Post by Bob Q on Nov 12, 2011 10:14:17 GMT -5
The End of Paterno
College Football, General | Comments
Let me start with this: I am writing a book about Joe Paterno. I am getting paid a sizable amount of money to do so, some of which I plan to donate to the charity of Joe’s choice, some of which I plan to keep. I have been working on this book, on and off, speed bumps and traffic jams, for a couple of years now. I moved away from my family, to State College, for the football season. I had many hard feelings about that. But I believed — as my wife believed — that it was the right thing to do. I came here to write about one of the giants of sports. And my wife and I both felt that the only way to tell the story, for better and worse, was to be around it every day.
The last week has torn me up emotionally. This doesn’t matter, of course. All that matters are the victims of the horrible crimes allegedly committed by former assistant coach Jerry Sandusky. I cannot say that enough times. Sometimes, I feel like the last week or so there has been a desperate race among commentators and others to prove that they are MORE against child molesting than anyone else. That makes me sick. We’re all sickened. We’re all heartbroken. We’re all beyond angry, in a place of rage where nothing seems real. The other day, I called it “howling.” I meant that in the purest sense of the word — crying in pain.
So, two points to get out of the way:
1. I think Joe Paterno had the responsibility as a leader and a man to stop the horrific rapes allegedly committed by Jerry Sandusky, and I believe he will have regrets about this for the rest of his life.
2. Because of this, Joe Paterno could no longer coach at Penn State University.
Beyond these two points, though, I said I wasn’t going to write about this because I feel like there’s still a lot of darkness around. I don’t know what Joe Paterno knew. I don’t know how he handled it. I don’t know if he followed up. I don’t know anything about Paterno’s role in this except for what little was said about that in the horrifying and stomach-turning grand jury findings. People have jumped to many conclusions about Paterno’s role and his negligence, and they might be right. I’ll say it again: They might be right. But they might be wrong, too. And I’m writing a book about the man. I can’t live in that world of maybes.
It hasn’t been easy to stay silent — nor is it my personality. As anyone who knows me will tell you, I will write 5,000 words about an infomercial I don’t like. But I thought it was important that I stay out of the middle of this, observe the scene, and I still think that’s important.
But — well, I’ve already said that my emotions don’t matter here, that they are nothing like what the victims went through, but for the purposes of this essay I’ll tell you them anyway: I’ve been wrecked the last week. Writing a book comes from the soul. It consumes you — mentally, emotionally, spiritually, all of it. I have thought about Joe Paterno, his strengths, his flaws, his triumphs, his failures, his core, pretty much nonstop for months now. I have talked to hundreds of people about him in all walks of life. I have read 25 or 30 books about him, countless articles. I’m not saying I know Joe Paterno. I’m saying I know a whole lot about him.
And what I know is complicated. But, beyond complications — and I really believe this with all my heart — there’s this, and this is exclusively my opinion: Joe Paterno has lived a profoundly decent life.
Nobody has really wanted to say this lately, and I grasp that. The last week has obviously shed a new light on him and his program — a horrible new light — and if you have any questions about how I feel about all that, please scroll back up to my two points at the top.
But I have seen some things in the last few days that have felt rotten, utterly wrong — a piling on that goes even beyond excessive, a dancing on the grave that makes me ill. Joe Paterno has lived a whole life. He has improved the lives of countless people. I know — I’ve talked to hundreds of them. Almost every day I walk by the library that he and his wife, Sue, built. I walk by the religious center that tries to bring people together, and his name is on the list of major donors. I hear the stories, the countless stories, of the kindnesses that came naturally to him, of the way he stuck with people in their worst moments, of the belief he had that everybody could do a little bit better — as a football player, as a student, as a human being. I’m not going to tell you these stories now, because you can’t hear them. Nobody can hear them in the howling.
But I will say that I am sickened, absolutely sickened, that some of those people whose lives were fundamentally inspired and galvanized by Joe Paterno have not stepped forward to stand up for him this week, have stood back and allowed him to be painted as an inhuman monster who was only interested in his legacy, even at the cost of the most heinous crimes against children imaginable.
Shame on them.
And why? I’ll tell you my opinion: Because they were afraid. And I understand that. A kind word for Joe Paterno in this storm is taken by many as a pro vote for a child molester. A quick, “Wait a minute, Joe Paterno is a good man. Let’s see what happened here” is translated as an attempt to minimize the horror of what Jerry Sandusky is charged with doing. It takes courage to stand behind someone you believe in when it’s this bad outside. It takes courage to stand up for a man in peril, even if he stood up for you.
And that’s shameful. I have not wanted to speak because it’s not my place to speak. I’m Joe Paterno’s biographer. I’m here to write about the man. I’m not here to write a fairy tale, and I’m not here to write a hit job, and I hope to be nowhere near either extreme. I’m here to write a whole story. I’ve had people ask me: “Will you include all this in the book?” Well, OF COURSE I will — this is the tragic ending of a legendary career. I’m going to wait for evidence, and if it turns out that Joe Paterno knowingly covered this up, then I will write that with all the power and fury I have in me.
I will wait, though. I will have to wait.
But then, yeah, I opened my big mouth. On Thursday morning, I went to speak at the “Paterno and the Media” class on the Penn State campus — I have spoken at the class the last two or three years. This was obviously one day after Paterno had been fired, and the campus had been turned inside out. I woke up wondering if I really should go. But I decided I had to go.
And when I was asked questions, I had to say how I felt. It spilled out of me. I suppose it caused a bit of a Twitter uproar — I say “I suppose,” because for the first time in memory I am not checking Twitter, and I think I’ll stay away for a while — but what I remember saying is:
1. Joe Paterno is responsible for what happens on his watch. Period.
2. People are making assumptions about what Joe did or didn’t know, what Joe did or didn’t do, and I can’t tell you that those assumptions are wrong. But I can tell you that they are assumptions based on one side of the story.
3. We are in a top-you world where everyone is not only trying to report something faster but is also trying to report something ANGRIER. One guy wants Joe Paterno to resign, the next wants him to be fired, the next wants him to be fired this minute, the next wants him to be fired and arrested, the next wants him to be fired, arrested and jailed, on and on, until we’ve lost sight of who actually committed the crimes here.
4. I think the University could not possibly have handled this worse. It was disgusting and disgraceful, the method in which they fired Joe Paterno after 60 years of service, and yes, I do think Paterno was a scapegoat. Of course he was. I’ve already said that he had to be let go. But to let him dangle out there, take up all the headlines, face the bulk of the media pressure, absolutely, that’s the very definition of scapegoat. Three people were indicted and arrested. A fourth, I hear, will be indicted soon. Joe Paterno is not one of the four.
5. It is still unclear what Paterno did in this case. It will remain unclear for a while. You might be one of the hundreds and hundreds of people I’ve heard from who know EXACTLY what Paterno did. He HAD to know this. He DEFINITELY knew that. He COULD have done something. I respect that. Joe Paterno’s a public figure. You have every right to believe what you want to believe and be absolutely certain about it. But since we have not heard from Joe, not heard from former athletic director Tim Curley, not heard from GA/assistant coach Mike McQueary, not heard from anyone who was in the room, I’ll repeat: It’s unclear. A determined grand jury did not charge Joe Paterno with any crime. A motivated reporting barrage, so far, anyway, has not uncovered a single thing that can tell us definitively what Joe Paterno knew.
You can say that he knew enough to stop this, and I’d say you were right. I have tried so hard to make it clear that I am not defending Joe Paterno’s actions or inactions, but I know that won’t be enough. You may be writing an email right now telling me how terrible child molestation is, how awful a person Joe Paterno is, how awful a person I am for wanting to wait and see. I understand. This case hits emotions that are unstoppable.
But I will say this: Paterno has paid a price here. His job is gone. His life’s work has been soiled. His reputation is in tatters. Maybe that should be the price. Maybe there should be more of a price. You don’t have to type: “Well, his price is nothing like the price of those victims…” I already know that.
But I think the way Joe Paterno has lived his life has earned him something more than instant fury, more than immediate assumptions of the worst, more than the happy cheers of critics who have always believed that there was something phony about the man and his ideals. He deserves what I would hope we all deserve — for the truth to come out, or, anyway, the closest thing to truth we can find.
I don’t think Joe Paterno has gotten that. And I think that’s sad.
And with that, I’m going back underground to wrestle with my book and doubts and emotions and everything that goes with that.
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Published On Nov 10, 2011
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772 Comments
Kristy Miller3 minutes ago
Thank you for the insightful essay. I am a longtime Penn State and Joe Paterno fan and this was well said. I completely understand "the hollowing", I have felt it. Well done.
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David Reamer6 minutes ago
This is what I hope you would be willing to write about Mr. Posnanski, what would Buck ONeil think of the situation and your reaction?
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Dan17 minutes ago
Joe,
Maybe if Paterno had done something about 60 year old men fugging 10 year old boys in his own locker room, more people would have come to his defense. While you may be correct that all of the details are not yet clear, based upon Paterno's admissions alone, it is clear that, at a minimum, Paterno is guilty of egregious moral failure.
Paterno make a decision that his legacy and Penn State were more important that protecting the little boys who were molested.
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Troy12 minutes ago
Coach Joe contacted the head of the town municipal police. A week later the witness McQuery was interviewed by that same head of police. How can you sit there and claim "he did nothing"?
If you're looking for a scapegoat, than direct your hate at Schultz who failed to do his job and arrest the molester.
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Renee18 minutes ago
I enjoyed the article, but have to wonder what prompted its writing. If you even casually scan the comments shared here, or on most of the articles written on the ESPN or SI websites this week, you have to know that there are PLENTY of people who have stood up for Joe Paterno....still saying he should not have been fired, still saying there was nothing more he could have done, always mentioning what a good man he is, etc. Heck, wasn't it just a couple of days ago that people were rioting in the streets on his behalf and sitting in vigils on his front lawn?
What I took from your article is that you think he should have been fired, believe there was more he could have done and agree with his termination. Which is pretty much how I feel, and I was glad to see it written, but I have to wonder about the motivation. You still have that book to write - will this article make the Paterno family or the Penn State coaching family more cooperative with that project? I hope I am being overly cynical and that this was not even a factor, but I guess we all feel a little less idealistic after this week.
Either way, I agree with what you wrote - he has lived a largely decent life, but is accountable for what occurred on his watch, Penn State had no choice but to remove him from his position but they handled the whole thing pretty badly. Which I guess is consistent with how they have handled this entire process since the first incident.
I learned a long time ago that people aren't just one thing, but many of us are mostly one thing, and that is probably true of Joe Paterno. Fundamentally, I believe him to be a decent man who mostly tried to do the right thing in everyday life. Obviously he fell far short of the mark here, and he has to live with that. I think his legacy and the adulation he was so used to both meant a lot to him, so the public humiliation and tainted image are probably the most painful punishments imaginable. And while I am outraged over both the victims we know about and over the ones we will never learn of, there is still a part of me that feels bad for Joe Paterno....revealed to have clay feet in the most public fashion imaginable.
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Danny20 minutes ago
Great stuff, JoePoz. Putting aside the actual allegations of who knew what and who did what, the most troubling part of all of this is the certainty and immediacy with which we judge people during scandals. Something on a scale like this takes more time and more information to really process -- it's a shame that never happened, but also not surprising given the media whirlwind we live in.
Anyway, for a similarly reasoned and measured perspective, check this out from Wednesday http://gettoourgame.blogspot.com/2011/11/on-penn-state-joe-paterno-and-how-we.html
gettoourgame.blogspot.com/2011/11/on-penn-state-joe-paterno-and-how-we.html
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Z20 minutes ago
I made a novel-length post more than 12 hours ago, but reading the posts since, one more thought. I hope that Barry Switzer (that more people had to know, particularly the staff) and Mark Madden (from April, about the coincidental retirement in 1999) had to know. I trust Michael McCann's story on Si yesterday that the grand jury proceedings certainly can make the prosecution's case look stronger, but "this don't look good" for anyone involved. I agree with Derwood Brady and others that this feels like a lynch mob coming after Paterno in danger of sounding "holier than thou" (whether the full-scale attack on Paterno is deserved or not is the question--it's a separate question than should he have resigned and was his inaction shameful--the question is how we're reacting/spending our energy). I had some more constructive thoughts in that post from yesterday, and I'm not going to copy them all (and not sure most of you want to spend 2 minutes to read through it), but I'm definitely not letting Paterno off the hook. I tried to look at our responses to this. Peace.
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Z14 minutes ago
If Paterno turns out to really look this bad or worse, by the way, he deserves all of this and more. I just want all of the facts to come in, even though it looks horrible now. Let's just hope Paterno/Penn State can work now towards helping prevent future abuse and help the victims regardless of how this turns out.
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Z8 minutes ago
One last correction. The second sentence should have read. "I hope that.... in 1999) ARE WRONG IN THAT they had to know, TOO." Sorry.
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Rebecca Matyasovski21 minutes ago
Amen.
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TUP-TUP's MOM24 minutes ago
Joe, you're wrong, we've all heard from Paterno loud and clear.
In 1999, at the height of Sandusky's career, Joe told him you'll never be the head coach and Sandusky resigned.There is no ambiguity there.
In the1997 incident in the school showers,the campus police found "insufficient evidence to prosecute",no one but Sandusky and the minor witnessed the incident and the child would not talk. Sandusky spoke loud and clear, "I'll no longer shower with minor children"
.Regarding the infamous 2002 shower incident, Paterno was told the same Sandusky was again, found naked in a shower with a minor, only now there is a witness.From the perspective of the children, it's immaterial what the witness told Paterno, he had a choice and absolute prior knowledge that Paterno was aware of Sandusky's proclivities and there is absolutley no evidence in his grand jury testimony that he intervened with Sandusky in any way.
Sorry Joe, the principals in this tragic drama, including the beloved JoePa, have all spoken, loud and clear.
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Troy4 minutes ago
Coach Joe contacted the head of the town municipal police. A week later the witness McQuery was interviewed by that same head of police. How can you sit there and claim "he did nothing"?
If you're looking for a scapegoat, than direct your hate at Schultz who failed to do his job and arrest the molester.
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Troy27 minutes ago
Is today's Nebraska - Penn State game broadcast on the internet?
I don't get ESPN. :-(
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Paul41 minutes ago
I'm not from Penn State, not a fan. Agree with the article, and agree with Troy's comments. Thanks Troy for helping to bring some sanity to the chaos.
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Troy3 minutes ago
Thanks Paul. :-)
:-D
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Bob H47 minutes ago
Thanks for the article. It was a point that needed to be made and I thought it was done excellently.
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Derwood Brady51 minutes ago
Thanks for the balance, Posnanski.
Being a father, I grieve for the victims of these hienous crimes, and for their families. I cannot fathom their pain and suffering because I have no basis for comparison. I try to do something about it by financially supporting local child-centered organizations to turn my sympathies into action. My emotions are about me, my actions help them.
Along these same lines, imagine that we could charge all of the 'I'm angrier than you' media and bloggers $0.01/word and use this money to help the victims of such crimes. This might provide an invaluable vehicle to help them turn their rage into action. Imagine that we cared enough about the victims to do something more than draw attention to ourselves through an electronic expression of our emotions. Imagine the comfort and relief we could provide...
Like you, I do not know what JoePa knew nor when he knew it. Though I've followed this situation, I cannot tell you what he should or should not have done because I wasn't there. And unlike many that have offered their opinions, I lack the gift of clairvoyancy and cannot, with certainty, claim decision-making infallibility. The facts will come out in time; likely after the angry-crowd has found something else to be angry about (this will also be about them and not about the actual victims).
I am proud to be a Penn-Stater. One of the reasons I give to childrens' organizations is that I'm modeling a behavior I learned from Joe Paterno.
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Joke Smith48 minutes ago
If you hear of one of these kids whose organization you give to getting abused, I pray you'll stop emulating Paterno....
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Chad Reynolds22 minutes ago
Mr. Brady and Mr. Posnanski
I thank both of you for what you have written. You both I believe have your hearts and minds in the right place. To Mr. Smith, I don't believe that either of these two men are trying to take away from what the victoms went through, rather they are just trying to keep an open mind about a man that for the majority of the college football fans has been looked up to for many years, and I believe even though he was wrong in the way that he didn't handle this problem, he has lived an honest life and made the world a better place by helping the young people who have the halls of PSU for 60 years. I hope that after all is said and done, that I can keep this opinion of Mr. Paterno. I can tell you now that after all of these court proceedings are finished and hopefully all of the truth comes out, that Paterno had anything to do with covering up anything for Sandusky that I will hate him until the day that he dies, and everything good that he has done in his life in my mind will be erased.
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Troy1 minute ago
Your last two paragraphs were some of the best written on this page.
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Joke Smith55 minutes ago
Write a book about Victim 1. His hellish nightmare started 3 years after St Joe heard what McQueary had to say....
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Troy1 hour ago
TO ALL. Quoting a certain person of minimal IQ:
>>University Park is not a town.
>>University Park is located in State College PA.
This is completely and totally incorrect. . University Park is a separate town, zip code 16802. State College is zip code 16805.. They are NOT the same place, but are entirely separate towns with separate police forces.
You have NO right to speak if you can't even get basic facts like that correct in your head.
(sigh)
No wonder I quit teaching. I grew tired of dealing with people who have their brains closed and refuse to listen.
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Robert Smith1 hour ago
You are right Joe Pos ... no one knows what Paterno knew or exactly what he did or did not do relative to Sandusky. The lynch mob that has rushed to judgment is the reason we have a legal system ... to separate fact from fiction. As best I can tell, Paterno did what he was legally obligated to do ... and took actions to reduce Sandusky's role at PSU DESPITE Sandusky being investigated and apparently cleared in 1998. Could (should) he have done more? With what EVERYONE knows today, the answer is yes, but we don't know what Paterno knew and we don't know what he did.
There are now rumors from Barry Switzer and others that Sandusky's actions were an "open secret" in the world of college football ... which means that if Joe Pa was silent, so were a lot of other coaches, media members, etc. I suppose if you work for another school or for SI.com and you know Sandusky is raping kids, you have no responsibility.
Should the Board of Directors at Second Mile have done more to stop Sandusky's interactions with kids? Definitely, based on what we know today. Mike McQueary? Of course ... we know that he had FIRST HAND knowledge ... while Paterno had second hand knowledge, via McQueary ... and it's not clear what McQueary actually told Paterno.
CLEARLY, there were a lot of "suspicions" about Sandusky ... enough that PSU and Second Mile should not have allowed him within two miles of any of kids under their jurisdiction. Whether there was enough hard evidence ... legitimate proof ... other than McQueary's apparent eye witness observation ... is far from clear. And it is far from clear what McQueary told Paterno and the PSU after he consulted with his dad. Both Paterno and Curley say that McQueary "only" said that Sandusky was inappropriately "horsing around" with the victim, not raping him. The school should have reported it to protective services, but if "horsing around" was the allegation, it is possible the outcome would have been the same as it was in 1998, with no charges filed against Sandusky.
It's not popular to defend Paterno ... or even to say "let the facts all come out before we hang him". The university acted appropriately in firing both Paterno and Curley, in my opinion, as clearly neither could function effectively in their roles given the public reaction to the charges. But that is a long way from saying that either is guilty of any legal or moral lapse ... let the facts come out ... not just selected ALLEGATIONS that comes from a Grand Jury that is fed one-sided information by a prosecutor.
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Dan57 minutes ago
Yes, and there is also a possibility that unicorns exist.
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Troy1 hour ago
Just over 300 years ago in Salem Massachusetts a bunch of people were accused of "molesting" children. The town reacted by arresting the accused and imprisoning them.
Later-on it was discovered that most of those people had been innocent, and the mob had punished innocent people. Now today people are doing the same thing... punishing innocent people. Yes some are guilty, and those 3 are being prosecuted by the state government, but others are innocent and yet still being punished. People like the Witness McQuery who many people have issued death threats against.
People never learn. All they care about is satisfying their bloodlust.
Mob mentality.
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Dan28 minutes ago
Your tortured analogy misses the mark on several levels.
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Tucker Raifsnider2 hours ago
I will read your book regardless of the outcome of what happens to Joepa. I am a Penn State fan regardless. I believe that there are people that love and hate Joepa throughout the years. We have seen him discipline players without their due regard regardless of the circumstances. He and the university had complete control over what happens over their little kingdom for a long time. It is complete and utter travesty to what happened from the top down. This will forever taint Penn State and should be used in all case law, ethics classes from here on out .
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tbd19602 hours ago
I'm sorry you invested the past year thinking you were writing a preconceived piece about a "legend" but there's obviously not going to be much of a market for THAT book/story. It has clearly lost it's luster. You'd be best to start over and write about your perspective in light of this revelation. To deny the obvious that the rest of us see who are not invested in either Penn State University or Joe Paterno's legacy is purely that - denial.
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Troy2 hours ago
JOE POSNANSKI
I've stood up for Joe Paterno (as you suggested we should do in your article). All I got for it was insults and a lot of hate. I've been called stupid, pathetic, child-hater, and so on. One of my classmates on facebook unfriended me.
So THAT'S why people don't come to Joe's defense.
Probably the same reason people in the Salem Witch trials did not speak up.
All they get for doing it is attacked.
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Golffanatc1 hour ago
Maybe people don't support Joe Paterno because they don't feel he did the right think. Whether he did the legal think is different from doing the right thing. From the grand jury testimony, Joe himself indicated he was told by McQueary that there was inappropriate "touching" and "fondling" by Sandusky to a young boy. If you feel Joe did the right think, I pray you never hear of such actions by a man against a young boy ever in your life, regardless of if it's your child, or relative or friend's child, or any child.
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Troy2 hours ago
RANDOM COMMENT
I can't figure out why some say McQuery (the grad student) should be fired from his current coaching job. He didn't anything wrong, except wander into a shower in 2002 and witness a horrible scene.
People have weird thought processes if they think the innocent should be punished.
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Life Time55 minutes ago
wait a minute... he didn't do anything wrong? McQuery was about 28 years old when he witnessed the incident. He was a relatively large and physically fit man. He witnessed a child being sexually abused/raped by a grown man twice the child's size and 40-5o years the child's senior and McQuery did NOTHING to stop it. And you say that he didn't do anything wrong? Imagine the child's reaction when he saw someone come into the shower that was not a rapist. He must have been overwhelmingly happy thinking that he'd be rescued. Imagine the desperate sadness that must have overcome him when Mcquery the Coward turned his back and walked away, leaving Sandusky to have his way with a helpless child.
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Golffanatc53 minutes ago
If the world lived only by legal obligations, please think of how horrible this world would be. In addition to those who act illegally now, how much more horrible actions would be occurring if no one cared about what was "right". Having said that, nearly every coaching contract written whether it be professional or amateur has a clause in it that basically says they will not tarnish the organization by their actions and they will do their best to uphold the honor of that organization. Allowing these activities to continue occurring but not taking additional actions other than simply telling Joe Paterno, does not comply with these contractual obligations. For a man, who played at the university, then moved directly into the coaching staff and has basically lived the PSU way his entire adult life to think it is right to have allowed this to go on for so many years is just saddening and sickening. He and so many other on that staff failed in being a human being on so many levels to allow this to occur and the University should fired every single one that is found to have any knowledge of it occurring.
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Jan Bavousett52 minutes ago
He saw a child being raped and did NOTHING to stop it. He turned his back and went home. He didn't call the police or intervene to stop the assault. He was 28 years old at the time and was obviously more concerned about his potential future as a coach at Penn State than the welfare of the child he had seen being raped. He has to go too. A fresh start for McQuery would be a blessing for him at this point.
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Bob H46 minutes ago
He arguably did the most wrong out of anyone in this whole thing. He and his dad, who was also the second person who knew anything about it and they both just decided to go to bed and sleep on it overnight.
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Econ Wonk2 hours ago
I appreciated your article, Mr Posnanski, and found myself nodding in agreement frequently as I read it.
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robert2 hours ago
I wanted to start off saying that this is my 1st comment and I am a regular reader of your material. I think you put out a lot of good stuff. I complete disagree with what you are saying above. To me it comes down to hearing about a 10 year old boy and 60 year old man being naked in the shower. This has to lead to contacting the authorities which Joe Paterno did not do and neither did anyone else. Because of this I think he is getting what he deserves and this could be a major blow to his legacy. I feel bad for you and your book topic. I hope you can find a way to make it work given the curveball you been thrown this week.
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tbd19602 hours ago
my thought exactly.
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Golffanatc52 minutes ago
I can't agree more.
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Pat McGrath2 hours ago
I am a catholic Joe ... I've suffered through this before ... watching something I had an inate respect for crumble before my eyes.
In the house that Joe Papa built ... a house renowned ... a 28 year old former football player watched a boy being raped and was paralysed. He did not rescue the child, he did not beat the demon perpetrating the atrocity to a pulp, he did nothing one would expect from a man of the football, especially Penn State football, ethos to do. He slunk away ... he asked his dad what he thought, he went to Joe Papa.
He sacrificed doing the right thing to make sure he did not do something to offend Joe ... it was not obvious to this man that Joe would have intervened. It was not obvious to this man that Joe would have called the police.
The house the Joe built was rotten ... with a shiny white coat of paint ... a rotting seplecur as my catechism reminds ... a lot like the cathedrals of the catholic church.
I was not sure until I heard Joe's solution ... he would retire at the end of the season ... then I knew ... to Joe there were things more important than that 10 year old in the shower ... there were football games to coach.
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Troy2 hours ago
>>>he did nothing
Coach Joe contacted the head of the town municipal police. A week later the witness McQuery was interviewed by that same head of police. How can you sit there and claim "he did nothing"?
If you're looking for a scapegoat, that direct your hate at the Schultz who failed to arrest the molester.
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Life Time52 minutes ago
again, you just don't get it. If you witness a murder happening, is it okay to simply tell the police about it later? Don't you have an obligation to intervene and try to stop the crime? This was not two teenagers engaging in unsafe sex. It was a 60 year-old man raping a little boy. Reporting it later was not enough.
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Golffanatc46 minutes ago
He did not do the RIGHT thing, he did the legal thing. These are totally different in many cases. The RIGHT thing would have been to ensure this situation was just not dropped. The way to think about this is to put yourself in any of their shoes and think, "Did I do enough?" and when you think that way you will realize that when you don't see any actions taken, you will go further in doing the RIGHT thing, you will ask more questions, you will forsake your protection of the university and Joe Paterno for the protection of this young boy. If you can honestly say that you could watch that scene in the bathroom, tell who you were legally supposed to, see nothing further happen to stop it from happening again, and protect only your job and the university, then you are no less a human being as all of these men are.
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Bob H44 minutes ago
Hey, where did you get this? No one ever mentions this and I have never seen it... "Coach Joe contacted the head of the town municipal police."
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Anonymous7 minutes ago
I share your sentiments. I credit the grad assistant with an intact moral compass, and likely a strong gut reaction, that he suppressed in real time, seeking counsel before taking action. If anyone badly wants a do-over, it's him. What could it have meant to that child, to be affirmed as an innocent, in the very moment? McQueary's career calculus was the overriding concern. Being true to self was way too high a price to pay. Deeply troubling.
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Tundey Akinsanya3 hours ago
There's a lot of things done wrong with this disaster. However, in the grand scheme of things, I believe the way Paterno's firing was handled is the absolute least of all the wrongs. What I can't wrap my head around with Paterno's action on this case is that it's so inconsistent with how he carries himself and how people think of him. Prior to this case breaking wide open, people would have used the words "ethical", "persistent", "caring" etc to describe Joe Paterno. Why didn't these key character traits show up in his handling of this case? This is why, I think, people are so upset about him. If this had been a mean SOB kind of coach (like Saban), I don't think the uproar will be as loud. But Paterno had all these traits which makes you think was it all just a front? His long service to PSU makes you think it can't be a front. But the cowardly way he failed those boys makes you wonder. That's why I don't think, at this point, anyone gives a rat ass about what Paterno got or what he deserves.
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Jae Sung Lee3 hours ago
I know a couple of guys are gonna... wait everyone will say that I am wrong and get kicked in the rear for saying this, but Shultz is the head of University Park Police where all policing affairs are reported back to him. State College is not Univ Park. I know this cause I lived there before. TROY is right. And I found this article very refreshing along with the one written by the Wa Po columnist. Interesting reads...
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Show more comments@JPOSNANSKI’S TWITTERI saw a girl crying tonight. When I asked why she said: "Because everybody lost." 2 days ago
Stunned how poorly Whammer's doing in the poll. Just because he couldn't hit Roy Hobbs one day in the park? t.co/BFVyvQu0 2 days ago
College Football, General | Comments
Let me start with this: I am writing a book about Joe Paterno. I am getting paid a sizable amount of money to do so, some of which I plan to donate to the charity of Joe’s choice, some of which I plan to keep. I have been working on this book, on and off, speed bumps and traffic jams, for a couple of years now. I moved away from my family, to State College, for the football season. I had many hard feelings about that. But I believed — as my wife believed — that it was the right thing to do. I came here to write about one of the giants of sports. And my wife and I both felt that the only way to tell the story, for better and worse, was to be around it every day.
The last week has torn me up emotionally. This doesn’t matter, of course. All that matters are the victims of the horrible crimes allegedly committed by former assistant coach Jerry Sandusky. I cannot say that enough times. Sometimes, I feel like the last week or so there has been a desperate race among commentators and others to prove that they are MORE against child molesting than anyone else. That makes me sick. We’re all sickened. We’re all heartbroken. We’re all beyond angry, in a place of rage where nothing seems real. The other day, I called it “howling.” I meant that in the purest sense of the word — crying in pain.
So, two points to get out of the way:
1. I think Joe Paterno had the responsibility as a leader and a man to stop the horrific rapes allegedly committed by Jerry Sandusky, and I believe he will have regrets about this for the rest of his life.
2. Because of this, Joe Paterno could no longer coach at Penn State University.
Beyond these two points, though, I said I wasn’t going to write about this because I feel like there’s still a lot of darkness around. I don’t know what Joe Paterno knew. I don’t know how he handled it. I don’t know if he followed up. I don’t know anything about Paterno’s role in this except for what little was said about that in the horrifying and stomach-turning grand jury findings. People have jumped to many conclusions about Paterno’s role and his negligence, and they might be right. I’ll say it again: They might be right. But they might be wrong, too. And I’m writing a book about the man. I can’t live in that world of maybes.
It hasn’t been easy to stay silent — nor is it my personality. As anyone who knows me will tell you, I will write 5,000 words about an infomercial I don’t like. But I thought it was important that I stay out of the middle of this, observe the scene, and I still think that’s important.
But — well, I’ve already said that my emotions don’t matter here, that they are nothing like what the victims went through, but for the purposes of this essay I’ll tell you them anyway: I’ve been wrecked the last week. Writing a book comes from the soul. It consumes you — mentally, emotionally, spiritually, all of it. I have thought about Joe Paterno, his strengths, his flaws, his triumphs, his failures, his core, pretty much nonstop for months now. I have talked to hundreds of people about him in all walks of life. I have read 25 or 30 books about him, countless articles. I’m not saying I know Joe Paterno. I’m saying I know a whole lot about him.
And what I know is complicated. But, beyond complications — and I really believe this with all my heart — there’s this, and this is exclusively my opinion: Joe Paterno has lived a profoundly decent life.
Nobody has really wanted to say this lately, and I grasp that. The last week has obviously shed a new light on him and his program — a horrible new light — and if you have any questions about how I feel about all that, please scroll back up to my two points at the top.
But I have seen some things in the last few days that have felt rotten, utterly wrong — a piling on that goes even beyond excessive, a dancing on the grave that makes me ill. Joe Paterno has lived a whole life. He has improved the lives of countless people. I know — I’ve talked to hundreds of them. Almost every day I walk by the library that he and his wife, Sue, built. I walk by the religious center that tries to bring people together, and his name is on the list of major donors. I hear the stories, the countless stories, of the kindnesses that came naturally to him, of the way he stuck with people in their worst moments, of the belief he had that everybody could do a little bit better — as a football player, as a student, as a human being. I’m not going to tell you these stories now, because you can’t hear them. Nobody can hear them in the howling.
But I will say that I am sickened, absolutely sickened, that some of those people whose lives were fundamentally inspired and galvanized by Joe Paterno have not stepped forward to stand up for him this week, have stood back and allowed him to be painted as an inhuman monster who was only interested in his legacy, even at the cost of the most heinous crimes against children imaginable.
Shame on them.
And why? I’ll tell you my opinion: Because they were afraid. And I understand that. A kind word for Joe Paterno in this storm is taken by many as a pro vote for a child molester. A quick, “Wait a minute, Joe Paterno is a good man. Let’s see what happened here” is translated as an attempt to minimize the horror of what Jerry Sandusky is charged with doing. It takes courage to stand behind someone you believe in when it’s this bad outside. It takes courage to stand up for a man in peril, even if he stood up for you.
And that’s shameful. I have not wanted to speak because it’s not my place to speak. I’m Joe Paterno’s biographer. I’m here to write about the man. I’m not here to write a fairy tale, and I’m not here to write a hit job, and I hope to be nowhere near either extreme. I’m here to write a whole story. I’ve had people ask me: “Will you include all this in the book?” Well, OF COURSE I will — this is the tragic ending of a legendary career. I’m going to wait for evidence, and if it turns out that Joe Paterno knowingly covered this up, then I will write that with all the power and fury I have in me.
I will wait, though. I will have to wait.
But then, yeah, I opened my big mouth. On Thursday morning, I went to speak at the “Paterno and the Media” class on the Penn State campus — I have spoken at the class the last two or three years. This was obviously one day after Paterno had been fired, and the campus had been turned inside out. I woke up wondering if I really should go. But I decided I had to go.
And when I was asked questions, I had to say how I felt. It spilled out of me. I suppose it caused a bit of a Twitter uproar — I say “I suppose,” because for the first time in memory I am not checking Twitter, and I think I’ll stay away for a while — but what I remember saying is:
1. Joe Paterno is responsible for what happens on his watch. Period.
2. People are making assumptions about what Joe did or didn’t know, what Joe did or didn’t do, and I can’t tell you that those assumptions are wrong. But I can tell you that they are assumptions based on one side of the story.
3. We are in a top-you world where everyone is not only trying to report something faster but is also trying to report something ANGRIER. One guy wants Joe Paterno to resign, the next wants him to be fired, the next wants him to be fired this minute, the next wants him to be fired and arrested, the next wants him to be fired, arrested and jailed, on and on, until we’ve lost sight of who actually committed the crimes here.
4. I think the University could not possibly have handled this worse. It was disgusting and disgraceful, the method in which they fired Joe Paterno after 60 years of service, and yes, I do think Paterno was a scapegoat. Of course he was. I’ve already said that he had to be let go. But to let him dangle out there, take up all the headlines, face the bulk of the media pressure, absolutely, that’s the very definition of scapegoat. Three people were indicted and arrested. A fourth, I hear, will be indicted soon. Joe Paterno is not one of the four.
5. It is still unclear what Paterno did in this case. It will remain unclear for a while. You might be one of the hundreds and hundreds of people I’ve heard from who know EXACTLY what Paterno did. He HAD to know this. He DEFINITELY knew that. He COULD have done something. I respect that. Joe Paterno’s a public figure. You have every right to believe what you want to believe and be absolutely certain about it. But since we have not heard from Joe, not heard from former athletic director Tim Curley, not heard from GA/assistant coach Mike McQueary, not heard from anyone who was in the room, I’ll repeat: It’s unclear. A determined grand jury did not charge Joe Paterno with any crime. A motivated reporting barrage, so far, anyway, has not uncovered a single thing that can tell us definitively what Joe Paterno knew.
You can say that he knew enough to stop this, and I’d say you were right. I have tried so hard to make it clear that I am not defending Joe Paterno’s actions or inactions, but I know that won’t be enough. You may be writing an email right now telling me how terrible child molestation is, how awful a person Joe Paterno is, how awful a person I am for wanting to wait and see. I understand. This case hits emotions that are unstoppable.
But I will say this: Paterno has paid a price here. His job is gone. His life’s work has been soiled. His reputation is in tatters. Maybe that should be the price. Maybe there should be more of a price. You don’t have to type: “Well, his price is nothing like the price of those victims…” I already know that.
But I think the way Joe Paterno has lived his life has earned him something more than instant fury, more than immediate assumptions of the worst, more than the happy cheers of critics who have always believed that there was something phony about the man and his ideals. He deserves what I would hope we all deserve — for the truth to come out, or, anyway, the closest thing to truth we can find.
I don’t think Joe Paterno has gotten that. And I think that’s sad.
And with that, I’m going back underground to wrestle with my book and doubts and emotions and everything that goes with that.
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Published On Nov 10, 2011
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772 Comments
Kristy Miller3 minutes ago
Thank you for the insightful essay. I am a longtime Penn State and Joe Paterno fan and this was well said. I completely understand "the hollowing", I have felt it. Well done.
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David Reamer6 minutes ago
This is what I hope you would be willing to write about Mr. Posnanski, what would Buck ONeil think of the situation and your reaction?
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Dan17 minutes ago
Joe,
Maybe if Paterno had done something about 60 year old men fugging 10 year old boys in his own locker room, more people would have come to his defense. While you may be correct that all of the details are not yet clear, based upon Paterno's admissions alone, it is clear that, at a minimum, Paterno is guilty of egregious moral failure.
Paterno make a decision that his legacy and Penn State were more important that protecting the little boys who were molested.
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Troy12 minutes ago
Coach Joe contacted the head of the town municipal police. A week later the witness McQuery was interviewed by that same head of police. How can you sit there and claim "he did nothing"?
If you're looking for a scapegoat, than direct your hate at Schultz who failed to do his job and arrest the molester.
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Renee18 minutes ago
I enjoyed the article, but have to wonder what prompted its writing. If you even casually scan the comments shared here, or on most of the articles written on the ESPN or SI websites this week, you have to know that there are PLENTY of people who have stood up for Joe Paterno....still saying he should not have been fired, still saying there was nothing more he could have done, always mentioning what a good man he is, etc. Heck, wasn't it just a couple of days ago that people were rioting in the streets on his behalf and sitting in vigils on his front lawn?
What I took from your article is that you think he should have been fired, believe there was more he could have done and agree with his termination. Which is pretty much how I feel, and I was glad to see it written, but I have to wonder about the motivation. You still have that book to write - will this article make the Paterno family or the Penn State coaching family more cooperative with that project? I hope I am being overly cynical and that this was not even a factor, but I guess we all feel a little less idealistic after this week.
Either way, I agree with what you wrote - he has lived a largely decent life, but is accountable for what occurred on his watch, Penn State had no choice but to remove him from his position but they handled the whole thing pretty badly. Which I guess is consistent with how they have handled this entire process since the first incident.
I learned a long time ago that people aren't just one thing, but many of us are mostly one thing, and that is probably true of Joe Paterno. Fundamentally, I believe him to be a decent man who mostly tried to do the right thing in everyday life. Obviously he fell far short of the mark here, and he has to live with that. I think his legacy and the adulation he was so used to both meant a lot to him, so the public humiliation and tainted image are probably the most painful punishments imaginable. And while I am outraged over both the victims we know about and over the ones we will never learn of, there is still a part of me that feels bad for Joe Paterno....revealed to have clay feet in the most public fashion imaginable.
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Danny20 minutes ago
Great stuff, JoePoz. Putting aside the actual allegations of who knew what and who did what, the most troubling part of all of this is the certainty and immediacy with which we judge people during scandals. Something on a scale like this takes more time and more information to really process -- it's a shame that never happened, but also not surprising given the media whirlwind we live in.
Anyway, for a similarly reasoned and measured perspective, check this out from Wednesday http://gettoourgame.blogspot.com/2011/11/on-penn-state-joe-paterno-and-how-we.html
gettoourgame.blogspot.com/2011/11/on-penn-state-joe-paterno-and-how-we.html
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Z20 minutes ago
I made a novel-length post more than 12 hours ago, but reading the posts since, one more thought. I hope that Barry Switzer (that more people had to know, particularly the staff) and Mark Madden (from April, about the coincidental retirement in 1999) had to know. I trust Michael McCann's story on Si yesterday that the grand jury proceedings certainly can make the prosecution's case look stronger, but "this don't look good" for anyone involved. I agree with Derwood Brady and others that this feels like a lynch mob coming after Paterno in danger of sounding "holier than thou" (whether the full-scale attack on Paterno is deserved or not is the question--it's a separate question than should he have resigned and was his inaction shameful--the question is how we're reacting/spending our energy). I had some more constructive thoughts in that post from yesterday, and I'm not going to copy them all (and not sure most of you want to spend 2 minutes to read through it), but I'm definitely not letting Paterno off the hook. I tried to look at our responses to this. Peace.
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Z14 minutes ago
If Paterno turns out to really look this bad or worse, by the way, he deserves all of this and more. I just want all of the facts to come in, even though it looks horrible now. Let's just hope Paterno/Penn State can work now towards helping prevent future abuse and help the victims regardless of how this turns out.
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Z8 minutes ago
One last correction. The second sentence should have read. "I hope that.... in 1999) ARE WRONG IN THAT they had to know, TOO." Sorry.
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Rebecca Matyasovski21 minutes ago
Amen.
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TUP-TUP's MOM24 minutes ago
Joe, you're wrong, we've all heard from Paterno loud and clear.
In 1999, at the height of Sandusky's career, Joe told him you'll never be the head coach and Sandusky resigned.There is no ambiguity there.
In the1997 incident in the school showers,the campus police found "insufficient evidence to prosecute",no one but Sandusky and the minor witnessed the incident and the child would not talk. Sandusky spoke loud and clear, "I'll no longer shower with minor children"
.Regarding the infamous 2002 shower incident, Paterno was told the same Sandusky was again, found naked in a shower with a minor, only now there is a witness.From the perspective of the children, it's immaterial what the witness told Paterno, he had a choice and absolute prior knowledge that Paterno was aware of Sandusky's proclivities and there is absolutley no evidence in his grand jury testimony that he intervened with Sandusky in any way.
Sorry Joe, the principals in this tragic drama, including the beloved JoePa, have all spoken, loud and clear.
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Troy4 minutes ago
Coach Joe contacted the head of the town municipal police. A week later the witness McQuery was interviewed by that same head of police. How can you sit there and claim "he did nothing"?
If you're looking for a scapegoat, than direct your hate at Schultz who failed to do his job and arrest the molester.
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Troy27 minutes ago
Is today's Nebraska - Penn State game broadcast on the internet?
I don't get ESPN. :-(
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Paul41 minutes ago
I'm not from Penn State, not a fan. Agree with the article, and agree with Troy's comments. Thanks Troy for helping to bring some sanity to the chaos.
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Troy3 minutes ago
Thanks Paul. :-)
:-D
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Bob H47 minutes ago
Thanks for the article. It was a point that needed to be made and I thought it was done excellently.
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Derwood Brady51 minutes ago
Thanks for the balance, Posnanski.
Being a father, I grieve for the victims of these hienous crimes, and for their families. I cannot fathom their pain and suffering because I have no basis for comparison. I try to do something about it by financially supporting local child-centered organizations to turn my sympathies into action. My emotions are about me, my actions help them.
Along these same lines, imagine that we could charge all of the 'I'm angrier than you' media and bloggers $0.01/word and use this money to help the victims of such crimes. This might provide an invaluable vehicle to help them turn their rage into action. Imagine that we cared enough about the victims to do something more than draw attention to ourselves through an electronic expression of our emotions. Imagine the comfort and relief we could provide...
Like you, I do not know what JoePa knew nor when he knew it. Though I've followed this situation, I cannot tell you what he should or should not have done because I wasn't there. And unlike many that have offered their opinions, I lack the gift of clairvoyancy and cannot, with certainty, claim decision-making infallibility. The facts will come out in time; likely after the angry-crowd has found something else to be angry about (this will also be about them and not about the actual victims).
I am proud to be a Penn-Stater. One of the reasons I give to childrens' organizations is that I'm modeling a behavior I learned from Joe Paterno.
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Joke Smith48 minutes ago
If you hear of one of these kids whose organization you give to getting abused, I pray you'll stop emulating Paterno....
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Chad Reynolds22 minutes ago
Mr. Brady and Mr. Posnanski
I thank both of you for what you have written. You both I believe have your hearts and minds in the right place. To Mr. Smith, I don't believe that either of these two men are trying to take away from what the victoms went through, rather they are just trying to keep an open mind about a man that for the majority of the college football fans has been looked up to for many years, and I believe even though he was wrong in the way that he didn't handle this problem, he has lived an honest life and made the world a better place by helping the young people who have the halls of PSU for 60 years. I hope that after all is said and done, that I can keep this opinion of Mr. Paterno. I can tell you now that after all of these court proceedings are finished and hopefully all of the truth comes out, that Paterno had anything to do with covering up anything for Sandusky that I will hate him until the day that he dies, and everything good that he has done in his life in my mind will be erased.
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Troy1 minute ago
Your last two paragraphs were some of the best written on this page.
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Joke Smith55 minutes ago
Write a book about Victim 1. His hellish nightmare started 3 years after St Joe heard what McQueary had to say....
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Troy1 hour ago
TO ALL. Quoting a certain person of minimal IQ:
>>University Park is not a town.
>>University Park is located in State College PA.
This is completely and totally incorrect. . University Park is a separate town, zip code 16802. State College is zip code 16805.. They are NOT the same place, but are entirely separate towns with separate police forces.
You have NO right to speak if you can't even get basic facts like that correct in your head.
(sigh)
No wonder I quit teaching. I grew tired of dealing with people who have their brains closed and refuse to listen.
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Robert Smith1 hour ago
You are right Joe Pos ... no one knows what Paterno knew or exactly what he did or did not do relative to Sandusky. The lynch mob that has rushed to judgment is the reason we have a legal system ... to separate fact from fiction. As best I can tell, Paterno did what he was legally obligated to do ... and took actions to reduce Sandusky's role at PSU DESPITE Sandusky being investigated and apparently cleared in 1998. Could (should) he have done more? With what EVERYONE knows today, the answer is yes, but we don't know what Paterno knew and we don't know what he did.
There are now rumors from Barry Switzer and others that Sandusky's actions were an "open secret" in the world of college football ... which means that if Joe Pa was silent, so were a lot of other coaches, media members, etc. I suppose if you work for another school or for SI.com and you know Sandusky is raping kids, you have no responsibility.
Should the Board of Directors at Second Mile have done more to stop Sandusky's interactions with kids? Definitely, based on what we know today. Mike McQueary? Of course ... we know that he had FIRST HAND knowledge ... while Paterno had second hand knowledge, via McQueary ... and it's not clear what McQueary actually told Paterno.
CLEARLY, there were a lot of "suspicions" about Sandusky ... enough that PSU and Second Mile should not have allowed him within two miles of any of kids under their jurisdiction. Whether there was enough hard evidence ... legitimate proof ... other than McQueary's apparent eye witness observation ... is far from clear. And it is far from clear what McQueary told Paterno and the PSU after he consulted with his dad. Both Paterno and Curley say that McQueary "only" said that Sandusky was inappropriately "horsing around" with the victim, not raping him. The school should have reported it to protective services, but if "horsing around" was the allegation, it is possible the outcome would have been the same as it was in 1998, with no charges filed against Sandusky.
It's not popular to defend Paterno ... or even to say "let the facts all come out before we hang him". The university acted appropriately in firing both Paterno and Curley, in my opinion, as clearly neither could function effectively in their roles given the public reaction to the charges. But that is a long way from saying that either is guilty of any legal or moral lapse ... let the facts come out ... not just selected ALLEGATIONS that comes from a Grand Jury that is fed one-sided information by a prosecutor.
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Dan57 minutes ago
Yes, and there is also a possibility that unicorns exist.
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Troy1 hour ago
Just over 300 years ago in Salem Massachusetts a bunch of people were accused of "molesting" children. The town reacted by arresting the accused and imprisoning them.
Later-on it was discovered that most of those people had been innocent, and the mob had punished innocent people. Now today people are doing the same thing... punishing innocent people. Yes some are guilty, and those 3 are being prosecuted by the state government, but others are innocent and yet still being punished. People like the Witness McQuery who many people have issued death threats against.
People never learn. All they care about is satisfying their bloodlust.
Mob mentality.
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Dan28 minutes ago
Your tortured analogy misses the mark on several levels.
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Tucker Raifsnider2 hours ago
I will read your book regardless of the outcome of what happens to Joepa. I am a Penn State fan regardless. I believe that there are people that love and hate Joepa throughout the years. We have seen him discipline players without their due regard regardless of the circumstances. He and the university had complete control over what happens over their little kingdom for a long time. It is complete and utter travesty to what happened from the top down. This will forever taint Penn State and should be used in all case law, ethics classes from here on out .
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tbd19602 hours ago
I'm sorry you invested the past year thinking you were writing a preconceived piece about a "legend" but there's obviously not going to be much of a market for THAT book/story. It has clearly lost it's luster. You'd be best to start over and write about your perspective in light of this revelation. To deny the obvious that the rest of us see who are not invested in either Penn State University or Joe Paterno's legacy is purely that - denial.
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Troy2 hours ago
JOE POSNANSKI
I've stood up for Joe Paterno (as you suggested we should do in your article). All I got for it was insults and a lot of hate. I've been called stupid, pathetic, child-hater, and so on. One of my classmates on facebook unfriended me.
So THAT'S why people don't come to Joe's defense.
Probably the same reason people in the Salem Witch trials did not speak up.
All they get for doing it is attacked.
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Golffanatc1 hour ago
Maybe people don't support Joe Paterno because they don't feel he did the right think. Whether he did the legal think is different from doing the right thing. From the grand jury testimony, Joe himself indicated he was told by McQueary that there was inappropriate "touching" and "fondling" by Sandusky to a young boy. If you feel Joe did the right think, I pray you never hear of such actions by a man against a young boy ever in your life, regardless of if it's your child, or relative or friend's child, or any child.
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Troy2 hours ago
RANDOM COMMENT
I can't figure out why some say McQuery (the grad student) should be fired from his current coaching job. He didn't anything wrong, except wander into a shower in 2002 and witness a horrible scene.
People have weird thought processes if they think the innocent should be punished.
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Life Time55 minutes ago
wait a minute... he didn't do anything wrong? McQuery was about 28 years old when he witnessed the incident. He was a relatively large and physically fit man. He witnessed a child being sexually abused/raped by a grown man twice the child's size and 40-5o years the child's senior and McQuery did NOTHING to stop it. And you say that he didn't do anything wrong? Imagine the child's reaction when he saw someone come into the shower that was not a rapist. He must have been overwhelmingly happy thinking that he'd be rescued. Imagine the desperate sadness that must have overcome him when Mcquery the Coward turned his back and walked away, leaving Sandusky to have his way with a helpless child.
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Golffanatc53 minutes ago
If the world lived only by legal obligations, please think of how horrible this world would be. In addition to those who act illegally now, how much more horrible actions would be occurring if no one cared about what was "right". Having said that, nearly every coaching contract written whether it be professional or amateur has a clause in it that basically says they will not tarnish the organization by their actions and they will do their best to uphold the honor of that organization. Allowing these activities to continue occurring but not taking additional actions other than simply telling Joe Paterno, does not comply with these contractual obligations. For a man, who played at the university, then moved directly into the coaching staff and has basically lived the PSU way his entire adult life to think it is right to have allowed this to go on for so many years is just saddening and sickening. He and so many other on that staff failed in being a human being on so many levels to allow this to occur and the University should fired every single one that is found to have any knowledge of it occurring.
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Jan Bavousett52 minutes ago
He saw a child being raped and did NOTHING to stop it. He turned his back and went home. He didn't call the police or intervene to stop the assault. He was 28 years old at the time and was obviously more concerned about his potential future as a coach at Penn State than the welfare of the child he had seen being raped. He has to go too. A fresh start for McQuery would be a blessing for him at this point.
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Bob H46 minutes ago
He arguably did the most wrong out of anyone in this whole thing. He and his dad, who was also the second person who knew anything about it and they both just decided to go to bed and sleep on it overnight.
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Econ Wonk2 hours ago
I appreciated your article, Mr Posnanski, and found myself nodding in agreement frequently as I read it.
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robert2 hours ago
I wanted to start off saying that this is my 1st comment and I am a regular reader of your material. I think you put out a lot of good stuff. I complete disagree with what you are saying above. To me it comes down to hearing about a 10 year old boy and 60 year old man being naked in the shower. This has to lead to contacting the authorities which Joe Paterno did not do and neither did anyone else. Because of this I think he is getting what he deserves and this could be a major blow to his legacy. I feel bad for you and your book topic. I hope you can find a way to make it work given the curveball you been thrown this week.
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2 replies+4
tbd19602 hours ago
my thought exactly.
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Golffanatc52 minutes ago
I can't agree more.
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Pat McGrath2 hours ago
I am a catholic Joe ... I've suffered through this before ... watching something I had an inate respect for crumble before my eyes.
In the house that Joe Papa built ... a house renowned ... a 28 year old former football player watched a boy being raped and was paralysed. He did not rescue the child, he did not beat the demon perpetrating the atrocity to a pulp, he did nothing one would expect from a man of the football, especially Penn State football, ethos to do. He slunk away ... he asked his dad what he thought, he went to Joe Papa.
He sacrificed doing the right thing to make sure he did not do something to offend Joe ... it was not obvious to this man that Joe would have intervened. It was not obvious to this man that Joe would have called the police.
The house the Joe built was rotten ... with a shiny white coat of paint ... a rotting seplecur as my catechism reminds ... a lot like the cathedrals of the catholic church.
I was not sure until I heard Joe's solution ... he would retire at the end of the season ... then I knew ... to Joe there were things more important than that 10 year old in the shower ... there were football games to coach.
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Troy2 hours ago
>>>he did nothing
Coach Joe contacted the head of the town municipal police. A week later the witness McQuery was interviewed by that same head of police. How can you sit there and claim "he did nothing"?
If you're looking for a scapegoat, that direct your hate at the Schultz who failed to arrest the molester.
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Life Time52 minutes ago
again, you just don't get it. If you witness a murder happening, is it okay to simply tell the police about it later? Don't you have an obligation to intervene and try to stop the crime? This was not two teenagers engaging in unsafe sex. It was a 60 year-old man raping a little boy. Reporting it later was not enough.
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Golffanatc46 minutes ago
He did not do the RIGHT thing, he did the legal thing. These are totally different in many cases. The RIGHT thing would have been to ensure this situation was just not dropped. The way to think about this is to put yourself in any of their shoes and think, "Did I do enough?" and when you think that way you will realize that when you don't see any actions taken, you will go further in doing the RIGHT thing, you will ask more questions, you will forsake your protection of the university and Joe Paterno for the protection of this young boy. If you can honestly say that you could watch that scene in the bathroom, tell who you were legally supposed to, see nothing further happen to stop it from happening again, and protect only your job and the university, then you are no less a human being as all of these men are.
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Bob H44 minutes ago
Hey, where did you get this? No one ever mentions this and I have never seen it... "Coach Joe contacted the head of the town municipal police."
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Anonymous7 minutes ago
I share your sentiments. I credit the grad assistant with an intact moral compass, and likely a strong gut reaction, that he suppressed in real time, seeking counsel before taking action. If anyone badly wants a do-over, it's him. What could it have meant to that child, to be affirmed as an innocent, in the very moment? McQueary's career calculus was the overriding concern. Being true to self was way too high a price to pay. Deeply troubling.
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Tundey Akinsanya3 hours ago
There's a lot of things done wrong with this disaster. However, in the grand scheme of things, I believe the way Paterno's firing was handled is the absolute least of all the wrongs. What I can't wrap my head around with Paterno's action on this case is that it's so inconsistent with how he carries himself and how people think of him. Prior to this case breaking wide open, people would have used the words "ethical", "persistent", "caring" etc to describe Joe Paterno. Why didn't these key character traits show up in his handling of this case? This is why, I think, people are so upset about him. If this had been a mean SOB kind of coach (like Saban), I don't think the uproar will be as loud. But Paterno had all these traits which makes you think was it all just a front? His long service to PSU makes you think it can't be a front. But the cowardly way he failed those boys makes you wonder. That's why I don't think, at this point, anyone gives a rat ass about what Paterno got or what he deserves.
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Jae Sung Lee3 hours ago
I know a couple of guys are gonna... wait everyone will say that I am wrong and get kicked in the rear for saying this, but Shultz is the head of University Park Police where all policing affairs are reported back to him. State College is not Univ Park. I know this cause I lived there before. TROY is right. And I found this article very refreshing along with the one written by the Wa Po columnist. Interesting reads...
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