Ever since the child sex scandal involving former Penn State defensive coordinator Jerry Sandusky broke back in November, former head coach Joe Paterno has been under fire. The legend was soon fired and passed away from complications due to lung cancer in January. Now a lasting symbol of him on the Penn State campus is in jeopardy.
According to Kimberly Jones of the NFL Network, a Penn State alum, plans call for Penn State University to remove the statue of Paterno from its campus this weekend. This comes on the heels of the release of a report by Louis Freeh that outlines the neglect of Paterno and other officials to report Sandusky’s wrongdoings.
UPDATE: July 20, 11:52 AM EST
Well, it appears that the statue may not be coming down after all. According to a statement from Penn State spokesman Dave LaTorre (via StateCollege.com reporter Laura Nichols), there has been no official word as to the fate of the statue that sits outside of the football stadium.
Penn State spokesman Dave La Torre: “I’m not aware of any decision being made,” regarding the Joe Paterno statue.
— Laura Nichols (@LC_Nichols) July 20, 2012
At this stage, it’s unclear whether or not a decision has actually been made regarding the fate of Paterno’s statue, as university officials have yet to confirm reports.
Paterno was the head man at Penn State for 46 years and had the reputation of somebody who would do anything for his players and the university. That all changed in a matter of days once the Sandusky situation came to light, and now many college football fans and Penn State alums have turned their collective backs on Paterno.
Nobody will ever know for sure how much Paterno knew about Sandusky and when he found out. But he was considered one of the most powerful figures at Penn State and failed to alert the authorities or address Sandusky in a proper manner regarding the scandal, according to the Freeh report.
As soon as the report was released, there were calls from countless people to get rid of the Paterno statue because of his inaction. There hasn’t been much progress over the past week in that area, but it appears as though Penn State is ready to move on and put a very dark chapter in its history in the past.
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