Nittany Lying
He didn't do the honorable thing then, so Joe Paterno must do it now. He must resign immediately.
Nittany Lying
Phil Sheridan, Inquirer Columnist
The other problem with absolute power — after it corrupts absolutely — is that it leaves its wielder with nowhere to transfer blame. That is why Joe Paterno’s cover story in this disgraceful Jerry Sandusky situation just doesn’t hold up.
Paterno is Penn State. He is the king there. The king doesn’t pass the buck up the line because there’s no one up the line to pass it to. If you accept that the 2002 incident described in the grand jury report on Sandusky was the first Paterno ever heard of his longtime assistant’s sex crimes —and that’s an enormous if — it was up to Paterno to take charge and make sure the allegations were reported.
A young graduate assistant comes to the legendary head coach after witnessing another longtime assistant coach doing something that horrific? Sorry. It is not acceptable or even credible that Paterno tossed the matter over to athletic director Tim Curley and let the whole matter slide.
Because he did not do the honorable thing then, the only honorable thing now is for Paterno to resign. Not at the end of the season. Not after going to another bowl game. Not after adding a few more wins to his record career total. Paterno must resign immediately if he or the university he loves have any chance to scrub away this stain.
It was football-as-religion that gave Sandusky the license to behave as he allegedly did. It was football-as-religion that led to what looks like a deliberate coverup by the university, its police and the athletic department. Football-as-religion must not be allowed to govern Paterno’s actions now.
How can he teach his players a game plan for Saturday’s home game against Nebraska? How can he insult everyone, especially the alleged victims here, by insisting on football-only questions at his press conferences? How can he call plays or decide on third-down strategies as if nothing ever happened?
He has been doing that for almost a decade, at least, knowing what he knew. He can’t possibly think it’s acceptable to keep doing it.
From here, it sure looks as if Sandusky’s “retirement” from Penn State was orchestrated after he was accused and investigated of inappropriate contact with a young boy in 1998. It sure looks as if the graduate assistant who reported seeing Sandusky rape a child in a shower in 2002 was rewarded with a permanent staff job for not taking the matter beyond Paterno.
Is that far-fetched? Read the grand jury presentment and tell me anything is more far-fetched than that. If all of these allegations are true — and there are too many witnesses and too many disturbing patterns to dismiss them — then Sandusky felt completely comfortable raping children in the Penn State football facilities. He did almost nothing to conceal his crimes. And let’s not kid ourselves that Sandusky just started doing this suddenly in the 1990s. This is merely what this investigation turned up for this grand jury.
And we’re supposed to believe the man who rules State College like a pharaoh knew nothing? And that when he was told, he figured someone else would handle it, then forgot all about it?
It just doesn’t add up. Paterno’s absolute power allowed him to remain head coach for years longer than anyone expected. He can’t be head coach any more because that same absolute power makes his cover story look ridiculous.
Been waiting for someone to say this in the media ... to me, this is absolutely the crux of the issue as it relates to Paterno. How does JoePa pass the buck at Penn State? Even the notion of it is insane. He cannot rely on that defense. Not even one iota of credibility there. Please, don't insult us with it any more.— TheKeys- Joe must go. He clearly knew. Per the indictment, the grad assistant came to his house on a Saturday morning in March to report the incident and was very upset. Joe then reported it to the A.D. Does Joe Pa think we were born yesterday? You then do not report such a thing to the A.D. without first getting the full details from the grad assistant, especially when it occurred in your football building. Paterno is lying. — CD75
- I agree. The 2002 crime and cover-up were apparently a badly-kept secret throughout the PSU Athletic Department. It's just too bad that more people can't be prosecuted.
And as I Penn State grad, I am disheartened to think that our football program will become Delaware State for the foreseeable future.— HolidayinCambodia - Being Del. State is great news if it means a kid won't be molested. — jtj06
- Joe's story lacks credibility. He was Sandusky's boss for 30 years, including during 1998 when the CPS investigation occurred, yet he claims to only have ever heard of ONE incident in 2002. He was "fooled", but not really, just for public consumption.— banned
- disgusting...i hope sandusky has his head cut off in prison— 1stamendment
- In the eyes of the law....Joe Pa did what was correct. Isn't that the politically correct thing to do in America these days! Good Samaritans get villified and sued.— Romus
- Romus ... You are either completely delusional, ignorant or lack basic human intelligence to make such idiotic statements. Get real and get an education.
- YO IDIOT!!! In the eyes of the law, no one did anything correctly. The Penn State University chain of command is NOT the law. The grad assistant committed a major crime by not immediately contacting the police upon witnessing the sexual assault of a child. That is not debatable. He will not be charged because he will be the key witness in the case against Sandusky. They need his cooperation. Joe Paterno oversaw this entire cover-up. This is disgusting, and for you to say that Joe Paterno did was correct speaks volumes about your character. Good samaritan provisions have absolutely nothing to do with the situation. — CornerPretzelGuy
- Everyone of you would have done the same thing Joe Pa did....you will be lying if you say you wouldn't.— Romus
- You must not have any children, or at least any that you care about. — mbsports
- I bet Joe Pa made sure his grand kids stayed away from Sandusky. Any other kids, not my problem. Right, Joe?— zeke128
- Romus, if you ran an organization and was told by an employee that a long-term respected worker was raping children, would you just tell the next guy in line then forget about it? Wouldn't you be outraged enought to ask a few follow-up questions later, like, "Did you call the police, not our company security guards?" Or, "What did you do with the information I gave you on this?" Paterno, the almighty, had a moral responsibility to follow up the allegation, especially knowing what it would do to the school's reputation. They question everyone seems to ask is this: If it were one of Joe's grandkids, would he just pass it up the line?— mike l
- Romus if you would have just shrugged it off and acted like it was no big deal then please make sure you stay away from my children. I would like them to be around adults that actually defend children's innocence and not do the bare minimum to protect them— eaglessuperfan
- Paterno's response to this is disgusting. "Nobody knew?" Bull. He's a self serving liar, and should be in the prosecutors's sights, but this man is clearly in that class of people who are too big to jail. This is a coverup of biblical proportions. The Commonwealth needs to ask Paterno some tougher questions. No doubt, everyone will protect him. He's bigger than God.
No, just a lying big shot creep who protects child molesters, no different than Bevilacqua.— WallStreetExaminer
