WASHINGTON, November 11, 2011―Football is a game. In college, as in the NFL, it is a very lucrative game. Revenue from college football programs funds many other sports and academic programs. It provides scholarships and new stadiums. It helps build a brand for the school, bringing even more students to the campus. It is not only a financial boon, but also an emotional bond, as students and alumni rally around the gridiron.
At Penn State, football is an institution. St. Joe, as the media liked to call Joe Paterno, coached the Penn State football team for an amazing 61 years. Boosters, the media, students, players and fans called him a leader.
We learned this week that he was not.
Charges against Jerry Sandusky suggest he brutally raped children, several of whom he knew from his Second Mile Charity. That charity helps at-risk children “find their full potential.” As Pennsylvania Attorney General Linda Kelly said, "This is a case about a sexual predator accused of using his position within the community and the university to prey on numerous young boys for more than a decade."
If this is true, Jerry Sandusky is a monster. He is a sexual predator who not only abused children, but targeted the very children he was charged with protecting.
Allegations against Joe Paterno, long considered the moral pillar in the often ugly world of college football, state that he knew about Sandusky’s assaults and did not report them to the police. Defenders say Paterno followed appropriate steps and reported “the incident” -- that would be a 2002 report from a graduate assistant that he actually saw Sandusky raping a child in the Penn State football showers – to higher ups in the university administration. While that may have been the scripted action to follow for “an incident” on campus, it is neither the morally right or remotely acceptable tactic for a leader to take. It was a crime Paterno should have reported to the police.
Instead, Paterno chose to protect Sandusky and the reputation of Penn State. He apparently was part of the group who decided to remove Sandusky from his position at the college and who ordered him to keep “his boys” out of the locker room.
If this is true, Joe Paterno is a coward and an accessory and made some really stupid decisions.
When he announced his resignation, Paterno said, “I am absolutely devastated by the developments in this case. I grieve for the children and their families, and I pray for their comfort and relief.” He also said, “I have come to work every day for the last 61 years with one clear goal in mind: To serve the best interests of this university and the young men who have been entrusted to my care. I have the same goal today.”
His statements are difficult to believe in light of what we now know, and continue to learn. In 1998, police investigated allegations of child abuse against Sandusky. In 2002, Paterno’s graduate assistant told him he saw Sandusky raping a child in the shower. It is very hard to believe Paterno is now shocked to learn of Sandusky’s predilection. It is hard to believe he grieves for the children and their families, who he did nothing to protect. It is hard to believe his goal is to serve the interests of the university or the interests of the young men entrusted to his care.
Joe Paterno let us all down.
In the end, football is just a game. It isn’t the football that mattered. What matters is that one man, Jerry Sandusky, apparently raped children in his care. What matters is that other men, including the great Joe Paterno, appeared to choose protecting the idea of a college football program over the welfare of children.
Joe Paterno could have saved an unknown number of children from horrifying abuse. But he didn’t.
What matters is that no one can go back now and fix it.
It is too late.
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