiano "had come into his office white as a ghost and said he just saw (Sandusky) doing something to a boy in the shower."

Schiano responded that he "never saw any abuse, nor had reason to suspect any abuse during my tenure at Penn State."

Bradley, who spent 33 years coaching under Paterno and was Penn State's interim coach after Paterno was fired in 2011, issued a statement through a representative saying: "At no time did Tom Bradley ever witness any inappropriate behavior. Nor did he have any knowledge of alleged incidents in the '80s and '90s. He has consistently testified as such. Any assertions to the contrary are false."

This is all "he said-he said," and whom you believe will likely depend on whether you support Paterno.

The thing I cannot get over is that McQueary had no logical reason to lie in his deposition. He was just starting his career. As a Penn State fan, quarterback and coach, McQueary had to know what would happen after he said he witnessed an indecent act by Sandusky and told Paterno.

Many in the Penn State football family would view that as an extreme act of betrayal and McQueary would be ostracized — simply for telling his story.

He also understood the warped sports culture that dictates keeping everything in the locker room, no matter how vile.

As far as his coaching career goes, McQueary had everything to lose — which he did — and nothing to gain.

McQueary said under oath that he told Paterno, and then he said things that led one to believe Bradley and Schiano also knew of things that had happened.

On the other hand, Paterno, Bradley, Schiano and anyone else alleged to have had previous knowledge has every reason to deny.

To admit they knew would be an admission that they stood by and let a monster continue to prey on children.

It would take an extremely penitent man to come to terms with something like that.