Paterno faces tough questioning in Sandusky case

IT IS FAIRLY public knowledge that Penn State coach Joe Paterno doesn't like press conferences, his participation in which he has considered something of a necessary evil.

And if JoePa can become irritable answering another sports writer's question about the Nittany Lions' unpopular, two-quarterback rotation, imagine how uncomfortable he's apt to be when he's on the witness stand for perhaps hours on end, unable to pick up and leave at a time of his choosing.

But that is the veritable torture chamber the 84-year-old coaching legend eventually figures to find himself in now that the biggest scandal in his 62 years on campus has cast a long, dark shadow over not-so Happy Valley. The Patriot-News in Harrisburg is reporting that Paterno will be called as a witness for the prosecution against one of his longtime former assistant coaches, Jerry Sandusky, although a spokesman for the state attorney general's office termed such talk premature. The defensive coordinator for Penn State's 1982 and 1986 national championship teams, Sandusky, 67, who retired after the 1999 season, was arrested Saturday and charged with multiple counts of involuntary deviate sexual intercourse, corruption of minors, endangering the welfare of a child, indecent assault and unlawful conduct with a minor, as well as single counts of aggravated indecent assault and attempted indecent assault. Sandusky was released on $100,000 bail. If convicted, he could face life in prison.

In a 23-page grand jury report that is the product of a 3-year investigation, Sandusky's alleged misconduct, with eight underage boys, from 1994 to 2009, stems from his involvement with the nonprofit Second Mile organization for at-risk children, which he founded in 1977. That Sandusky is said to have misused his position of influence as a coach and youth advocate makes the charges against him especially egregious.

Twenty of the 40 counts against Sandusky, a defensive end at Penn State from 1963-65, allegedly occurred when he was a member of Paterno's staff, and several of the incidents are said to have occurred in the Lasch Football Building, in which Sandusky continued to maintain an office after his retirement. The school said yesterday that it will bar Sandusky from campus.

On a revulsion scale of 1-to-10, the charges against Sandusky - and please remember that he is considered innocent until proven guilty - probably rate an 11. But that number could be even higher if it can be established that athletic director Tim Curley, 57, and Gary Schultz, 62, Penn State's vice president for finance and business (which oversees the Penn State police department), perjured themselves when testifying before the grand jury. The report released by attorney general Linda Kelly determined Curley, who reportedly had been told by an eyewitness of at least one incident involving Sandusky but did not advise law enforcement agencies, lied to the grand jury about what he knew, and that portions of Schultz' testimony were deemed to be not credible. Curley and Schultz are expected to turn themselves in to police today. Late last night, word came that Curley was taking administrative leave and Schultz was stepping down. They are charged with one count of perjury and one count of failure to report a crime. Each could face as much as 7 years in prison, if convicted of the perjury charge.

It is important to note that Paterno, who testified in front of the grand jury, was not charged and the grand jury report did not implicate him in any wrongdoing. When informed by a graduate assistant - identified by the Patriot News as current wide receivers coach Mike McQueary - of one alleged incident involving Sandusky, Paterno followed proper protocol and reported it to Curley.

"It was obvious that the witness was distraught over what he saw, but he at no time related to me the very specific actions contained in the grand jury report," Paterno said in a statement. "Regardless, it was clear that the witness saw something inappropriate involving Mr. Sandusky. As coach Sandusky was retired from our coaching staff at that time, I referred the matter to university administrators."

But the implication lingers, like a foul odor, that Paterno perhaps should have pressed the matter when no further action appeared to have been taken. It is reminiscent of the famous question that then-Sen. Howard Baker asked during hearings into the Watergate scandal: "What did the president know, and when did he know it?"

Loyalty is a big deal for Paterno, as evidenced by the total of 159 years the nine current assistant coaches have been with him. If you're one of Joe's guys, he'll stick with you no matter what, and Sandusky was a faithful lieutenant who at various times turned down opportunities to be head coach at Maryland and Temple.

There will be those who will depict Paterno as a hypocrite, and that the goody two-shoes image of his program is a sham. But if the halo of the man widely known as "Saint Joe" has been knocked askew, it owes more to his being a human being, like the rest of us, and that human beings make mistakes, but that doesn't excuse him.

Paterno always has grudgingly described any violation of his code of ethics as a "distraction," and those usually come to light only when a police report is filed and information becomes available outside of buttoned-down university channels. Until Sandusky's arrest, maybe the most unsightly blemish during the Paterno era came in 2007, when fifth-year senior running back Austin Scott was arraigned on felony charges of rape, sexual assault and two counts of aggravated indecent assault against a female Penn State student.

The charges against Scott eventually were dismissed, and maybe Sandusky also will be exonerated to one degree or another. But the mere suggestion of a coverup considerably raises the stakes, and it would be foolish to discount the possibility that, by the time the legal drama fully plays out, Paterno, Curley, Schultz and even Penn State president Graham Spanier all will be gone, by their choice or not. Prior to last night's Curley/Schultz development, Spanier had pledged his "unconditional" support of them, which is dangerous ground when you consider the base issue is pedophilia.

It will be interesting to see how Paterno deals with this during tomorrow's weekly teleconference. Will he read from a prepared statement and not field any questions? Will he develop a sudden case of laryngitis?

One thing is for certain: As much as he might want it to be so, JoePa can't keep things hush-hush and in-house. As distractions go, this one is shaping up as the granddaddy of them all.