Off Campus: 'Proud to play' for a tough man

The first time I typed the words Joe Paterno into an Inquirer story was in December 1989. One of Paterno's linemen, a star from Monsignor Bonner High named Ed Monaghan, was ending a fine career on the bench because - as he told the story back then - Penn State, out of the national-championship hunt, was playing for the future, starting a sophomore in his spot.

Monaghan was honest about how tough this was for him. Monaghan's father was honest about how hot he was and said some very tough things about Paterno.

I felt for some time afterward that I had perhaps contacted Monaghan at the one time in his career when he'd be upset about his time at Penn State. It was news, locally. I had no qualms writing it. But I wondered for years about the rest of the story, what Monaghan's full perspective on his coach was.

Saturday night, he told me. He had heard the reports about his former coach's being gravely ill. (This was before the erroneous reports that Paterno had died that night.)

But Monaghan immediately started talking about the big picture, and wanted people to understand that Paterno's Grand Experiment wasn't just public-relations fodder outside the program. His players bought in, Monaghan said.

"Joe was an absolute dictator - there was no doubt about it," Monaghan said. "When I was going there, there were no two sides. You always knew where you stood with him. It was either Joe's way or no way - there was no middle ground. I'm not saying you always liked it. But he was a real big part of my life. I've been proud my whole life to say I went to Penn State and played for Joe Paterno."

Monaghan had some great days. He started for two seasons and twice played for a national title, winning one.

But the games weren't what he talked to me about. He is now an Upper Darby Township councilman, the father of four daughters. His Penn State years set his path, he said. A high school all-American, he had made official visits to Notre Dame and Ohio State. He believes he made the right decision.

"He taught you, when you were there, 'Take care of the little things and the bigger things will happen,' " Monaghan said. "You bought into what Joe was telling you. He told you when you were being recruited, 'I'm going to push you like you've never been pushed before.'

"Guys who started for one year, I think, will tell you it was worth it. It was very competitive, and Joe did it without breaking the rules. We went to class. He made you get up in the morning. We had breakfast at 7 a.m. God help you if you didn't show up - you'd be up at 4:30 the next morning running."

And if that put a player into Paterno's doghouse, Monaghan said, "it was hard to get out."

Monaghan didn't gloss over the events of the last few months. He's tried to get his arms around them. Above all, he said, if the alleged acts of Jerry Sandusky occurred, justice needs to be served for those victims and their families.

Monaghan insisted he was as shocked as could be when the allegations came to light.

"I can tell you this: I never heard anything. Next to Paterno, [Sandusky] was the next God up there. He was revered." He believed what everyone else did, that Sandusky was doing great things for children with his Second Mile foundation.

"If Joe Paterno had known something," he said, "I don't believe he was the only person who knew something. You can't tell me the people on the board of trustees had no idea. Come on."

I told Monaghan that I didn't want to mislead him, that I was one of those who believed Paterno didn't do enough.

"Guys I played with, we still talk," Monaghan said. "We all said the same thing. Joe Paterno was not the kind of guy who would sit on his hands and not get aggressively involved."

It saddens him, Monaghan said, that "some things are always going to be sitting out there." He was referring to allegations about Paterno's actions and the questions about what he knew when. Monaghan's personal belief is that Sandusky will get his day in court but Paterno didn't even get that, that the board of trustees caved to the pressure when it fired him. He admires the stance taken by Franco Harris, who fought for Paterno's name, even his job, to be restored.

Monaghan said he knew over the last decade there had been more disciplinary issues involving football players. Not that everybody was a choirboy in his day, he said, but "back when I played, you were scared to death to do anything wrong because you knew you'd have to go into his office."

He didn't go so far as to say that Paterno had stayed too long. There was just some wistfulness that maybe things weren't exactly as they had been when he played.

It irked him that a former vice president for judicial affairs attacked Paterno after she had left and after the Sandusky news came out, but had never gone public at the time.

"Of course, Joe had a lot of power and authority," Monaghan said. "He was there 60-something years. I think he earned that."

As for that story written in 1989, Monaghan said he didn't even remember it. Sitting out a couple of games doesn't stand up to the big picture. Only 11 players start on each side, and the rest aren't necessarily happy, Monaghan pointed out. Blair Thomas' backup could have been a star.

When he went back to State College over the years, it meant a lot to him, Monaghan said, that Paterno always took the time for a chat and to meet his family. He still believes in his coach.

"I'm not even talking about the football," he said.