The scandal that has rocked the Penn State university campus over the last few days has little to do with long-time head coach Joe Paterno, but he has to pay a price for this happening under his watch.
Former defensive coordinator Jerry Sandusky was a rogue degenerate in this matter, but enough people knew of his actions for them to be stopped before more innocent children were harmed.
When Joe Paterno found out from one of his graduate assistants that Sandusky was involved in vile sexual relations with a child, he did what the letter of the law says and reported it to the people in charge of the school.
In that sense Joe Paterno did exactly what he was supposed to.
The problem here is more of a question of what is right and wrong on a moral level.
With the Penn State program and Joe Paterno holding such a grip on what it is to be the old-school mentality personified, everything that Paterno worked for his entire career has been tainted by the actions of one man.
This is all Jerry Sandusky’s fault, but Paterno can’t claim to have no blood on his hands in this case. Pleading ignorance only exposes your true mental capacity.
The dismissal of the athletic director Tim Curry and vice president Gary Schultz as well as their indictment showed the men didn’t act in the proper manner when addressing the issues of the alleged rapes.
As soon as Paterno realized that the program was not going to do something about the incident, he should have made it his priority to inform the authorities himself.
This is not the way that Joe Paterno wanted his tenure as arguably the greatest college football coach of all time to be remembered, but sometimes you’re dealt a hand you didn’t count on.
For the victims, fans and PSU’s future, every name tied to this case needs to be removed from power and the school needs a clean slate.
*All facts from Grand Jury Indictment
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