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.
When mortal human beings begin attaching labels like “Incomperable,” “Legendary,” and other terminology that places any single human being on a perceived pedestal, it places that human being so high that no other mortal can reach up to touch them. They are, for all intents and purposes, impervious to the same rules and expectations as us underlings.
This scandal, the facts, and the implications have all dragged each and every hard-earned and credible degree through a stinking cesspool, and it was all for the sake of money and reputation. Each of the 500,000 living alumni should feel outrage and fury that one man’s CRIMES were tolerated and enabled for the sake of money.
The victims will never be “restored,” at any price. A boy child who endures being sodomized is forever damaged, and this simple fact should enrage every feeling human being across the nation.
Legendary? No….just human. It’s going to take a long, long time to rebuild what Sanspathsky and all who enabled his perversions destroyed.
And, why are alumni angry at people who are speaking truthfully about Sanspathsky’s crimes and those who enabled him to continue – CONTINUE – to irreversibly damage children?
I wonder how many other institutions are going to be hit by the Domino Effect – religious institutions, universities, and the whole lot….I just have to wonder.
Hens, either that, or amend them in some way. I don’t know how, but this is what I was saying, above: put a human being on a pedestal while they are still alive, and it’s open season for them to be named a god.
Remove him from that mural.
It’s disgusting to see so much fawning over a football coach.
It’s a GAME. What is wrong with people?
Bread and Circus.
so, I am a victim of child sexual abuse…so many people turned their heads and did nothing, the abuser’s where never punished,, but I have been punished my whole life, you never heal from that..
just like being with a sociopath, you dont know what I am talkin about unless you have also walked down that road, same with childhood sexual abuse…all the football fanatics that admire him have no ideal why some of us are outraged..i hate football, politics and organized religion.
Hens, I am SO sorry that you were viciously victimized. I truly am, and I have no concept of what those events did to you – I can only imagine.
“Outraged?” I don’t know how you can even contain yourself on this topic, really.
Healing blessings to you…..
The only thing that I can imagine with regard to the torment of victims of child molestation is what I endured with the first exspath when he committed spousal rape. I cannot, in my wildest nightmares, imagine the physical and emotional torture that innocent children endure at the hands oftheir predators, I just can not. It’s too much for me to comprehend. And, to have even their own parents ignore their traumas because the adults who are supposed to protect them refuse to take action for fear of tarnishing the reputation of someone that started a Foundation for children is the ULTIMATE in betrayals.
Oh, my……it’s just too much for me to process.
yes, to much to process, so I didnt for 50 years, meanwhile I became a dysfunctional person with very low self esteem and have dealt with my own sexual addictions. Am I angry? no, to late for that..the abusers are dead or avoid me. But believe me I understand why young children that have been abused have very hard lives ahead of them. It wasnt a vicious attack truthspeak, those kind of molesters are usually dealt with, it’s the Jerry Sanduskys and the good ole priest or preacher or teacher, the loving parent that destroy a young kids spirit.
{{{{Hens}}}} In my mind, it is a “vicious” attack simply because they use love, trust, and power to perpetrate their crimes. It is a child’s spirit, as you mentioned, that is utterly ground into dust. That part of them is murdered, and I just can’t imagine it.
There is no curse or fate that would remedy what I feel victims have suffered.
I think that they should TEAR DOWN the FOOT BALL PROGRAM and focus on teaching ethics….I’m serious, I think the entire foot ball program should be STOPPED…but that will never happen…the PUBLIC wants their “games” more than they want kids getting an education or ethical
I lost my virginity on the kitchen table in my church’s basement when I was raped there by the minister. I was 14 and he had groomed me during our confirmation classes.
I turned to him to ask him to get my mother to stop beating me.
Who was I going to turn to for help after that? I blanked the incident out of my mind for years. Even to this day, I cannot remember everything, but I remember enough.
The sexual abuse therapist told me, based on what I could remember, that the minister was particularly sadistic.
To this day, I have difficulty saying the Lord’s Prayer because I keep blanking out on the words. I used to shake almost uncontrollably when it was said. Tears would fill my eyes. I wanted to vomit.
I told my church, which told the Synod. They did nothing except publicly honor this minister for his years of service.
I used to get sexually aroused sitting in a church pew not knowing why. I cannot go into a church anymore and feel comfortable.
Skylar posted about the sweet financial deal Paterno obtained before the end of 2011.
This is frigging integrity?
What made this man a god is not the question. He isn’t a god. No mortal is. It’s who made this man a god that is the question, and it is the people who believed what they wanted to believe and bought the spin.
Don’t want to get into this fray? Why not? What’s holding the fencesitters back? What more proof do you want or need?