Joe Paterno, the legendary Penn State football coach, has died.
I can’t help but wonder if the travesty of the last few months, with his former assistant coach, Jerry Sandusky, being charged with sexually molesting 10 young boys over 15 years, killed him.
I’m not an alumna of Penn State. (I am, however, an alumna of Syracuse University, with its own scandal of an assistant basketball coach allegedly molesting boys.) Still, I hate to see the storied career of Joe Paterno forever blackened by the malevolent behavior of one man, if that proves to be the case.
Some people argue that Paterno had to know what was going on. They argue that Paterno was so concerned about his legacy, the reputation of his football program and Penn State University, that he was willing to turn a blind eye to the behavior of Jerry Sandusky.
I’m not so sure.
Since the scandal broke in November, Joe Paterno has given only one interview, to Sally Jenkins of the Washington Post. The story was published on January 14, 2012. It characterizes Joe Paterno as unable to comprehend what Sandusky may have done, because it was simply too foreign to the way Paterno himself lived his life. Jenkins writes:
He reiterated that McQueary was unclear with him about the nature of what he saw and added that even if McQueary had been more graphic, he’s not sure he would have comprehended it.
“You know, he didn’t want to get specific,” Paterno said. “And to be frank with you I don’t know that it would have done any good, because I never heard of, of, rape and a man. So I just did what I thought was best. I talked to people that I thought would be, if there was a problem, that would be following up on it.”
Is it possible to be that unaware of the existence of evil? Yes, it is, and we all know it.
While I was uninitiated, meaning, before my direct, personal encounter with a social predator, I never in my wildest dreams thought that I would cross paths with evil. I didn’t know that someone who appeared to be so loving and caring could have a hidden agenda. I lived a life of integrity, and I believed that the people who were part of my life were like me.
But, some may argue, sex abuse of children has been in the news for years—look at the stories about the Catholic Church. Well, my cousin was abused by priests. He received financial compensation many years ago—it was probably one of the first cases to be settled. I heard people in my family talking about it. Still, I did not comprehend what he must have experienced.
I didn’t understand the human capacity for manipulation and evil until it happened to me.
So, yes, I can believe that Joe Paterno was clueless. He grew up in a different era, when although the sexual abuse of children probably occurred, it certainly wasn’t talked about. He was inspired by his father. He believed in education. He believed in turning troubled athletes around. His whole life was about winning with integrity.
So for Paterno to realize, at this late stage of his life, that he may have been hoodwinked by someone so close to him must have been a terrible shock. It probably didn’t cause his lung cancer. But it may have sapped Paterno’s strength to fight it.
Read Joe Paterno’s last interview, on WashingtonPost.com.
OxD, you’re absolutely right about anyone slipping a cog and going off the deep end. I sure as hell did! I didn’t kill anyone, but I had a violent reaction and was 100% wrong, and I knew that I needed to get some counseling to address WHY I reacted that way so that it never happens, again. Of course, this was BEFORE I learned about the financial fraud…….good thing, I guess.
Perhaps, because of my “shame” for having reacted the way that I did, I cannot even look at photo evidence of horrific crimes like Nanking, at all. My stomach literally turns over.
I will say that I have forgiven myself through counseling and reconciled my reaction with logic. Even my counselor referred to the movie, “Chicago,” when all of the jailed women were singing, “He Had It Coming (?)” She actually asked me the last time I had a session, “Well, don’t you kinda think he had it coming, Truthspeak?”
What kind of monster must the exspath be if a counselor excuses a physical attack upon someone?!?! Wow….puts THAT into some perspective…..I digress….
Chicago. 🙂
A letter written by Paterno in December 2011 says that the football program at Penn State has been one of integrity for decades.
Methinks he needed to learn how to make all the connections.
The text of his letter is below.
http://espn.go.com/espnw/college-sports/8157919/penn-state-nittany-lions-text-joe-paterno-letter-december-2011
Very interesting letter. It belongs in the dictionary under: Cog/Diss.
Sandusky’s victims were sacrificed in the name of protecting a GAME. It’s a stupid GAME. a meaningless GAME.
And he pretends this is the first such incident, when in fact, the problem of double standards for football players was a major problem outside of this scandal. In fact, (knowing how spaths think because mine is this way too) Sandusky used the authority of the powerful people at Penn State to cover his ass. They all do this. By sliming the people in authority, he thought (correctly) that they would cover his ass if anything ever was disclosed — they had to or else risk going down too. THAT’S WHY MY SPATH USES COPS TO DO HIS DIRTY WORK, BECAUSE NOBODY COMES TOGETHER MORE TIGHTLY THAN COPS AND OTHER AUTHORITY FIGURES TO UPHOLD THE STATUS QUO. THEY DON’T WANT TO LOSE POWER.
By compartmentalizing, Paterno can say that this had nothing to do with football. True, it didn’t start out that way, it was just a spath raping children. But spaths know they need the mantle of authority to get away with murder and they will ensnare those who value their positions more than anything else. Those in authority begin to identify with their power. They don’t want to lose it or they lose their identity, their BEING. Spaths know all about that, they know it intuitively.
The entire letter is a narcissist’s desperate attempt to convince himself of what he believes. He mentions “pride”, “shame”, “besmirching”. It’s all about shame and slime.
Paterno went to his death unable to come out of the fog of narcissism, too bad. Those of us who have time to process our encounters with spaths are the lucky ones.
Skylar,
Joe Paterno was beloved to us all at Penn State. He stood for the integrity that he wrote about.
Centre County, is not a sophisticated place. If you’d ever been there, you could relate to the experience of going back in time the better part of 100 years. Just a little way out of town there are still villages tucked away in the Nittany Mountains with onion Dome church towers and the signs all in Cyrillic. Until you get to Harrisburg or Pittsburgh there aren’t cities and very few towns. Its a pretty isolated part of the world. So, I think sadly, we have to comprehend the smallness and simpleness of Happy Valley and how the idea of what Jerry Sandusky was and what he did was unfathomable in that context. Was it unbelievable?
To those of us who were ever there- yes. Unbelievable.
Joe Paterno was a great football coach. He did not allow his teams to win by huge margins to defeat the spirit of the opposing team, It was his way.
And his way influenced an entire, major University. We all shared the pride in that football team. And we went to the games whether we were really into football or not.
It was Penn State.
Joe is correct in saying PSU is a great university and much more than a football program. All of us who are Penn State know that.
And we were all betrayed. Joe Paterno the worst of all.
I don’t think Paterno ever really “got it” and that Sandusky lied to him. He did take it up the chain of command. He didn’t do enough to make it stop.
The Catholic Church was still able to get away with in those days too. The world, thank GOD, has turned since then to a position of punishing whoever molests children no matter who they are. That position legally and socially has been hard fought.
That does not in anyway excuse the failure of the administration at the University to act swiftly and decisively when it all came up the first time. It should all have come to an immediate end years ago. But it didn’t.
And the result is travesty.
Utter travesty.
Jerry Sandusky can’t burn in hell for eternity long enough to satisfy how people feel about what he did.
But Joe wasn’t wrong to write about the Lion’s Pride. We are all proud of our University. It is much more than a football team. And Joe Pa’s letter was about what he believed, how he lived and how he played the game.
The value of integrity is an important one to our entire community. It was what we believed Joe Paterno embodied and lived as an example.
It wasn’t in the end about the game. It was in fact about the donations. And the tradition of giving and supporting the university by alumni.
The community is badly shaken but not broken. Joe was right, Penn State has a lot more than just the football program. It is indeed a great University.
And a great community.
WE ARE PENN STATE.
“Joe Paterno was beloved to us all at Penn State. He stood for the integrity that he wrote about.”
silvermoon;
When faced with the biggest test of his integrity, Joe Paterno failed. He put an associate and the institution ahead of victimized children.
If he was truly a man of integrity, Sandusky would have been stopped years ago.
I agree with Blue Eye 1 million percent.
“For over 40 years young men have come to Penn State with the idea that they were going to do something different-they were coming to a place where they would be expected to compete at the highest levels of college football and challenged to get a degree.”
I bet that was sold to the kids that Sandusky abused. What a betrayal.
“Penn Staters know we are a world class University. We can recite with pride the ranks of our academic programs and the successes of our graduates. Penn Staters (and employers) know what we are and the quality of our education. Nothing that has been alleged in any way implicates that reputation; rather, it is only the inexplicable comments of our own administration doing so.
“It must stop. This is not a football scandal and should not be treated as one. It is not an academic scandal and does not in any way tarnish the hard earned and well-deserved academic reputation of Penn State. That Penn State officials would suggest otherwise is a disservice to every one of the over 500,000 living alumni.”
I am close to shaking on that one. Not one single word about the damage done to the children, their parents, their siblings, or their future lives. NOTHING. He “sacrificed” those kids because he perceived a greater good? Seriously?
If I am reading that correctly, it is OK to overlook the abuse because Penn State’s done such great things and so much good otherwise. When did Joe Paterno get authorized to determine how many kids it was OK to abuse if that what’s keeps his staff happy?
This is not integrity. This man has no right to defend it and he most definitely did not have a right to claim it.
Silvermoon, maybe you’re thinking of pride. That is simply an emotion. Integrity is based on facts and actions.
I don’t mean to be offensive, but seriously, consider what it is that you are taking pride in.
That the whole school, its alumni, and its reputation have been damaged to this degree is not a “poor us, the world is so unfair situation.” or “Be fair. It’s such a lovely place. We love the man.”
They are the degrees of harm done by these people.
What are we supposed to understand? How “besmirched” that cherished community has become? It sounds like Penn State got conned.
Why would you, and how could you, love a man like that knowing what he was like behind closed doors and where he failed outrageously when a true test of his character was faced? What is it? He wasn’t callous enough for you?
People with integrity would have recognized the harm that turning a blind eye would cause. People with integrity would never, even have let minor children been sexually abused by an adult.
I saw a political cartoon today that showed a red-haired man, dressed in a Penn State t-shirt with a towel over his shoulder, standing next to a tile wall with a shower curtain.
A voice coming from behind the curtain was saying, “Oh yeah, little boy, do as I say. Yeahhh…”
The red-haired man was looking troubled.
The cartoon’s caption asked, “Q. What’s the difference between a child rapist and someone who is witnessing the act and doesn’t intervene? A. 15 feet.”
http://www.cagle.com/news/Penn-State-Coverup/page/3/?utm_source=daily&utm_medium=newsletter&utm_content=feature&utm_campaign=071212
Don’t speak to me about integrity.
My son informed me this evening that Penn State is going to tear down the showers and locker rooms where the abuse occurred and build something new in their place. I replied, “That’s a start.”
Well, I’m not entering into this fray….but, Hi Silvermoon. Nice to see you. I miss your poetic insight and always remember your gift to me of the song, by Uncle Walty. 🙂
Hope life is treating you well, and you are content and at peace.
Kim, ditto that! For what it’s worth, I used to believe that the exspath had “integrity” because he SAID so, either by word or implication. So the cog/diss runs in high-gear when I learned otherwise.
Definitely good to “see” you, Silvermoon!
they should also tear down all statues of paterno