The very first time I heard of a possible issue involving Jerry Sandusky was October 22nd, 2011.
We were celebrating a special family occasion and many of us gathered at my brother’s house that Saturday evening. Penn State was playing at Northwestern and given the Chicago family connection, plus several other Penn State alums in my family, the game became the featured entertainment for the night.
One of our family members is a Michigan graduate so we’ve given each other a little good natured college football grief over the years. And I thought that’s where we were headed again when he asked me, “what’s up with your defensive coordinator?”
Initially I assumed he meant Tom Bradley but after further discussion I realized he meant Sandusky, who was retired for well over a decade. And this person whose knowledge I’ve come to respect over the years pointedly stated that he had heard Sandusky was under indictment for sexual abuse of children.
That was the first time I heard anything, some 13 years after Sandusky was first investigated for such crimes.
Two weeks to the day later I was at the gym when the news of Sandusky’s arrest, plus those of Tim Curley and Gary Schultz rolled across the ESPN ticker. Within 48 hours I knew with shocking clarity that the Pennsylvania State University would never be the same again.
Let me reiterate for clarity, it took 13 years for me to hear even a rumor of Sandusky’s activities. I spent four years at University Park and I’ve been a proud alumnus since 1995. I have numerous family members and friends who attended that school. I personally know at least 100 people who are connected to the University or Alumni Association. They are connected to thousands more. Given the advent of social media, infinitely more connections are available to people you barely know.
And not one person I know had any idea about Jerry Sandusky's "issues" until at least the spring of 2011.
I will add this, during my four years at Penn State there was never so much as a peep let alone a sordid rumor about Sandusky. Yes I graduated three years before the first chronicled incident but seriously, does anybody think Sandusky woke up one morning in 1998 and realized he was a pedophile? The sad, shocking, vile truth is he’s likely been doing this for far longer than any of us dare imagine.
So with that I wish to clearly state for the record the following; which I believe applies to me and every other Penn State student, alumnus, and employee I know:
• We...did not enable Jerry Sandusky
• We...did not cover up his crimes
• We...did not witness and fail to report the sexual abuse of a child
• We...did not blindly worship Joe Paterno
• We...are not members of a cult
Why do I feel the need to say this? Rest assured it’s not in preparation for my grand jury testimony.
I say this because so many have become so willing to broad brush the entire University and Penn State community. Apparently to many it’s not sufficient to restrict blame to the perpetrator, those who actively covered or failed to report his heinous actions, or even the Board of Trustees. For the record, that group comprises perhaps 25 to 50 people of the 500,000 plus students, alumni, and employees of Penn State in this world.
Apparently the egregious actions of a select few are sufficient cause for many to blame and defame an entire community of people, the significant majority of whom were completely divorced from this tragedy.
We have, for decades on in, proudly proclaimed “WE ARE PENN STATE” to the world. Such declarations and identifications require that we accept both the good and the bad from our school and our community. It does not require that we bare responsibility for the criminal actions or negligence our supposed leaders, especially when we are in no position to prevent it.
I’m not perfect by any means but rest assured if I witnessed a child being sexually assaulted I would do something about it; no matter who the perpetrator. Rest assured I would not sit ideally by for A DECADE plus while the guy came to my office, worked out in my gym and traveled on flights with me and other co-workers.
I get that the entire Penn State community is going to wear the scarlet letter for the foreseeable future. We are all deemed guilty by association because of the horrific acts of a disgusting serial pedophile and the horrendous choices of others to protect his actions. We cannot escape that, at least not in the short-term. I can live with that as reality for now.
That’s a far different reality from those who paint the entire Penn State community as brain dead cultists who enabled a pedophile due to their blind worship of a demigod head coach. I’ve heard it suggested that we are responsible because of the “culture” we created. I’m curious as to how many who sling such actions have any firsthand knowledge of that “culture” but that’s an argument for another day. For now, simply understand that the “religious fervor” you hear about regarding Penn State football is far more myth than reality.
I’m not trying to play the victim card here. I’m not a victim, none of us are. We all know who the victims are and what they’ve suffered at the hands of this monster. Save your prayers and your tears ONLY for them.
I’m simply reminding the world that there are a good half a million plus people in the Penn State community who truly embody “The Penn State way.” And in spite of what you see in the media or on the Internet, virtually every one of us would have tried to the right thing if we had the misfortune to get directly caught up in this mess. All of us would settle for even one story on the $10 Million our students raise to help cancer victims every year for every ten sanctimonious beat downs from Rick Reilly and Jeremy Schaap.
Yes we loved and respected Joe Paterno, probably too much. Understand this however; no matter how much the NCAA and/or media wants to rewrite history, there was no reason not to love and respect him before last November. And while many of us our still struggling terribly to accept his role in this along with the complete reimaging of his legacy that is still a far cry from suggesting we would not have moved heaven and earth to stop Jerry Sandusky if we could have.
I spent a football weekend in Columbus Ohio a few years back. I can assure you from personal experience that Penn State fans are no more devoted or cult like than Ohio State fans. The same repulsive event could have easily happened in Columbus, Ann Arbor, Tuscaloosa, or Austin if those schools had the horrific misfortune of a pedophile on their coaching staff.
I am a card carrying member of the Steeler Nation. I can assure you from personal experience that Penn State fans are no more devoted or cult like than Steeler fans. I would also remind everyone in Pittsburgh that a large portion of the country thinks we are blindly supporting a rapist every Sunday and that the Steeler Nation took a tremendous leap of faith to believe Ben Roethlisberger’s innocence. I doubt we would have made a similar leap if Big Ben was a plumber or an accountant.
Steeler fans, including me, supported Ben in spite of increasingly disturbing tales of his poor public behavior. Is that not as bad or even worse than supporting a man with thousands of testimonials and a six decade track record of mentoring and coaching you people? And for the record, difficult as it is, most Penn State fans are now dealing with the reality of Paterno’s involvement, given that we now have reasonable evidence to support it.
No one person is Penn State, not even Joe Paterno. That certainly includes Graham Spanier, Gary Schultz, Tim Curely, Mike McQueary and anyone else who failed in their obligations. They are the most visible of us and perhaps today the worst of us…but they do not represent who WE are.
WE are Penn State…the hundreds of thousands who try and live the right way every day. I hope those who condemn with too broad a brush will take a second or two to remember that.
Showing posts with label Penn State University. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Penn State University. Show all posts
Wednesday, July 25, 2012
Monday, July 23, 2012
From Bad to "Worse" at PSU
Back in November, when the Jerry Sandusky scandal reached its most feverish boiling point, it strained credibility to believe things could get much worse for Penn State. Not when the university, its football program, and its beloved head coach were dead center of perhaps the greatest firestorm in the history of sports.
I knew then that things actually could get worse and expressed as much in this blog. That said, I would be lying if I claimed to have true foresight in to the details of “worse.” It was merely an abstract concept that I allowed myself, primarily as an emotional defense mechanism, to consider if not fully understand.
Well now it’s officially worse. Much worse.
Over the last 8 months, 60 years of Penn State history has been figuratively obliterated. This morning, the last 14 years of Penn State history were officially obliterated. The scandal is so horrific that the NCAA deemed it insufficient to merely crush the future of Penn State football. They had to rewrite history and annihilate the past as well.
How ironic is it that so many believe Joe Paterno’s actions, or inactions (and those of his co-conspirators) regarding this scandal were motivated primarily to save his pristine legacy. And now that legacy is irrevocably shattered, along with our faith in the man and what he purported to represent. A man who’s passing in January many of us mourned as if he were a beloved member of our family.
The NCAA sanctions are devastating to Penn State’s football program. It very well may set it back a decade or more. Between the official sanctions and the public backlash against the school and program; it’s hard to imagine any football player worth his salt wanting to suit up at Beaver Stadium in the near future.
And just so we are clear on this, I’m fine with that. This is an unprecedented scandal in North American sports and the punishment needs to fit the severity of the crime. Quite frankly, when you consider what our leaders are accused of Penn State got off easy.
A small group of men charged with defending the integrity of our university, have instead been on some level, the instrument of its destruction. That's not to say Penn State as an institution of higher learning is dead. It will ultimately survive in some way, shape, or form. It will simply never be the same. Those men, through their willful ignorance and callous indifference of horrific crimes against children have destroyed something that meant so much too so many.
It’s easy to argue that Penn State University has no business fielding a football team this year. Quite frankly, I’ve come to believe that would be the best course of action, no matter the collateral damage. If you dread the daily public and media scourging of our beloved Alma matter happening right now, imagine what’s going to happen when Bill O’Brien’s boys take the field for what is unquestionably a meaningless season in September.
So no, I will not dispute or complain about the sanctions, they are what they are. That does not make this any less painful, any less devastating. The sanctions at this point are more symbolic to the Penn State community; they represent the apex of a scandal the depths and consequences of which we never dared imagine.
I've rarely felt so painfully numb in my entire life.
Understand that for me this has nothing to do with the future of Penn State football. I will be the first to admit that over the last few years, the Nittany Lions have fallen to a lower rung on my sports agenda. There are numerous reasons for this, the details of which are irrelevant to this blog.
For me, it’s far more about the past. It’s about the systematic destruction of our history; a history that binds so many of us together. It’s about taking something that was a tremendous source of pride in our lives and turning it to a nationwide source of scorn and ridicule. It’s about my hesitating every time somebody asks me where I went to college, a question I once answered with unwavering pride. It’s about learning that even a grown adult of nearly 40 years can still have his faith in others shattered.
More than that, it’s about a betrayal of trust and confidence that on some level I don’t think any of us will ever get over.
Penn State fans have been myopically accused by faceless critics of cult-like worship of Joe Paterno. I categorically reject that assertion, at least for the majority. We simply wanted to believe in an ideal, in a better way and the person we thought embodied it. No matter that it’s a national punch line today, we truly believed in “success with honor.”
We believed this in combination with our deep seeded love for the school and for the experience that so many of us rightfully claim as the best four years of our lives.
We took the greatest emotional risk there is in life; we vested ourselves in another human being. And we did so purely on faith given that most of us never truly knew this man we committed so much of ourselves to.
That is why the removal of the Paterno statue is so painful. It represents final tangible act crystalizing the magnitude of this betrayal; just as the vacating of his past victories reflects the symbolic death of his legacy. I would hope those outside the community could forgive us if after 45 collective years we’ve struggled to come fully to grips with the categorical reimaging of his legacy and persona in 10 days?
But we are not the victims here, not even close. It seems hollow to keep repeating this but it must be said; the children are the only true victims. They and only they deserve your thoughts, prayers and support. We are merely collateral damage; of which there is plenty more to come. Our pain is real; but it pales in comparison to the children that were physically and emotionally assaulted.
If anything, this horrific betrayal has allowed me some modicum of perspective on how Sandusky’s victims must feel. If it’s this painful for us; when the ultimate costs are purely intangible; imagine their horror. Imagine what it must be like as a young child to have a trusted adult authority figure betray your confidence and quite literally steal your innocence. Imagine the emotional agony of learning years later that others could have prevented it and choose not to.
On second thought, don’t.
Make no mistake, our lives will go on. Regardless of how we feel today this will ultimately be just be a sad part of our past; something to mourn and move beyond. Will Jerry Sandusky’s victims ever truly get beyond what happened to them? Could even the best of us forgive a betrayal of that magnitude?
No matter how devastated we are today, we must never forget that.
We can’t change the past but we can affect the future. We can make sure that something like this never happens again. We can demand unwavering vigilance from our new leaders; we can require that they protect that which is most sacred in this world. Most assuredly that is not the Penn State football team.
We can accept that as much as we would prefer otherwise, Penn State University has taught us another invaluable lesson in life. It has reminded us with stunning clarity what is truly important in this world.
In the long run we can rise beyond this and show the world what the Penn State way really is. It’s about hundreds of thousands of people living and doing right every day; not about five people who failed miserably in their obligations to protect.
In the short-term, the entire Penn State community wears the scarlet letter from the unspeakable crimes of a pedophile and the failures of his enablers. That means enduring the non-stop barrage of criticism; some wholly justified; some nothing more than sanctimonious blood lust. It means getting up every day fearing the next unimaginable element. It means, impossible as it is to fathom, that things may very well get even worse.
I knew then that things actually could get worse and expressed as much in this blog. That said, I would be lying if I claimed to have true foresight in to the details of “worse.” It was merely an abstract concept that I allowed myself, primarily as an emotional defense mechanism, to consider if not fully understand.
Well now it’s officially worse. Much worse.
Over the last 8 months, 60 years of Penn State history has been figuratively obliterated. This morning, the last 14 years of Penn State history were officially obliterated. The scandal is so horrific that the NCAA deemed it insufficient to merely crush the future of Penn State football. They had to rewrite history and annihilate the past as well.
How ironic is it that so many believe Joe Paterno’s actions, or inactions (and those of his co-conspirators) regarding this scandal were motivated primarily to save his pristine legacy. And now that legacy is irrevocably shattered, along with our faith in the man and what he purported to represent. A man who’s passing in January many of us mourned as if he were a beloved member of our family.
The NCAA sanctions are devastating to Penn State’s football program. It very well may set it back a decade or more. Between the official sanctions and the public backlash against the school and program; it’s hard to imagine any football player worth his salt wanting to suit up at Beaver Stadium in the near future.
And just so we are clear on this, I’m fine with that. This is an unprecedented scandal in North American sports and the punishment needs to fit the severity of the crime. Quite frankly, when you consider what our leaders are accused of Penn State got off easy.
A small group of men charged with defending the integrity of our university, have instead been on some level, the instrument of its destruction. That's not to say Penn State as an institution of higher learning is dead. It will ultimately survive in some way, shape, or form. It will simply never be the same. Those men, through their willful ignorance and callous indifference of horrific crimes against children have destroyed something that meant so much too so many.
It’s easy to argue that Penn State University has no business fielding a football team this year. Quite frankly, I’ve come to believe that would be the best course of action, no matter the collateral damage. If you dread the daily public and media scourging of our beloved Alma matter happening right now, imagine what’s going to happen when Bill O’Brien’s boys take the field for what is unquestionably a meaningless season in September.
So no, I will not dispute or complain about the sanctions, they are what they are. That does not make this any less painful, any less devastating. The sanctions at this point are more symbolic to the Penn State community; they represent the apex of a scandal the depths and consequences of which we never dared imagine.
I've rarely felt so painfully numb in my entire life.
Understand that for me this has nothing to do with the future of Penn State football. I will be the first to admit that over the last few years, the Nittany Lions have fallen to a lower rung on my sports agenda. There are numerous reasons for this, the details of which are irrelevant to this blog.
For me, it’s far more about the past. It’s about the systematic destruction of our history; a history that binds so many of us together. It’s about taking something that was a tremendous source of pride in our lives and turning it to a nationwide source of scorn and ridicule. It’s about my hesitating every time somebody asks me where I went to college, a question I once answered with unwavering pride. It’s about learning that even a grown adult of nearly 40 years can still have his faith in others shattered.
More than that, it’s about a betrayal of trust and confidence that on some level I don’t think any of us will ever get over.
Penn State fans have been myopically accused by faceless critics of cult-like worship of Joe Paterno. I categorically reject that assertion, at least for the majority. We simply wanted to believe in an ideal, in a better way and the person we thought embodied it. No matter that it’s a national punch line today, we truly believed in “success with honor.”
We believed this in combination with our deep seeded love for the school and for the experience that so many of us rightfully claim as the best four years of our lives.
We took the greatest emotional risk there is in life; we vested ourselves in another human being. And we did so purely on faith given that most of us never truly knew this man we committed so much of ourselves to.
That is why the removal of the Paterno statue is so painful. It represents final tangible act crystalizing the magnitude of this betrayal; just as the vacating of his past victories reflects the symbolic death of his legacy. I would hope those outside the community could forgive us if after 45 collective years we’ve struggled to come fully to grips with the categorical reimaging of his legacy and persona in 10 days?
But we are not the victims here, not even close. It seems hollow to keep repeating this but it must be said; the children are the only true victims. They and only they deserve your thoughts, prayers and support. We are merely collateral damage; of which there is plenty more to come. Our pain is real; but it pales in comparison to the children that were physically and emotionally assaulted.
If anything, this horrific betrayal has allowed me some modicum of perspective on how Sandusky’s victims must feel. If it’s this painful for us; when the ultimate costs are purely intangible; imagine their horror. Imagine what it must be like as a young child to have a trusted adult authority figure betray your confidence and quite literally steal your innocence. Imagine the emotional agony of learning years later that others could have prevented it and choose not to.
On second thought, don’t.
Make no mistake, our lives will go on. Regardless of how we feel today this will ultimately be just be a sad part of our past; something to mourn and move beyond. Will Jerry Sandusky’s victims ever truly get beyond what happened to them? Could even the best of us forgive a betrayal of that magnitude?
No matter how devastated we are today, we must never forget that.
We can’t change the past but we can affect the future. We can make sure that something like this never happens again. We can demand unwavering vigilance from our new leaders; we can require that they protect that which is most sacred in this world. Most assuredly that is not the Penn State football team.
We can accept that as much as we would prefer otherwise, Penn State University has taught us another invaluable lesson in life. It has reminded us with stunning clarity what is truly important in this world.
In the long run we can rise beyond this and show the world what the Penn State way really is. It’s about hundreds of thousands of people living and doing right every day; not about five people who failed miserably in their obligations to protect.
In the short-term, the entire Penn State community wears the scarlet letter from the unspeakable crimes of a pedophile and the failures of his enablers. That means enduring the non-stop barrage of criticism; some wholly justified; some nothing more than sanctimonious blood lust. It means getting up every day fearing the next unimaginable element. It means, impossible as it is to fathom, that things may very well get even worse.
Thursday, July 12, 2012
We Cannot Defend the Indefensible
On January 17, 2012, I wrote the following in this blog regarding Joe Paterno:
For now, I’ve made peace with the following short-term compromise. I accept that a decent human being made a terrible mistake. I do not believe he did so with direct intention or malice but that is irrelevant in consideration of the consequences.
I will accept that this is undeniably part of his legacy and that he must answer for his action or worse yet inaction. At the same time, I refuse to directly offset six decades of good; 60 years of giving more of himself than most of us could ever imagine by one awful decision. Not when he neither witnessed nor perpetrated the crime. I still maintain that Jerry Sandusky is the ultimate criminal and demon in this situation; a fact that far too many have willfully forgotten.
That’s my compromise, at least as of today. It’s flawed, biased, perhaps even irrational. I’m in no position to deny that. I’m far too close to this situation emotionally to remain objective.
My position however remains very much fluid. And what frightens me most after Paterno’s statements is that I can now conceive only of my perspective getting worse, not better. Paterno has officially set the “best case scenario” boundary for him and quite frankly it’s not all that great. Given his failing health and the magnitude of the scandal, it’s possible he will offer no greater defense.
The worst case scenario remains very much in play; he participated in a carefully orchestrated cover up to protect Penn State or his football program. When or if that is proven to be correct, the compromise I described above will be irrevocably destroyed, as will the entirety of Paterno’s legacy. At that point all those involved will be indefensible on any level. I cling to the hope, however thin that no such conspiracy exists; for the good of both Paterno and Penn State as a whole.
---
Today, I posted the following on Bob Smizik's internet blog:
From the beginning...and as recently as last week, I have pleaded with everyone to be patient and let all the facts come out. I hoped those facts might make things better than they appear, but frequently conceded they would likely make things look far worse.
Prior to today I did not believe we were in possession of nearly enough facts to make any conclusions as it relates to a cover-up. We had a grand jury transcript, and little else to PROVE a cover up. People could make educated inferences but nothing more.
I took some criticism for that stance in this forum but I do not regret it. I staunchly believe that before you publically condemn people for involvement in a vile cover-up of sexual abuse; before you annihilate their reputations and legacies there must be reasonable proof of their actions. Prior to today, I do not believe we had sufficient and complete information to make such conclusions.
This is especially the case for a man with a 60 year track record of teaching and mentoring young men. I argued that man deserved and in fact demanded the presumption of innocence as he had earned benefit of the doubt.
As of today, that benefit of the doubt is gone. A neutral investigation has provided substantial evidence of a heinous cover-up. I cannot defend the indefensible nor will I try. Today is a terrible day for all of those who believed or wanted to believe Paterno, Penn State, or those involved.
It will take a long time to come to grips with the full ramifications of this. And PSU is in no position to argue any sanctions brought against this football program.
---
I’m not sure what else there is to say.
As stated above, I do not regret my position. I was never willfully ignorant of the issue or the potential consequences. I made the decision to support something and somebody I believed in until there were definitive facts to the contrary. Of course this was a biased an emotional decision. It was also based on my own experience and thousands of testimonials from those who knew Joe Paterno that he was a good and decent person. I choose to believe that over media speculation and public blood lust.
I also wanted desperately to believe Joe Paterno. I wanted to believe, no matter how horrific the scandal that somehow, someway, he was above it all. Even with the release of the horrifying Freeh report today, I probably on some level still do. And I’m sure I’m not alone in these conflicted feelings.
Because we love Penn State; because Joe Paterno meant so much to us we will probably on some subconscious level continue to give him benefit of the doubt. We will compartmentalize our anger for his actions and inactions a decade ago, separating that from our belief that he was at heart, a decent person. We will never truly look at him with the same scorn or contempt that most outside the Penn State community now do. When you are as emotionally invested in a person or an ideal as we are, completely and honestly facing the harsh truth can be a daunting task. Perhaps some of us never truly will.
Notwithstanding the horrors of this scandal and his apparent involvement in it, I grieve for Joe Paterno’s soul today.
That said, there are times in life when it’s okay for your heart to overrule your brain...and this is not one of them. No matter our preconceived biases, we must now confront reality. Excepting some shocking revelation to the contrary, that reality is that Joe Paterno was part of an orchestrated cover-up of sexual abuse of children. That act is indefensible, on any level.
If you find yourself doubting that at any time, go back and read the testimony of the children who were abused by Jerry Sandusky. And then understand that several powerful and intelligent people made the decision not to intervene in any way to stop it. I maintain that Sandusky is the ultimate criminal here; a depraved and cowardly human being who tortured his victims right to his final moment of freedom. Regardless, as of today I’m no longer able to fully separate his actions from those who failed in their obligation to stop him.
Six months ago, I stated that I could understand, if not forgive a crime of omission. I could understand how a man put in an impossibly difficult situation, related to acts he neither perpetrated nor witnessed, might erroneously choose to divorce himself from the issue. If that were the extent of his failings it would indicate only that like all of us, Joe Paterno was a flawed human being.
I cannot, under any circumstances understand or forgive anyone who puts the welfare of a university or its football program over the lives of young children. The act is heinous beyond my ability to reconcile. All those involved must be held accountable to the fullest extent possible. Such an outrage must never occur again.
If there is any positive in today’s horrific news, it is this; Penn State can now officially begin the healing process. Whether that process includes football or not is now fully irrelevant. We are in no position to argue any sanctions against the program, even the dreaded death penalty. To be perfectly honest, I’m not sure I will ever fully embrace Penn State football again, though I’m far too conflicted emotionally to state that as a certainty.
All I know for certain at this moment is this; I feel like we were living a lie our entire lives. I feel like six decades of our history has been summarily obliterated.
I reiterate one final point from my January blog; a point that seems even more poignant today. There is nothing worth compromising your ethics or integrity. There are often daunting short-term consequences for standing firmly behind your principles. Such consequences pail compared to the long-term price of ignoring them.
Indeed they do.
Monday, January 23, 2012
Rest in Peace
The Penn State community once again finds itself united; united in profound sorrow and despair.
A ten week surreal nightmare, the likes of which we dared never imagine has dealt its cruelest blow yet. The untimely death of the man we affectionately call JoePa, Coach Joseph Vincent Paterno.
The doctors say he died of lung cancer and clinically speaking that’s likely true. And yet most who truly knew him believe he died of a broken heart. The exact reasons for that heartbreak are now between Paterno and his creator and I will not debate them in this blog.
Ten weeks ago we mourned a spiritual death; the death of Paterno’s legacy. Today we mourn his actual passing. Both seemed indestructible; a rare constant in an ever changing universe, before November 10th, 2011.
Let me start with this; if you believe that Paterno engaged in a carefully orchestrated cover-up of sexual assault against children you should probably stop reading this column. If that truly is your belief than you likely are unwilling to see beyond it; notwithstanding a lack of any facts to collaborate that position. As the great Walter Payton said upon announcing his terminal illness, “For those who will say what they are going to say, may G-d have mercy on your soul.”
If you believe that Paterno was a good and decent person; a man who spent six decades trying to do right and likely made one horribly flawed decision than by all means read on. If you believe that good people can make terrible mistakes when put in situations beyond their comprehension, you may understand my grief and that of hundreds of thousands of proud Penn Staters.
Excepting a five second, passing conversation in 1991, I never met Joe Paterno. And yet I mourn for him as I would a member of my own family. The emotions are real and undeniable. And I assure you I’m not alone.
As former Nittany Lion Adam Taliferro so eloquently stated yesterday, Penn State has lost its heart. Joe Paterno was quite simply the heart and soul of our community. And with his death, our hearts are truly broken. There will never be another Paterno or anyone like him. There will never be another relationship like the one between Paterno and Penn State. I do not expect those outside of that relationship to understand it. I hope they have the decency to at least respect it.
I wrote this a few weeks back and it bears repeating. Penn State is a massive extended family. Our family has hundreds of thousands of members. It stretches across years and decades and thousands of miles. We are incredibly broad and diverse, different in so many ways. The one thing that binds us is an undying love of The Pennsylvania State University.
Understand this, whatever you may think of him right now, Joe Paterno was the patriarch of our family. He was quite literally the physical embodiment of this place we hold so sacred. His death is a death to our entire family. For that we mourn.
Some people cannot fathom Penn State football without Paterno. I cannot fathom Penn State University without him. As I sit here today I cannot believe he is gone any more than I can accept the callous indifference with which he was discarded. As his wife so simply and accurately stated, after 61 years he deserved better.
There is nothing more than I can add about the horrific scandal that ended his career and perhaps his life. It’s been analyzed, debated, and scrutinized. Questions have been asked and for the most part not answered. We may never know the whole truth. We may never truly know if Paterno enabled these horrific crimes or was served up as a sacrificial lamb to a blood thirsty public and media. As always the truth is likely somewhere in between.
History will ultimately pass judgment on the life of Joe Paterno. That history is still being written, for better or sadly for worse.
And it is irrelevant today.
Today we mourn the loss of a good man. Not a perfect man by any means but then he never claimed to be. I believe in my heart that this man tried to live a profoundly decent life. As I listen to the overwhelming tributes from virtually everyone who knew him, I am more and more convinced this is true.
We do not really know what he knew or did not know in 2002. And sadly now we may never know. We do not know what motivated his action or worse perhaps his inaction. All I can say is what I said last week; the idea that Joe Paterno willfully ignored the sexual abuse of children is in categorical opposition to the way he lived his entire life. I simply refuse to accept it without proof; not with this man’s track record.
If that makes me naïve or an enabler I will live with the charge. It is easy to rise upon a pedestal and pass sanctimonious judgments without facts. It is harder to open your heart, to try and truly understand. To ask the question of why virtually everyone whose life has been touched by this man so reveres and respects him. Perhaps because real life is complex; perhaps because the story is not so simple as many choose to believe.
I am remiss to use the word tragedy in the context of sports. Tragedy is about life and death; not about athletic competition. But it is absolutely a tragedy if a man who gave so much of himself to so many, is remembered first and foremost for crimes he neither perpetrated nor witnessed. It is a tragedy if this scandal, to whatever extent he is culpable caused his death. And you can add me to the long list of people who believe that is exactly what happened.
It just seems far too much a coincidence that such a strong and vibrant human being succumbed to death only ten weeks after his life was torn asunder. I cannot even fathom how painful it would be to devote your entire life to building something; a program, an image, and ideal, and then having it irrevocably destroyed in the span of four days. I know how devastating this has been for me; for all of us in the Penn State community. It terrifies me to think how painful this must have been for Paterno.
I understand that this scandal made his position untenable. That does not make it right that a man who spent 60 years of his life coaching, teaching, mentoring, and impacting young people was sacrificed to a blood thirsty public. Not when so many others bare as much or great burden in this terrible tragedy. Not when the ultimate villain in this horror appears less reviled publically than Paterno.
Unless and until somebody proves to me that Joe Paterno deliberately covered up sexual abuse of children I will stand behind this belief; a person with his track record deserves and in fact demands the presumption of innocence. At the very least he deserved his day in court, a day he now will never get.
If and when it is proven that he participated in an orchestrated cover-up of child sexual abuse, his legacy will be indefensible at any level. Until that happens, I will maintain that a good and decent human was taken down for a terrible mistake. I will never believe without proof otherwise that he acted with malice at the expense of innocent children, because his entire life stands for just the opposite.
I am truly saddened by the passing of this man whose influence was so profound for so many. And I am angry that I have to justify my emotions. That is the greatest tragedy here. If not for this scandal we would without hesitation celebrate his life while mourning his death. Instead we are forced to temper our emotions lest they be construed as empathizing with the abuse of children. For what seems the thousandth time, we all recognize the horror of what occurred here. The children are the only real victims of the scandal. At least until yesterday.
I hope that even Paterno’s staunchest critics will take a moment to mourn his passing. Even those who believe the worst of him in this situation must recognize who this man was and what he lived for. If you are so sure of his guilt that forgiveness is impossible, at least take a moment to grieve for his soul. He’s earned that much from all of us.
I hope the rest of us will grieve a remarkable yet simple man whose primarily goal in life seemed to be as simple as “make an impact.” He impacted more lives than most of us dare dream
Rest in peace coach Paterno. We will never see another like you.
A ten week surreal nightmare, the likes of which we dared never imagine has dealt its cruelest blow yet. The untimely death of the man we affectionately call JoePa, Coach Joseph Vincent Paterno.
The doctors say he died of lung cancer and clinically speaking that’s likely true. And yet most who truly knew him believe he died of a broken heart. The exact reasons for that heartbreak are now between Paterno and his creator and I will not debate them in this blog.
Ten weeks ago we mourned a spiritual death; the death of Paterno’s legacy. Today we mourn his actual passing. Both seemed indestructible; a rare constant in an ever changing universe, before November 10th, 2011.
Let me start with this; if you believe that Paterno engaged in a carefully orchestrated cover-up of sexual assault against children you should probably stop reading this column. If that truly is your belief than you likely are unwilling to see beyond it; notwithstanding a lack of any facts to collaborate that position. As the great Walter Payton said upon announcing his terminal illness, “For those who will say what they are going to say, may G-d have mercy on your soul.”
If you believe that Paterno was a good and decent person; a man who spent six decades trying to do right and likely made one horribly flawed decision than by all means read on. If you believe that good people can make terrible mistakes when put in situations beyond their comprehension, you may understand my grief and that of hundreds of thousands of proud Penn Staters.
Excepting a five second, passing conversation in 1991, I never met Joe Paterno. And yet I mourn for him as I would a member of my own family. The emotions are real and undeniable. And I assure you I’m not alone.
As former Nittany Lion Adam Taliferro so eloquently stated yesterday, Penn State has lost its heart. Joe Paterno was quite simply the heart and soul of our community. And with his death, our hearts are truly broken. There will never be another Paterno or anyone like him. There will never be another relationship like the one between Paterno and Penn State. I do not expect those outside of that relationship to understand it. I hope they have the decency to at least respect it.
I wrote this a few weeks back and it bears repeating. Penn State is a massive extended family. Our family has hundreds of thousands of members. It stretches across years and decades and thousands of miles. We are incredibly broad and diverse, different in so many ways. The one thing that binds us is an undying love of The Pennsylvania State University.
Understand this, whatever you may think of him right now, Joe Paterno was the patriarch of our family. He was quite literally the physical embodiment of this place we hold so sacred. His death is a death to our entire family. For that we mourn.
Some people cannot fathom Penn State football without Paterno. I cannot fathom Penn State University without him. As I sit here today I cannot believe he is gone any more than I can accept the callous indifference with which he was discarded. As his wife so simply and accurately stated, after 61 years he deserved better.
There is nothing more than I can add about the horrific scandal that ended his career and perhaps his life. It’s been analyzed, debated, and scrutinized. Questions have been asked and for the most part not answered. We may never know the whole truth. We may never truly know if Paterno enabled these horrific crimes or was served up as a sacrificial lamb to a blood thirsty public and media. As always the truth is likely somewhere in between.
History will ultimately pass judgment on the life of Joe Paterno. That history is still being written, for better or sadly for worse.
And it is irrelevant today.
Today we mourn the loss of a good man. Not a perfect man by any means but then he never claimed to be. I believe in my heart that this man tried to live a profoundly decent life. As I listen to the overwhelming tributes from virtually everyone who knew him, I am more and more convinced this is true.
We do not really know what he knew or did not know in 2002. And sadly now we may never know. We do not know what motivated his action or worse perhaps his inaction. All I can say is what I said last week; the idea that Joe Paterno willfully ignored the sexual abuse of children is in categorical opposition to the way he lived his entire life. I simply refuse to accept it without proof; not with this man’s track record.
If that makes me naïve or an enabler I will live with the charge. It is easy to rise upon a pedestal and pass sanctimonious judgments without facts. It is harder to open your heart, to try and truly understand. To ask the question of why virtually everyone whose life has been touched by this man so reveres and respects him. Perhaps because real life is complex; perhaps because the story is not so simple as many choose to believe.
I am remiss to use the word tragedy in the context of sports. Tragedy is about life and death; not about athletic competition. But it is absolutely a tragedy if a man who gave so much of himself to so many, is remembered first and foremost for crimes he neither perpetrated nor witnessed. It is a tragedy if this scandal, to whatever extent he is culpable caused his death. And you can add me to the long list of people who believe that is exactly what happened.
It just seems far too much a coincidence that such a strong and vibrant human being succumbed to death only ten weeks after his life was torn asunder. I cannot even fathom how painful it would be to devote your entire life to building something; a program, an image, and ideal, and then having it irrevocably destroyed in the span of four days. I know how devastating this has been for me; for all of us in the Penn State community. It terrifies me to think how painful this must have been for Paterno.
I understand that this scandal made his position untenable. That does not make it right that a man who spent 60 years of his life coaching, teaching, mentoring, and impacting young people was sacrificed to a blood thirsty public. Not when so many others bare as much or great burden in this terrible tragedy. Not when the ultimate villain in this horror appears less reviled publically than Paterno.
Unless and until somebody proves to me that Joe Paterno deliberately covered up sexual abuse of children I will stand behind this belief; a person with his track record deserves and in fact demands the presumption of innocence. At the very least he deserved his day in court, a day he now will never get.
If and when it is proven that he participated in an orchestrated cover-up of child sexual abuse, his legacy will be indefensible at any level. Until that happens, I will maintain that a good and decent human was taken down for a terrible mistake. I will never believe without proof otherwise that he acted with malice at the expense of innocent children, because his entire life stands for just the opposite.
I am truly saddened by the passing of this man whose influence was so profound for so many. And I am angry that I have to justify my emotions. That is the greatest tragedy here. If not for this scandal we would without hesitation celebrate his life while mourning his death. Instead we are forced to temper our emotions lest they be construed as empathizing with the abuse of children. For what seems the thousandth time, we all recognize the horror of what occurred here. The children are the only real victims of the scandal. At least until yesterday.
I hope that even Paterno’s staunchest critics will take a moment to mourn his passing. Even those who believe the worst of him in this situation must recognize who this man was and what he lived for. If you are so sure of his guilt that forgiveness is impossible, at least take a moment to grieve for his soul. He’s earned that much from all of us.
I hope the rest of us will grieve a remarkable yet simple man whose primarily goal in life seemed to be as simple as “make an impact.” He impacted more lives than most of us dare dream
Rest in peace coach Paterno. We will never see another like you.
Tuesday, January 17, 2012
Joe Paterno’s Best Case Legacy
In the two months plus since the horrifying Jerry Sandusky accusations became front page news, I have pleaded with the masses to withhold judgment on Penn State until all of the facts were made public.
To be clear, I have excluded Sandusky himself from that request. Legally he is entitled to the presumption of innocence until proven guilty and as an unabashed believer in the American system of jurisprudence I hope he gets it...in the courtroom only. Personally I am not willing to offer such open minded leniency to a man currently facing no fewer than ten unrelated charges of vile sexual acts against children.
I recognized that it is at best inconsistent and at worst hypocritical to condemn Sandusky while pleading for patience in regards to others. So be it. We live in a world of shades of gray, no matter how much people demand black and white perspectives and solutions. And I remain steadfast in my belief that we must have irrefutable proof before we condemn those peripheral to the crimes in a conspiracy to cover-up and defraud.
I put at the top of this list Mr. Joseph Vincent Paterno.
I do so not out of some blind loyalty to the man we call JoePa or out of divine worship or deification of a football coach. I do so because a man who spent 60 years of his life teaching, mentoring, and coaching young people; a man who gave back to his university and his community with shocking generosity; a man who by all accounts has lived a profoundly decently life deserves and in fact demands the presumption of innocence.
The idea that Joe Paterno turned a blind eye to the sexual abuse of children in order to protect his football program is in categorical opposition to how he lived his life. This is the issue I have struggled to reconcile from day one and I’m simply not willing to accept it at face value. That does not mean he did not do so; right now we simply do not know. It does mean that he has earned some benefit of the doubt and the right to have such charges proven; especially given that at least two people above him are facing prosecution for perjury.
So I’ve waited patiently for Joe’s side of the story. I’ve hoped beyond hope that he would say something to change or clarify the prevailing sentiment that he was a full out enabler of this horrific scandal. To be clear; I had little or no idea of what that might be, although an honest bearing of his soul would be a start.
Well Paterno has now spoken and this is what we are left with: The best case scenario seems to be a grievous error in judgment and/or horrific inaction with tragic consequences. The worst case scenario…well I still don’t want to think about it. There is nothing in Joe’s statements that can or will change the prevailing sentiment that he did the minimum required; in a situation that demanded the maximum.
I’ve tried over the last two months to divorce myself emotionally and look at this situation with some degree of objectivity. And I have failed, miserably. I find myself even to this moment desperately mapping a path to Joe’s exoneration. My mind is willing to throw anyone else involved under the bus to reach this conclusion; Curley, Schultz, McQuearry, Spanier, even the board of trustees. All are likely complicit to some degree but I feel no overriding need to defend them as I do Paterno and Penn State. That point in and of itself calls my objectivity thoroughly in to question.
I want so much to say that one bad, even horrific lapse in judgment should not outweigh 60 years of good. I want to believe that others around Paterno failed him more than he failed them. To me it seems perfectly rational that Paterno was forced in to a situation beyond his comprehension and he took what he considered to be a suitable course; letting others around him take responsibility.
Just as it seemed perfectly reasonable to San Francisco baseball fans that Barry Bonds becoming a human steroid freak should not impugn his legacy or his home run record. I labeled their defiant defense of Bonds with one word…denial.
I do not doubt that most of the world sees the Penn State community as being very much in denial. I don’t have to doubt it, the media and blogosphere crystalize it in every related story. The phrase, “They just don’t get it,” is all but required prose for anybody viewing this scandal outside the blue and white veil.
Let me make this as clear as possible; we do get it. From day one I have said that the children are the only true victims of this scandal. They and only they deserve your sympathy, prayers and support. They and only they deserve full accountability from anybody who directly or tacitly enabled this tragedy.
Yes we are biased; perhaps to such a degree that we are incapable of rending an honest judgment. At the same time, we are not willing to concede the high ground to those who consider themselves morally superior; lash out with hyperbole, or condemn with a broad brush. I simply cannot abide those who rise upon their pedestal to blame an entire university, alumni base, or even its football team for the heinous actions of one man and the poor decisions or inaction of a few others.
It’s been driven home repeatedly that Penn State or “the Penn State way” (whatever that is) enabled Sandusky; a perspective I staunchly denounce. Penn State or “the Penn State way” reflects millions of people; most of whom live their lives with honor and integrity. I will concede only that a few people in power failed miserably in their obligation to act. Why they did so is between them and their creator.
Penn State is much greater than those few people. And that includes, to whatever degree he’s ultimately complicit, Joe Paterno.
For now, I’ve made peace with the following short-term compromise. I accept that a decent human being made a terrible mistake. I do not believe he did so with direct intention or malice but that is irrelevant in consideration of the consequences.
I will accept that this is undeniably part of his legacy and that he must answer for his action or worse yet inaction. At the same time, I refuse to directly offset six decades of good; 60 years of giving more of himself than most of us could ever imagine by one awful decision. Not when he neither witnessed nor perpetrated the crime. I still maintain that Jerry Sandusky is the ultimate criminal and demon in this situation; a fact that far too many have willfully forgotten.
That’s my compromise, at least as of today. It’s flawed, biased, perhaps even irrational. I’m in no position to deny that. I’m far too close to this situation emotionally to remain objective.
My position however remains very much fluid. And what frightens me most after Paterno’s statements is that I can now conceive only of my perspective getting worse, not better. Paterno has officially set the “best case scenario” boundary for him and quite frankly it’s not all that great. Given his failing health and the magnitude of the scandal, it’s possible he will offer no greater defense.
The worst case scenario remains very much in play; he participated in a carefully orchestrated cover up to protect Penn State or his football program. When or if that is proven to be correct, the compromise I described above will be irrevocably destroyed, as will the entirety of Paterno’s legacy. At that point all those involved will be indefensible on any level. I cling to the hope, however thin that no such conspiracy exists; for the good of both Paterno and Penn State as a whole.
There is a significant defining lesson here; one I fear too many will miss in the crusade for blood lust. There is nothing worth compromising your ethics or integrity. There are often daunting short-term consequences for standing firmly behind your principles. Such consequences pail compared to the price of ignoring them
Joe Paterno has taught many lessons in the last 60 years. I hope this is not remembered as his last.
To be clear, I have excluded Sandusky himself from that request. Legally he is entitled to the presumption of innocence until proven guilty and as an unabashed believer in the American system of jurisprudence I hope he gets it...in the courtroom only. Personally I am not willing to offer such open minded leniency to a man currently facing no fewer than ten unrelated charges of vile sexual acts against children.
I recognized that it is at best inconsistent and at worst hypocritical to condemn Sandusky while pleading for patience in regards to others. So be it. We live in a world of shades of gray, no matter how much people demand black and white perspectives and solutions. And I remain steadfast in my belief that we must have irrefutable proof before we condemn those peripheral to the crimes in a conspiracy to cover-up and defraud.
I put at the top of this list Mr. Joseph Vincent Paterno.
I do so not out of some blind loyalty to the man we call JoePa or out of divine worship or deification of a football coach. I do so because a man who spent 60 years of his life teaching, mentoring, and coaching young people; a man who gave back to his university and his community with shocking generosity; a man who by all accounts has lived a profoundly decently life deserves and in fact demands the presumption of innocence.
The idea that Joe Paterno turned a blind eye to the sexual abuse of children in order to protect his football program is in categorical opposition to how he lived his life. This is the issue I have struggled to reconcile from day one and I’m simply not willing to accept it at face value. That does not mean he did not do so; right now we simply do not know. It does mean that he has earned some benefit of the doubt and the right to have such charges proven; especially given that at least two people above him are facing prosecution for perjury.
So I’ve waited patiently for Joe’s side of the story. I’ve hoped beyond hope that he would say something to change or clarify the prevailing sentiment that he was a full out enabler of this horrific scandal. To be clear; I had little or no idea of what that might be, although an honest bearing of his soul would be a start.
Well Paterno has now spoken and this is what we are left with: The best case scenario seems to be a grievous error in judgment and/or horrific inaction with tragic consequences. The worst case scenario…well I still don’t want to think about it. There is nothing in Joe’s statements that can or will change the prevailing sentiment that he did the minimum required; in a situation that demanded the maximum.
I’ve tried over the last two months to divorce myself emotionally and look at this situation with some degree of objectivity. And I have failed, miserably. I find myself even to this moment desperately mapping a path to Joe’s exoneration. My mind is willing to throw anyone else involved under the bus to reach this conclusion; Curley, Schultz, McQuearry, Spanier, even the board of trustees. All are likely complicit to some degree but I feel no overriding need to defend them as I do Paterno and Penn State. That point in and of itself calls my objectivity thoroughly in to question.
I want so much to say that one bad, even horrific lapse in judgment should not outweigh 60 years of good. I want to believe that others around Paterno failed him more than he failed them. To me it seems perfectly rational that Paterno was forced in to a situation beyond his comprehension and he took what he considered to be a suitable course; letting others around him take responsibility.
Just as it seemed perfectly reasonable to San Francisco baseball fans that Barry Bonds becoming a human steroid freak should not impugn his legacy or his home run record. I labeled their defiant defense of Bonds with one word…denial.
I do not doubt that most of the world sees the Penn State community as being very much in denial. I don’t have to doubt it, the media and blogosphere crystalize it in every related story. The phrase, “They just don’t get it,” is all but required prose for anybody viewing this scandal outside the blue and white veil.
Let me make this as clear as possible; we do get it. From day one I have said that the children are the only true victims of this scandal. They and only they deserve your sympathy, prayers and support. They and only they deserve full accountability from anybody who directly or tacitly enabled this tragedy.
Yes we are biased; perhaps to such a degree that we are incapable of rending an honest judgment. At the same time, we are not willing to concede the high ground to those who consider themselves morally superior; lash out with hyperbole, or condemn with a broad brush. I simply cannot abide those who rise upon their pedestal to blame an entire university, alumni base, or even its football team for the heinous actions of one man and the poor decisions or inaction of a few others.
It’s been driven home repeatedly that Penn State or “the Penn State way” (whatever that is) enabled Sandusky; a perspective I staunchly denounce. Penn State or “the Penn State way” reflects millions of people; most of whom live their lives with honor and integrity. I will concede only that a few people in power failed miserably in their obligation to act. Why they did so is between them and their creator.
Penn State is much greater than those few people. And that includes, to whatever degree he’s ultimately complicit, Joe Paterno.
For now, I’ve made peace with the following short-term compromise. I accept that a decent human being made a terrible mistake. I do not believe he did so with direct intention or malice but that is irrelevant in consideration of the consequences.
I will accept that this is undeniably part of his legacy and that he must answer for his action or worse yet inaction. At the same time, I refuse to directly offset six decades of good; 60 years of giving more of himself than most of us could ever imagine by one awful decision. Not when he neither witnessed nor perpetrated the crime. I still maintain that Jerry Sandusky is the ultimate criminal and demon in this situation; a fact that far too many have willfully forgotten.
That’s my compromise, at least as of today. It’s flawed, biased, perhaps even irrational. I’m in no position to deny that. I’m far too close to this situation emotionally to remain objective.
My position however remains very much fluid. And what frightens me most after Paterno’s statements is that I can now conceive only of my perspective getting worse, not better. Paterno has officially set the “best case scenario” boundary for him and quite frankly it’s not all that great. Given his failing health and the magnitude of the scandal, it’s possible he will offer no greater defense.
The worst case scenario remains very much in play; he participated in a carefully orchestrated cover up to protect Penn State or his football program. When or if that is proven to be correct, the compromise I described above will be irrevocably destroyed, as will the entirety of Paterno’s legacy. At that point all those involved will be indefensible on any level. I cling to the hope, however thin that no such conspiracy exists; for the good of both Paterno and Penn State as a whole.
There is a significant defining lesson here; one I fear too many will miss in the crusade for blood lust. There is nothing worth compromising your ethics or integrity. There are often daunting short-term consequences for standing firmly behind your principles. Such consequences pail compared to the price of ignoring them
Joe Paterno has taught many lessons in the last 60 years. I hope this is not remembered as his last.
Thursday, November 10, 2011
A Sad and Shocking End
This cannot be how it ends. And yet it is.
One sick, depraved human being has taken down an icon, bringing a proud university to its knees in the process.
Not alone of course; he had several unwilling accomplices. Whatever you may feel about the Penn State administration right now I can guarantee this; none of them wanted to be in this position. If they covered for Jerry Sandusky for whatever reason; to save the school or to save him, I assure you it was not by choice. It was because right or wrong, and it’s most likely wrong, they felt they had to.
To what extent Joseph Vincent Paterno was involved in that collaboration remains a mystery. It may never be fully understood. And it’s now irrelevant. The die has been cast and barring a dramatic change in facts or circumstances, he will be deemed fully complicit in these horrific events.
A significant majority believe that Paterno, either through negligent inaction or a conspiracy to defraud enabled a horrific scandal with devastating consequences. A small minority believe he is a high powered scapegoat, served up to satisfy public bloodlust. I honestly don’t know what to believe.
I cannot recall an event that has shaken my core convictions to this degree.
I do not expect those who are not part of the Penn State family to understand our grief. How can I expect others to understand it when I can't explain it myself? All I know is what I felt when the announcement was made official, profound sadness.
This is a DEVASTATING time for all of us in the Penn State community.
It’s not the act of JoePa's firing in and of itself that saddens me. It’s what it represents. This surreal nightmare is now undeniable on every level. Until this week any notion of Penn State football without Paterno was inconceivable, let along Paterno being fired. That it happened and happened so suddenly crystalizes on every level the monumental nature of this scandal.
Many have called JoePa's dismissal the end of an era. You cannot fathom how inadequate that description is to the events at hand.
You must understand Penn State is a massive extended family. Our family has hundreds of thousands of members. It stretches across years and decades and thousands of miles. We are incredibly broad and diverse, different in so many ways. The one thing that binds us is an undying love of The Pennsylvania State University. And yes part of that is represented in our love and respect for Penn State football.
Understand this, whatever you may think of him right now, Joe Paterno was the patriarch of our family. He was quite literally the physical embodiment of this place we hold so sacred. His termination represents a spiritual death to our family, to our school, and to our beliefs. For that we mourn.
We mourn for the man we knew, and we mourn in fear of the man we may not have known.
We mourn for the destruction of a great man and that man’s reputation. We mourn the systematic annihilation of six decades of our history.
And we mourn our fear that perhaps the great man was not so great after all. At least not when it mattered the most.
Do not interpret our grief as an endorsement of his action or lack thereof. We all understand that gravity of this situation. I have opinions on Paterno’s culpability but I’m unwilling to share them. For one thing I don’t trust my feelings and convictions. I’m not sure I can see clearly through my emotions or bias. For another, I quite literally dread the next development that might make things worse.
Part of me cannot fathom that 60 plus years of dedicated service to one university is being wiped away. That’s 60 plus years, a lifetime of coaching, teaching, and mentoring young men. Some coaches are associated with a school or program. Joe Paterno literally is Penn State football. He is the universal constant for every Penn Stater past and present.
The other part of me cannot fathom that he may have played some role, however peripheral in these horrific crimes. He neither perpetrated nor witnesses these acts. And to whatever extent he enabled them he was not alone. It does not matter. Anyone involved in this appalling tragedy must be held accountable.
In my perfect world a man with a six decade track record of excellence would have been given the benefit of the doubt. We would have allowed for due process, for ALL of the facts to be known before such drastic action was taken.
Alas that was not realistic. I knew by Tuesday that JoePa would never coach another game. This scandal became too big, too fast. His position became untenable as did so many others. I knew this with absolute certainty.
And still I cried when the announcement was made. The raw emotion of the moment was more powerful than I ever expected. Even now I can’t grasp the non-stop “Paterno fired” headline that’s living in perpetuity on cable TV.
Jerry Sandusky is the ultimate bad guy here. Everyone who suffers for this does so ultimately because of him. Others made bad decisions, horrible perhaps but he and only he committed these heinous crimes. I will never back off of that belief.
That does not absolve the actions of our leaders. We entrusted them with something we hold sacred and they betrayed that trust. Their actions and decisions have brought shame to the entire Penn State community. Any and all who were involved must pay with nothing less than their jobs. If that includes Joe Paterno then so be it.
It’s just so hard to believe.
Let me be clear on this point, we are NOT the victims here. The kids that Sandusky abused AND ONLY those kids deserve your thoughts, sympathy and prayers. The entire Penn State community however is collateral damage.
The damage to the university is incalculable; as is the pain and sadness felt by its students and alumni. We’ve been stripped of our dignity, turned in to a nationwide object of scorn and ridicule. Hundreds of thousands are suffering because of the heinous actions of one man, and the subsequent action or inaction of several others.
We suffer twice, once for the kids and once for our school. And we suffer in silence. Nobody wants to hear our pain. Our betrayal pales in comparison to the betrayal of those kids, and we all know it. If we suffer out loud we are called apologists, enablers, or worse. We are not any of those things; just hurt, confused, and profoundly sad.
We cannot defend the indefensible; nor have we tried. It is stunning how many lives have been negatively affected by the actions of one deeply disturbed human being.
I don’t know that we will ever fully come to grips with that. And frankly we're not ready to do so. Right now we are dealing with profound changes to our reality; a reality we've taken as a given our entire lives.
It’s ironic that so many of us were calling for Paterno’s retirement before this happened. There was endless debate as to whether he stayed too long. Many felt, in spite of all he had done, that it was time for the Paterno era to end.
None of us wanted it to end like this.
One sick, depraved human being has taken down an icon, bringing a proud university to its knees in the process.
Not alone of course; he had several unwilling accomplices. Whatever you may feel about the Penn State administration right now I can guarantee this; none of them wanted to be in this position. If they covered for Jerry Sandusky for whatever reason; to save the school or to save him, I assure you it was not by choice. It was because right or wrong, and it’s most likely wrong, they felt they had to.
To what extent Joseph Vincent Paterno was involved in that collaboration remains a mystery. It may never be fully understood. And it’s now irrelevant. The die has been cast and barring a dramatic change in facts or circumstances, he will be deemed fully complicit in these horrific events.
A significant majority believe that Paterno, either through negligent inaction or a conspiracy to defraud enabled a horrific scandal with devastating consequences. A small minority believe he is a high powered scapegoat, served up to satisfy public bloodlust. I honestly don’t know what to believe.
I cannot recall an event that has shaken my core convictions to this degree.
I do not expect those who are not part of the Penn State family to understand our grief. How can I expect others to understand it when I can't explain it myself? All I know is what I felt when the announcement was made official, profound sadness.
This is a DEVASTATING time for all of us in the Penn State community.
It’s not the act of JoePa's firing in and of itself that saddens me. It’s what it represents. This surreal nightmare is now undeniable on every level. Until this week any notion of Penn State football without Paterno was inconceivable, let along Paterno being fired. That it happened and happened so suddenly crystalizes on every level the monumental nature of this scandal.
Many have called JoePa's dismissal the end of an era. You cannot fathom how inadequate that description is to the events at hand.
You must understand Penn State is a massive extended family. Our family has hundreds of thousands of members. It stretches across years and decades and thousands of miles. We are incredibly broad and diverse, different in so many ways. The one thing that binds us is an undying love of The Pennsylvania State University. And yes part of that is represented in our love and respect for Penn State football.
Understand this, whatever you may think of him right now, Joe Paterno was the patriarch of our family. He was quite literally the physical embodiment of this place we hold so sacred. His termination represents a spiritual death to our family, to our school, and to our beliefs. For that we mourn.
We mourn for the man we knew, and we mourn in fear of the man we may not have known.
We mourn for the destruction of a great man and that man’s reputation. We mourn the systematic annihilation of six decades of our history.
And we mourn our fear that perhaps the great man was not so great after all. At least not when it mattered the most.
Do not interpret our grief as an endorsement of his action or lack thereof. We all understand that gravity of this situation. I have opinions on Paterno’s culpability but I’m unwilling to share them. For one thing I don’t trust my feelings and convictions. I’m not sure I can see clearly through my emotions or bias. For another, I quite literally dread the next development that might make things worse.
Part of me cannot fathom that 60 plus years of dedicated service to one university is being wiped away. That’s 60 plus years, a lifetime of coaching, teaching, and mentoring young men. Some coaches are associated with a school or program. Joe Paterno literally is Penn State football. He is the universal constant for every Penn Stater past and present.
The other part of me cannot fathom that he may have played some role, however peripheral in these horrific crimes. He neither perpetrated nor witnesses these acts. And to whatever extent he enabled them he was not alone. It does not matter. Anyone involved in this appalling tragedy must be held accountable.
In my perfect world a man with a six decade track record of excellence would have been given the benefit of the doubt. We would have allowed for due process, for ALL of the facts to be known before such drastic action was taken.
Alas that was not realistic. I knew by Tuesday that JoePa would never coach another game. This scandal became too big, too fast. His position became untenable as did so many others. I knew this with absolute certainty.
And still I cried when the announcement was made. The raw emotion of the moment was more powerful than I ever expected. Even now I can’t grasp the non-stop “Paterno fired” headline that’s living in perpetuity on cable TV.
Jerry Sandusky is the ultimate bad guy here. Everyone who suffers for this does so ultimately because of him. Others made bad decisions, horrible perhaps but he and only he committed these heinous crimes. I will never back off of that belief.
That does not absolve the actions of our leaders. We entrusted them with something we hold sacred and they betrayed that trust. Their actions and decisions have brought shame to the entire Penn State community. Any and all who were involved must pay with nothing less than their jobs. If that includes Joe Paterno then so be it.
It’s just so hard to believe.
Let me be clear on this point, we are NOT the victims here. The kids that Sandusky abused AND ONLY those kids deserve your thoughts, sympathy and prayers. The entire Penn State community however is collateral damage.
The damage to the university is incalculable; as is the pain and sadness felt by its students and alumni. We’ve been stripped of our dignity, turned in to a nationwide object of scorn and ridicule. Hundreds of thousands are suffering because of the heinous actions of one man, and the subsequent action or inaction of several others.
We suffer twice, once for the kids and once for our school. And we suffer in silence. Nobody wants to hear our pain. Our betrayal pales in comparison to the betrayal of those kids, and we all know it. If we suffer out loud we are called apologists, enablers, or worse. We are not any of those things; just hurt, confused, and profoundly sad.
We cannot defend the indefensible; nor have we tried. It is stunning how many lives have been negatively affected by the actions of one deeply disturbed human being.
I don’t know that we will ever fully come to grips with that. And frankly we're not ready to do so. Right now we are dealing with profound changes to our reality; a reality we've taken as a given our entire lives.
It’s ironic that so many of us were calling for Paterno’s retirement before this happened. There was endless debate as to whether he stayed too long. Many felt, in spite of all he had done, that it was time for the Paterno era to end.
None of us wanted it to end like this.
Monday, November 7, 2011
The End of the Innocence in Happy Valley
Ask me what were the best years of my life, at least to the point where my beloved wife walked down the aisle at our wedding and I will answer without a moment’s hesitation. The four years I spent at the Pennsylvania State University.
It may sound like a cliché to call college the best years of my life but I don’t care. It was. That’s no slight to any other part of my childhood. It’s simply in deference to how much I enjoyed those four years in the place we affectionately call Happy Valley.
College is first and foremost about education but it’s so much more than that. It’s about growing up, establishing your independence and discovering who you really are as a person. It’s about having the freedom to believe unequivocally in your dreams and ideals, before such ideals are stripped from you by the harsh realities of life. It’s about the stunning metamorphosis from child to adult.
To me there was no better place for this than Happy Valley.
When I left Penn State I did so with more than a diploma. I left with a lifetime supply of experiences, memories and friends. I left with an emotional attachment that defies simple description. In those four years the University and everything it represents became more than just my Alma mater. It became part of my heart and my soul. Penn State does not define me, but it’s absolutely part of my identity. One need only inventory my clothing to understand that.
That is why I was so determined to bring my wife there last summer; cost and time commitment be damned. I wanted her to see at least once, what was so critically important to me.
To me, it was the last innocent place on earth; untouched by the noise, traffic, politics, or corruption of life. And right now that innocence is shattered, irrevocably I fear.
I never defined my Penn State experience by our football team; or by our legendary coach Joe Paterno. That was a part of it; one of many to be sure. At the same time, as I got further and further from my college years, in time and distance the football team and Paterno were the most tangible symbols I could cling to. And whether we like it or not, that team and that coach represent and define us nationally.
For as long as I can remember, that was something to be truly proud of. Sadly I doubt that will ever be the case again.
What transpired at Penn State in the last 72 hours to 13 years is a tragedy of unspeakable proportions. It involves (allegedly) a sick sexual deviant who for reasons only he can explain performed repeated acts that would disgust any sane person. It likely involves to some degree a cover up and thus the enabling of these horrific acts. Exactly how deep that cover up goes and who is ultimately involved is beyond the scope of my knowledge. And for purposes of this blog, it’s irrelevant.
Those who are responsible will pay; at minimum with their jobs, at maximum with their freedom. Jerry Sandusky will likely spend the rest of his life as a guest of the state of Pennsylvania. That is the minimum he deserves for the lives he has (allegedly) ruined. And in the end, that’s going to be a long list.
The list will include countless young men; likely far more than is reported and far more than we will ever know. It will include university personnel who dedicated significant portions of their lives to the betterment of the school. It involves Mike McQueary who undoubtedly wanted no part of this. And it very well may include the legendary coach who devoted 60 plus years of his life to that school; 60 plus years to coaching and mentoring young men.
For that I will very much mourn. In the end, Joe Paterno’s legacy may die at the hands of a man he trusted for over 30 years. It will not matter that he was neither the perpetrator of nor witness to these horrific events. He will be viewed as an enabler ostensibly because he was deemed to have not done enough to prevent it.
I hope and pray that is not the case. Not out of some misguided sense of loyalty to Paterno or Penn State mind you. I hope this because I simply do not want to believe a man who did so much good, a man who is literally the embodiment of Penn State University was in any way responsible for this.
Sadly with each passing news story my doubts grow stronger.
A lot will happen in the next few weeks, months, and years. I don’t think any of us can even begin to imagine the breadth of it. A University and its football program that has operated with unparalleled consistency for 45 some years will likely be torn apart brick by brick and rebuilt from scratch. It’s the only thing that can be done.
This is about more than that though. This is about the death of something I hold precious and dear in my heart. This is in some ways the death of a part of me. Call that over dramatization or extreme hyperbole if you like but it’s my truth. I doubt I’m alone amongst Penn State alumni.
This is a place that I love, my Alma mater; an institution that is rightfully an immense source of pride in my life. And it has suddenly become an object of nationwide scorn and ridicule. It’s about a school that has done so much for so many for so long being painted with a broad brush because of the heinous actions of a select few.
It’s about the words “for the glory of old state,” which have always meant so much to me now being used as a punch line.
And yes to some very small degree it’s about football. Understand that is the least important thing in this tragedy. At the same time it’s something that connects tens of thousands of alumni over five decades. I’ve always taken Penn State’s football history as a given. More than that, I took its future as a given. Now I’m not sure there is a future. I'm not sure I can even watch the Nebraska game this Saturday.
I would hope even the most cynical observers can understand how painful this is to us as alumni. So much so that I cannot read the endless barrage of news stories or even draft this blog without a tear in my eyes. I’m overwhelmed with so many conflicting emotions. And worst of all, I honestly don’t trust my own instincts and convictions to evaluate what's happening.
Like most PSU alums, I’m going through the four stages of grief on this. Right now I’m on the back edge of stage one, denial, at least in regards to JoePa. I want so much to believe he’s not the bad guy in this. I want to believe I will wake up tomorrow and find this was all just an awful nightmare.
The second stage is supposed to be anger but I fear that I’ll hit depression first. I’m not a trained psychologist so I honestly don’t know if you are required to hit these stages in order. I just know how I feel. I don’t foresee acceptance and hope in the near future, not on this issue.
I understand that some might read this and infer a lack of perspective on my part. I assure you this is not the case. I understand with absolute certainty here that the greatest victims are these children. And I can assure you my sadness and grief mirrors the magnitude of the event. Life offers far greater tragedies than the spiritual death of a university and the reputation of its football coach. Trust me I understand this.
That does not diminish my sadness today. Nowhere is it written that we cannot mourn a loss, simply because there are other losses of greater magnitude. Loss is loss, hurt is hurt. I can fully appreciate the gravity of Sandusky’s alleged offenses while mourning the collateral damage to my beloved Alma mater. Such emotions are not mutually exclusive.
The last 72 hours have been awful. I doubt the next few weeks, months, or even years will be much better. Honestly I don’t know what will transpire, but I know what has so far. It’s the end of the innocence in Happy Valley. Perhaps the end of my innocence as well
It may sound like a cliché to call college the best years of my life but I don’t care. It was. That’s no slight to any other part of my childhood. It’s simply in deference to how much I enjoyed those four years in the place we affectionately call Happy Valley.
College is first and foremost about education but it’s so much more than that. It’s about growing up, establishing your independence and discovering who you really are as a person. It’s about having the freedom to believe unequivocally in your dreams and ideals, before such ideals are stripped from you by the harsh realities of life. It’s about the stunning metamorphosis from child to adult.
To me there was no better place for this than Happy Valley.
When I left Penn State I did so with more than a diploma. I left with a lifetime supply of experiences, memories and friends. I left with an emotional attachment that defies simple description. In those four years the University and everything it represents became more than just my Alma mater. It became part of my heart and my soul. Penn State does not define me, but it’s absolutely part of my identity. One need only inventory my clothing to understand that.
That is why I was so determined to bring my wife there last summer; cost and time commitment be damned. I wanted her to see at least once, what was so critically important to me.
To me, it was the last innocent place on earth; untouched by the noise, traffic, politics, or corruption of life. And right now that innocence is shattered, irrevocably I fear.
I never defined my Penn State experience by our football team; or by our legendary coach Joe Paterno. That was a part of it; one of many to be sure. At the same time, as I got further and further from my college years, in time and distance the football team and Paterno were the most tangible symbols I could cling to. And whether we like it or not, that team and that coach represent and define us nationally.
For as long as I can remember, that was something to be truly proud of. Sadly I doubt that will ever be the case again.
What transpired at Penn State in the last 72 hours to 13 years is a tragedy of unspeakable proportions. It involves (allegedly) a sick sexual deviant who for reasons only he can explain performed repeated acts that would disgust any sane person. It likely involves to some degree a cover up and thus the enabling of these horrific acts. Exactly how deep that cover up goes and who is ultimately involved is beyond the scope of my knowledge. And for purposes of this blog, it’s irrelevant.
Those who are responsible will pay; at minimum with their jobs, at maximum with their freedom. Jerry Sandusky will likely spend the rest of his life as a guest of the state of Pennsylvania. That is the minimum he deserves for the lives he has (allegedly) ruined. And in the end, that’s going to be a long list.
The list will include countless young men; likely far more than is reported and far more than we will ever know. It will include university personnel who dedicated significant portions of their lives to the betterment of the school. It involves Mike McQueary who undoubtedly wanted no part of this. And it very well may include the legendary coach who devoted 60 plus years of his life to that school; 60 plus years to coaching and mentoring young men.
For that I will very much mourn. In the end, Joe Paterno’s legacy may die at the hands of a man he trusted for over 30 years. It will not matter that he was neither the perpetrator of nor witness to these horrific events. He will be viewed as an enabler ostensibly because he was deemed to have not done enough to prevent it.
I hope and pray that is not the case. Not out of some misguided sense of loyalty to Paterno or Penn State mind you. I hope this because I simply do not want to believe a man who did so much good, a man who is literally the embodiment of Penn State University was in any way responsible for this.
Sadly with each passing news story my doubts grow stronger.
A lot will happen in the next few weeks, months, and years. I don’t think any of us can even begin to imagine the breadth of it. A University and its football program that has operated with unparalleled consistency for 45 some years will likely be torn apart brick by brick and rebuilt from scratch. It’s the only thing that can be done.
This is about more than that though. This is about the death of something I hold precious and dear in my heart. This is in some ways the death of a part of me. Call that over dramatization or extreme hyperbole if you like but it’s my truth. I doubt I’m alone amongst Penn State alumni.
This is a place that I love, my Alma mater; an institution that is rightfully an immense source of pride in my life. And it has suddenly become an object of nationwide scorn and ridicule. It’s about a school that has done so much for so many for so long being painted with a broad brush because of the heinous actions of a select few.
It’s about the words “for the glory of old state,” which have always meant so much to me now being used as a punch line.
And yes to some very small degree it’s about football. Understand that is the least important thing in this tragedy. At the same time it’s something that connects tens of thousands of alumni over five decades. I’ve always taken Penn State’s football history as a given. More than that, I took its future as a given. Now I’m not sure there is a future. I'm not sure I can even watch the Nebraska game this Saturday.
I would hope even the most cynical observers can understand how painful this is to us as alumni. So much so that I cannot read the endless barrage of news stories or even draft this blog without a tear in my eyes. I’m overwhelmed with so many conflicting emotions. And worst of all, I honestly don’t trust my own instincts and convictions to evaluate what's happening.
Like most PSU alums, I’m going through the four stages of grief on this. Right now I’m on the back edge of stage one, denial, at least in regards to JoePa. I want so much to believe he’s not the bad guy in this. I want to believe I will wake up tomorrow and find this was all just an awful nightmare.
The second stage is supposed to be anger but I fear that I’ll hit depression first. I’m not a trained psychologist so I honestly don’t know if you are required to hit these stages in order. I just know how I feel. I don’t foresee acceptance and hope in the near future, not on this issue.
I understand that some might read this and infer a lack of perspective on my part. I assure you this is not the case. I understand with absolute certainty here that the greatest victims are these children. And I can assure you my sadness and grief mirrors the magnitude of the event. Life offers far greater tragedies than the spiritual death of a university and the reputation of its football coach. Trust me I understand this.
That does not diminish my sadness today. Nowhere is it written that we cannot mourn a loss, simply because there are other losses of greater magnitude. Loss is loss, hurt is hurt. I can fully appreciate the gravity of Sandusky’s alleged offenses while mourning the collateral damage to my beloved Alma mater. Such emotions are not mutually exclusive.
The last 72 hours have been awful. I doubt the next few weeks, months, or even years will be much better. Honestly I don’t know what will transpire, but I know what has so far. It’s the end of the innocence in Happy Valley. Perhaps the end of my innocence as well
Sunday, November 7, 2010
A Simple Tribute to the Great Joe Paterno
When I arrived at Penn State in 1991, Joe Paterno was 65 years old and entering his 26th year as head coach. Even for the truly elite college coaches, that’s a career.
I remember feeling fortunate that Joe was still on the sidelines when I graduated 4 years later. I truly thought he might retire before I left.
That was 16 years ago.
I wonder how many Big 10 coaches have recruited players away from Penn State in those 16 years by telling them, “The old man will leave before you do.” I’m sure that many have and still do today. So think about this, JoePa is the only Big Ten head coach today who held the same title when I left Penn State.
There are certain accomplishments in sports that defy rationale explanation. I can say without hesitance that 400 wins in college football is one of them. It’s an accomplishment beyond comprehension. And it needs to be celebrated as such.
We can argue forever whether Joe has stuck around too long. Personally, I believe he has and said so last year. Alas, that’s an argument for another day. Today is a day to recognize and celebrate one of the truly great men in the history of sports.
As a Penn State alumnus, I feel a personal connection to Paterno. That makes me one of about half a million people who can say that same thing. As silly as it seems, Joe Paterno is Penn State.
I only met him once, a meeting that lasted about five seconds. I was walking south on campus on game day, Joe was walking north to the stadium. Think about that in and of itself. The legendary head coach was walking through the center of campus on game day just like every other student. I can’t imagine bumping in to Rich Rodriguez like that at Michigan.
Joe saw me, made eye contact and said “hello.” I said “good luck today coach.” He said “thank you.” It was a silly nothing moment; one that young freshmen will never forget.
When you see Joe Paterno on campus, you don’t feel like you met a legend. He’s just a nice guy from State College who happens to have coached the football team for 45 years. I’m not naïve enough to think that Joe does not have plenty of power; or that he does not use it to his advantage from time to time. So do most of the tenured professors
Again, this man has coached 45 years at Penn State won 400 games. I take great pride in my ability to express myself through words; yet I find my words are wholly inadequate to express the magnitude of this accomplishment.
I have actually read comments where people suggest he’s won that many games only because he hung around so long. Let’s consider the absurdity of that premise.
First, if it was so easy to last 45 years in coaching…at one school…there would be more than one man in the history of Division 1 football who has done it. Most coaches are happy to last five to ten years. In my lifetime, Pitt has never had a coach reach ten years on the job. If they don’t win enough they get fired. If they win too much they run to greener pastures or retire. We celebrate the likes of Nick Saban; even as he has bailed on three other programs.
Second, even if you argue that Joe has unparalleled job security, he earned it by averaging over 9 wins per season, for 45 years! That includes four undefeated seasons, two national champions (officially) and not a single losing season until the late 80s. And remember, this was not Bill Guthrie taking over a legendary North Carolina program from Dean Smith. Penn State was pretty much irrelevant in college football before JoePa arrived.
You could say that Joe built the Penn State program. I would say that Joe is the Penn State program.
I ate in the same dining hall as many of the football players. Everyone knew who they were. You could not miss Kyle Brady or Ki-Jana Carter on campus. They never acted like football stars; they acted like regular Penn State students. That’s what Joe demands of them. His players graduate at rates amongst the highest in division 1 football and for the most part comport themselves as good citizens. In comparison to the cesspool that often is major college football, the Nittany Lions are angels.
Again, I’m not naïve enough to pretend there have been no off the field issues. Joe can set and enforce rules but he can not force 95 college men to act perfectly all the time. No coach can, just as no parent can. That’s life.
And I’m sure that from time to time, Joe has allowed a star player more latitude than a back-up or regular student would get. I say that even though I remember Bobby Engram being suspended for his entire freshmen season and Curtis Enis and Joe Jeruvicious being suspended from a bowl game.
Joe Paterno is not perfect, as a person or coach. And we don’t ask him to be.
Still, how does Joe compare to Urban Meyer, whose players continually end up on the police blotter and then right back on the field. How does he compare to Tom Osborne who sold out all of his principles and beliefs to win a national championship, a championship that he stole from Paterno? How does he compare to Rodriguez or Pete Carroll?
This is a man who has never sold out his core principles, a man who never made football more than what it is. Yes I’m frustrated by what I consider the relative mediocrity of the program the last decade. And yet I’ll take that in a second over selling out Penn State principles to try and win another national championship.
Think again about those astonishing 400 wins. Now add 6 national championships. Joe has two but he could just as easily have six. This is a man who has presided over four undefeated teams that were denied a national title in college football’s mythical sham of a championship system. And people wonder why I hate the BCS so much?
The funny part is, I think the 1994 debacle bothers me more than it does Joe. I’m still bitter and angry about it to this day. I get the feeling Joe dealt with it and moved on. That may have been the greatest offense in college football history. They would have put up 50 on the Thug Huskers if given the chance. Sadly they never were.
Such is life I guess.
I’ve spent the last 16 years lamenting the national championship that was stolen from us my senior year. Joe Paterno has spent the last 16 years molding kids in to men. I wonder how many kids he’s effected; I wonder how many he’s been a father figure to. Honestly, the numbers are likely too staggering to contemplate.
Just like 400 wins.
Joe Paterno has spent his entire adult life at Penn State. He never left for more money, his dream job or the NFL. He has worked for far less money than most division 1 star coaches, and donated a great deal of it to the University. There are countless stories from regular students about some way Joe impacted their lives.
He does not brag about this; does not act holier than thou. He just lives his life the same way he has for nearly 60 years in Happy Valley.
He has two black marks against him; staying on a bit too long and playing some role in ending the Pitt and Penn State rivalry. If those are the two worst things we can say about this man in 45 years of coaching, that’s not too bad. It’s a lot better than, “reinstated a player who dragged his girlfriend down the steps by her hair.” Strictly hypothetical of course.
I know I’m biased here. I can’t help it. I’m a Nittany Lion through and through. I have no reservations in saying that Joe Paterno is one of the most remarkable human beings in the history of sports.
I’m not ashamed to say that I had tears in my eyes as I watched the man we affectionately call JoePa celebrate his 400th victory on Saturday. I’m guessing I was not alone in the Nittany Nation. It was an emotional day, the magnitude of which we may never fully appreciate.
I fervently believe that it is time for JoePa to retire. I know that its time for the program to move forward, that it needs an infusion of youth, vigor and new ideas. And yet even as I say that I can not imagine Penn State without him. Not just Penn State football, Penn State University. There are so few constants in this world. For 45 years, Joe Paterno on the Penn State sideline has been one of them.
I offer my heartfelt thanks and congratulations to Joseph Vincent Paterno on a remarkable accomplishment and a remarkable career. For the Glory….
I remember feeling fortunate that Joe was still on the sidelines when I graduated 4 years later. I truly thought he might retire before I left.
That was 16 years ago.
I wonder how many Big 10 coaches have recruited players away from Penn State in those 16 years by telling them, “The old man will leave before you do.” I’m sure that many have and still do today. So think about this, JoePa is the only Big Ten head coach today who held the same title when I left Penn State.
There are certain accomplishments in sports that defy rationale explanation. I can say without hesitance that 400 wins in college football is one of them. It’s an accomplishment beyond comprehension. And it needs to be celebrated as such.
We can argue forever whether Joe has stuck around too long. Personally, I believe he has and said so last year. Alas, that’s an argument for another day. Today is a day to recognize and celebrate one of the truly great men in the history of sports.
As a Penn State alumnus, I feel a personal connection to Paterno. That makes me one of about half a million people who can say that same thing. As silly as it seems, Joe Paterno is Penn State.
I only met him once, a meeting that lasted about five seconds. I was walking south on campus on game day, Joe was walking north to the stadium. Think about that in and of itself. The legendary head coach was walking through the center of campus on game day just like every other student. I can’t imagine bumping in to Rich Rodriguez like that at Michigan.
Joe saw me, made eye contact and said “hello.” I said “good luck today coach.” He said “thank you.” It was a silly nothing moment; one that young freshmen will never forget.
When you see Joe Paterno on campus, you don’t feel like you met a legend. He’s just a nice guy from State College who happens to have coached the football team for 45 years. I’m not naïve enough to think that Joe does not have plenty of power; or that he does not use it to his advantage from time to time. So do most of the tenured professors
Again, this man has coached 45 years at Penn State won 400 games. I take great pride in my ability to express myself through words; yet I find my words are wholly inadequate to express the magnitude of this accomplishment.
I have actually read comments where people suggest he’s won that many games only because he hung around so long. Let’s consider the absurdity of that premise.
First, if it was so easy to last 45 years in coaching…at one school…there would be more than one man in the history of Division 1 football who has done it. Most coaches are happy to last five to ten years. In my lifetime, Pitt has never had a coach reach ten years on the job. If they don’t win enough they get fired. If they win too much they run to greener pastures or retire. We celebrate the likes of Nick Saban; even as he has bailed on three other programs.
Second, even if you argue that Joe has unparalleled job security, he earned it by averaging over 9 wins per season, for 45 years! That includes four undefeated seasons, two national champions (officially) and not a single losing season until the late 80s. And remember, this was not Bill Guthrie taking over a legendary North Carolina program from Dean Smith. Penn State was pretty much irrelevant in college football before JoePa arrived.
You could say that Joe built the Penn State program. I would say that Joe is the Penn State program.
I ate in the same dining hall as many of the football players. Everyone knew who they were. You could not miss Kyle Brady or Ki-Jana Carter on campus. They never acted like football stars; they acted like regular Penn State students. That’s what Joe demands of them. His players graduate at rates amongst the highest in division 1 football and for the most part comport themselves as good citizens. In comparison to the cesspool that often is major college football, the Nittany Lions are angels.
Again, I’m not naïve enough to pretend there have been no off the field issues. Joe can set and enforce rules but he can not force 95 college men to act perfectly all the time. No coach can, just as no parent can. That’s life.
And I’m sure that from time to time, Joe has allowed a star player more latitude than a back-up or regular student would get. I say that even though I remember Bobby Engram being suspended for his entire freshmen season and Curtis Enis and Joe Jeruvicious being suspended from a bowl game.
Joe Paterno is not perfect, as a person or coach. And we don’t ask him to be.
Still, how does Joe compare to Urban Meyer, whose players continually end up on the police blotter and then right back on the field. How does he compare to Tom Osborne who sold out all of his principles and beliefs to win a national championship, a championship that he stole from Paterno? How does he compare to Rodriguez or Pete Carroll?
This is a man who has never sold out his core principles, a man who never made football more than what it is. Yes I’m frustrated by what I consider the relative mediocrity of the program the last decade. And yet I’ll take that in a second over selling out Penn State principles to try and win another national championship.
Think again about those astonishing 400 wins. Now add 6 national championships. Joe has two but he could just as easily have six. This is a man who has presided over four undefeated teams that were denied a national title in college football’s mythical sham of a championship system. And people wonder why I hate the BCS so much?
The funny part is, I think the 1994 debacle bothers me more than it does Joe. I’m still bitter and angry about it to this day. I get the feeling Joe dealt with it and moved on. That may have been the greatest offense in college football history. They would have put up 50 on the Thug Huskers if given the chance. Sadly they never were.
Such is life I guess.
I’ve spent the last 16 years lamenting the national championship that was stolen from us my senior year. Joe Paterno has spent the last 16 years molding kids in to men. I wonder how many kids he’s effected; I wonder how many he’s been a father figure to. Honestly, the numbers are likely too staggering to contemplate.
Just like 400 wins.
Joe Paterno has spent his entire adult life at Penn State. He never left for more money, his dream job or the NFL. He has worked for far less money than most division 1 star coaches, and donated a great deal of it to the University. There are countless stories from regular students about some way Joe impacted their lives.
He does not brag about this; does not act holier than thou. He just lives his life the same way he has for nearly 60 years in Happy Valley.
He has two black marks against him; staying on a bit too long and playing some role in ending the Pitt and Penn State rivalry. If those are the two worst things we can say about this man in 45 years of coaching, that’s not too bad. It’s a lot better than, “reinstated a player who dragged his girlfriend down the steps by her hair.” Strictly hypothetical of course.
I know I’m biased here. I can’t help it. I’m a Nittany Lion through and through. I have no reservations in saying that Joe Paterno is one of the most remarkable human beings in the history of sports.
I’m not ashamed to say that I had tears in my eyes as I watched the man we affectionately call JoePa celebrate his 400th victory on Saturday. I’m guessing I was not alone in the Nittany Nation. It was an emotional day, the magnitude of which we may never fully appreciate.
I fervently believe that it is time for JoePa to retire. I know that its time for the program to move forward, that it needs an infusion of youth, vigor and new ideas. And yet even as I say that I can not imagine Penn State without him. Not just Penn State football, Penn State University. There are so few constants in this world. For 45 years, Joe Paterno on the Penn State sideline has been one of them.
I offer my heartfelt thanks and congratulations to Joseph Vincent Paterno on a remarkable accomplishment and a remarkable career. For the Glory….
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