Who Wants To Defend Joe Paterno Now?

[TheFallenAsexual]

Joe Paterno, at the end, showed more interest in his legacy than Sandusky’s victims - The Washington Post

He knew boys were getting raped and he involved himself in a cover-up just to protect he and his institution's interests.

What an absolute scumbag!

There were a lot of folks here stupidly defending this guy before. (And yes, it was stupid to defend him even before this new info). I'd love what they have to say for themselves now.

[PreTTy PeTe]

edit.......sorry i will repost later

[racer2438]

Not I said the blind man..... trying to protect his/school image. instead of a defendless child.. Now with this report out the litigation will have a field day on the punitive damages. Cuz PS was put on notice when they started to hide it, that in it self will bring HUGE BUCKS.....

[FPNY]

Ummmmm, I'm a little tempted to post an excuse or two on his behlf, but I'm too ascarid.....

[TheFallenAsexual]

I would love to know what you think could excuse his behavior.

[Hard-up1]

I'm not sure Mr. Paterno knew the abuse was a certainty, but he had responsibility for the boys in the locus parentus that all teachers bear, and was accountable to exercise due diligence when charges were intimated.

The fact that he didn't behave responsibly is now appropriately impugning his reputation.

I'm no sports fan, so have no dog in the fight, but ALL of us as adults have the charge to protect the young. I have no sympathy for his legacy in light of the evidence that he seems to have chosen not to know what he could have learned.

It is sad that many young men may have put up with abuse in awe of the sports glory or in hopes of bettering their standing with Penn State's athletics.

[racer2438]

I'm not sure Mr. Paterno knew the abuse was a certainty, but he had responsibility for the boys in the locus parentus that all teachers bear, and was accountable to exercise due diligence when charges were intimated.

The fact that he didn't behave responsibly is now appropriately impugning his reputation.

I'm no sports fan, so have no dog in the fight, but ALL of us as adults have the charge to protect the young. I have no sympathy for his legacy in light of the evidence that he seems to have chosen not to know what he could have learned.

It is sad that many young men may have put up with abuse in awe of the sports glory or in hopes of bettering their standing with Penn State's athletics.

The report says that he had his hands in knee deep cover up.

and at the least, if he was not certain, he should have followed up and investigated what was going on in his locker room, and that many people talking about it, he could not have known. But the report clearly cast high knowledge of Joe knowing and personally covering/hindering the exposure of the abuse..

[FPNY]

I think I'd rather read the report itself. This reporter seems to answer a lot of her own IF questions with accusations.

[Hard-up1]

I think I'd rather read the report itself. This reporter seems to answer a lot of her own IF questions with accusations.

I don't have any interest in the case since it is not an institution I have any connection with, coupled with my complete detachment from sports, but I agree with you. The media buzz is more than annoying, not because it isn't news, but because their comments aren't newsworthy.

And to Racer's comment, we agree: Paterno is culpable, just not proven how much he actually believed abuse had actually occurred. That he covered up and prevented investigation and disclosure is undisputed. I won't be an easy one to portray as a defender of what happened -- just strict in the definition of what is proven concerning the dead man's knowledge.

[Vannie]

There is something about the Gary Schulz guy,that creeps me the hell out.Maybe I'm wrong but he makes my arm hair stand up.Sad story all around.Sounds like a lot of people kept quiet when so many incidents could have been prevented.Tells you something about the society we all live in these days.

[G-Lexington]

A few people I know immediately leapt to his defense when the charges first became public. Which in a sense ties in to "how could this happen, for such a long time?" The second it became public, a lot of people went on the defensive (and sometimes offensive). They didn't respond "Wow, let's find out what's happening, and what happened, and let justice be done". They said "Ain't no WAY this has anything to do with Penn State". Or "don't you dare fuck with Paterno". And that's from 2000 miles away, ostensibly away from the culture of the school. When people that far removed from it immediately try to fight the story that vehemently, I can picture how intense it may have been on and around campus.

Those people I know who actively supported him before? I don't hear them supporting him now. They may have gone and removed some Facebook posts for a few months ago, too. And sadly, I don't think it's because they've actually been convinced. But because they know, at some point, it's best to stop making your beliefs known. Many a loud homophobe at home would find himself tightlipped if he were to stumble into a "bear" bar.

Lex

[gsdx]

I would love to know what you think could excuse his behavior.

The same excuses used by the Catholic Church, I should think, except that the 'church' thing is a world-wide phenomenon and not limited to one school.

[Jack Springer]

Erase his name from everything at Penn State.

Make it like he never existed.

[TheFallenAsexual]

I don't have any interest in the case since it is not an institution I have any connection with, coupled with my complete detachment from sports, but I agree with you. The media buzz is more than annoying, not because it isn't news, but because their comments aren't newsworthy.

What on Earth does sports even have to do with this?

If you don't have an interest in the case, fine. A good way to not have interest would be to stop making excuses for the guy.

[roadtripboy]

The sad thing is...This could be happening at any University in America. The culture is centered around the sports program...football in particular...and nothing is allowed to tarnish it's image.

The University's public image will always come first. Educating and protecting people second.

[frankfrank]

My guess is that there are "a lot of Penn States" out there, as I write this.

[cgymike]

I think he knew what was going on but chose to say nothing.

[chrisrobin]

My favorite sport (for the time being) is college football, giving special attenton to the Big Ten. Of all the Big Ten programs I would have picked for the scandal, Penn State wouldn't have been my first choice. What bothers me more than anything is that an institution such as PSU would choose financial gain over the lives of children. All during his career, Joe Paterno stressed scholarship and graduation, in addition to integrity blah blah blah. In retrospect, it appears that all the sanctimony was bullshit.

For those non-fans, there is something called the "death penalty" where the offending school is severely punished. For five years, there is no football (all games are forfeited). No recruiting, no TV, no bowl eligibility (obviously). The last school that I can recall receiving the "death penalty" was SMU. (Southern Methodist University) All they did was violate recruiting regulations. This is not sufficient for what happened at Penn State. I don't know what would be.

This scandal is unprecidented in any sports, college or pro, so I have no idea what's going to happen. Judging from the nature of other scandals, I don't think it will ever go away - sad. PSU will be coming to Northwestern, my local Big Ten team. The way things work, the two teams that are playing split half the gate receipts. The Penn State game tickets are $50, $25 of which goes to them, but not MY $25. Not only were the children involved violated, but everyone connected with the university that has the attributes that Paterno preached about has been violated too!

[-Callum-]

Could have been worse...could have happened at UPenn.

[FPNY]

I've read the first hundred or so pages of the 265 page report. I see a lot of info being passed between Shulz, Curley and Spanier in emails, very little mention of Paterno. Seems to me that the three main players in any cover up are those three. The mention ofPaterno is someone saying he knows everything, but nobody so far has clarified what everything means. They have emails with specifics between the other three guys. I want to finish reading the report but it's time for cocktails, what with being Friday night and all..

I personally know three men who were accused pedophiles, two went to prison for long periods of time and one killed himself. It's amazing that in this day Sandusky was able to do this unimpeded.

Love yaz...

[Superboy69]

I like Penn State football. It has been a great team for a long time. But, I guess it's more accurate to say that I used to like it. Let's face it, Paterno and the Penn State officals let us down and they let the players down. They put their reputation and legacy ahead of the young kids who were abused. It time for a stong statement to come from the NCAA. Maybe the "death penalty" or a similar strong sanction is just what they need.

[Ninja108]

Paterno WAS the boss at Penn State. Yes the other three were in on the coverup but so was he. ANd I'm sorry,whatever legacy he had means jack to me.
You can list off all the people he helped..it won't outweigh all the children he and others allowed to be abused for the sake of a football program.

[backpacker]

I would understand the outrage against Paterno if we had any creditable evidence that he knew a boy was sexually abused, which we don't have. What we know for sure is that Mike McCreary says he saw a boy being raped in the showers and he left the boy with the rapist. He didn't come to the boy's aid, call the police or do anything that a normal adult would do. We know that McCreary went to see his dad, a doctor, immediately afterward and neither of them thought enough of the incident to immediately report it to anyone. The next day McCreary and his dad went to visit Joe Paterno. Whatever they told Paterno, he didn't think it was significant enough to contact his superiors on a Sunday, so he waited until Monday morning. We know that Paterno says he was told horse play was going on in the showers and that he wasn't told a boy was being sexually abused. We can choose to believe the word of a guy without enough character to help a boy being raped or we can choose to believe a guy who spent decades in the spotlight without any serious questions about his character until this incident. I'll take Paterno's word over McCreary's any day.

Remember that in 1998 Sandusky was investigated for taking a shower with a boy and the district attorney did not believe charges were warranted. The new incident probably appeared to be a similar type of situation to Paterno. I'm sure he didn't want people making a big deal out of what he probably believed to be nothing criminal. Poor judgment on his part,, it certainly wasn't criminal if that is what he believed. Paterno did report the incident to his superiors and they were the ones who had the legal responsibility to report suspected abuse. The question still remains as to whether they knew something criminal had occurred or if they believed it was simply a case of Sandusky doing something in appropriate. I can certainly see the emails that have been disclosed applying to either case. While other university officials were criminally charged, the district attorney made it clear that Paterno had done his legal duty.

Paterno did not tell McCreary not to tell anyone what he saw and try to keep it within the football team. He reported to his superiors and was instrumental in these superiors talking to McCreary. That doesn't sound like a guy trying to cover the whole thing up. I believe if Paterno knew what we now know as the results of months of investigation and a very public trial, his actions would have been different. There is a whole lot of Monday morning quarterbacking going on with the assumption that these guys knew what we know now. In order for that to be the case, we would have to believe McCreary. That's something I'm not willing to do when the guy is obviously devoid of all moral character. Let's face it, the only reason he didn't immediately report the incident if it happened the way he says, is that he thought it would benefit him personally not to report it. We also know that McCreary's dad is a doctor and didn't report whatever he was told. We can only assume from that either he wasn't told of anything that required reporting or that he thought not reporting it would help his son. Would his dad really risk his medical license and let a rapist go free, just because it may help his son's career? It seems more likely that he didn't know the extent of what his son now says happened. If McCreary didn't tell everything to his dad, why would we expect that he told everything to Paterno or other university officials.

Where is all the outrage for this McCreary's actions of leaving a boy in the hands of his rapist? The only reporting I hear about this guy is positive. Next to Sandusky, he his actions were the most reprehensible of anyone in this case.

[pat grimshaw]

I've read the first hundred or so pages of the 265 page report. I see a lot of info being passed between Shulz, Curley and Spanier in emails, very little mention of Paterno. ...

Have you come across any more evidence yet?

[lucky7]

He's beyond defense.

If there is a hell (which I don't believe), I think Joe is regretting his decisions there now.

[Hard-up1]

What on Earth does sports even have to do with this?

Sports has everything to do with this. Paterno's reputation and legacy wasn't built up from his donations to charity, his sacrificial service teaching in a slum, or his discovery of an alternative energy source: it's because we worship athletic heroes in a culture that is male-centric and power-crazed.

As to his guilt or innocence, I have no defense to make for him, as I don't know what he knew, but I do know that the burden of proof is on the accusers, and nothing that has come to light has pointed to Paterno beyond the shadow of a doubt.

[lucky7]

Sports has everything to do with this. Paterno's reputation and legacy wasn't built up from his donations to charity, his sacrificial service teaching in a slum, or his discovery of an alternative energy source: it's because we worship athletic heroes in a culture that is male-centric and power-crazed.

As to his guilt or innocence, I have no defense to make for him, as I don't know what he knew, but I do know that the burden of proof is on the accusers, and nothing that has come to light has pointed to Paterno beyond the shadow of a doubt.

Seriously? Seriously??

What evidence has been insufficient for you. All the reports that have come out have said Joe Paterno knew of Sandusky's acts and did nothing.. he let the man use his facilities for years. He pretty much facilitated the molestation of young children.

[Hard-up1]

Seriously. No one has yet quoted any testimony that proved he knew. It's all imputed.

I've seen frenzies and rushes to judgment surrounding cases like this. There isn't any use of critical thinking skills, just mob mentality.

On the other hand, there is absolute proof that McCreary knew and walked away. Unforgivable that.

Seriously.

[lucky7]

Seriously. No one has yet quoted any testimony that proved he knew. It's all imputed.

I've seen frenzies and rushes to judgment surrounding cases like this. There isn't any use of critical thinking skills, just mob mentality.

Seriously.

So why don't you believe the Freeh report? Do you really believe there was an ulterior motive to accuse Joe Paterno?

[Hard-up1]

So why don't you believe the Freeh report? Do you really believe there was an ulterior motive to accuse Joe Paterno?

There is a difference between finding Paterno accountable and responsible, and establishing how much he knew.

I don't have any opinion about whether there is any motive like scapegoating at work.

And, the death of Paterno is a limiting factor in fact-finding.

[lucky7]

There is a difference between finding Paterno accountable and responsible, and establishing how much he knew.

I don't have any opinion about whether there is any motive like scapegoating at work.

And, the death of Paterno is a limiting factor in fact-finding.

How much he knew? Even though the Freeh report goes into further detail, I don't care if he only knew about the incident McCreary spoke of. At that point, I would get to the bottom of it and have it reported. Anything less than that is heinous.

[johaninsc]

I wonder how long it will be before the remove his statue

[roadtripboy]

How much he knew? Even though the Freeh report goes into further detail, I don't care if he only knew about the incident McCreary spoke of. At that point, I would get to the bottom of it and have it reported. Anything less than that is heinous.

I 100% agree.

[tombastep]

I wonder how long it will be before the remove his statue

Hopefully soon.

[mikey3000]

Where is all the outrage for this McCreary's actions of leaving a boy in the hands of his rapist? The only reporting I hear about this guy is positive. Next to Sandusky, he his actions were the most reprehensible of anyone in this case.

This^^^!!!

He should have stopped the assault, rescued the child to a safe location and called the police. Immediately! End of story.

[pat grimshaw]

…it's because we worship athletic heroes in a culture that is male-centric and power-crazed…

Well some foolish people must be worshipping this man if they construct this truly bizarre and inappropriate graven image to this university employee.

The Martin Luther King statue was kinda creepy but making a graven idol of a living man seems insane to my Protestant way of thinking.

[GiancarloC]

Some will put sports over the livelihood of people, and in this case children. It's all disturbing. Some don't want their legend coach's name tainted just because of some immaterial sex abuse scandal involving dozens of children (I'm being sarcastic here). He could have known about just one victim, and by not reporting it to the LOCAL POLICE (notcampus authorities) and DISTRICT ATTORNEY (if necessary) that is enough for me to call him a f-king scumbag.

[backpacker]

So why don't you believe the Freeh report? Do you really believe there was an ulterior motive to accuse Joe Paterno?

What I know of the Freeh report says that Joe was involved with how to handle the information from McCreary. People jump to the conclusion that it was a cover up to protect Sandusky and the University based on what McCreary testified to in court. There is no proof that these people were told a kid was being sexually abused. Paterno said he was told their was horseplay happening in the shower. Horseplay and sexual abuse are two different matters. Essentially it comes down to the word of several men against one of a guy who did nothing to come to the aid of a boy being raped (by his own account). I wouldn't believe anything McCreary said if his tongue came notarized. The guy is completely devoid of any moral fiber.

[lucky7]

What I know of the Freeh report says that Joe was involved with how to handle the information from McCreary. People jump to the conclusion that it was a cover up to protect Sandusky and the University based on what McCreary testified to in court. There is no proof that these people were told a kid was being sexually abused. Paterno said he was told their was horseplay happening in the shower. Horseplay and sexual abuse are two different matters. Essentially it comes down to the word of several men against one of a guy who did nothing to come to the aid of a boy being raped (by his own account). I wouldn't believe anything McCreary said if his tongue came notarized. The guy is completely devoid of any moral fiber.

From what I've seen in the reports, there was going to be a decision made to report it and after consultation with Joe, that decision was changed.
Horseplay with a child and a grown-ass man in the shower is more than enough to question or report.

Btw, McCreary and others held Joe and Sandusky up as SACRED. I think people are forgetting this. McCreary went to the most powerful man on campus and that man did nothing.

[pat grimshaw]

… SACRED…

That's foolish. The word 'sacred' means 'holy…considered worthy of spiritual respect or devotion; or inspiring awe or reverence among believers in a given set of spiritual ideas'.

[ibill1]

Why is anyone surprised by any of this? We pay someone 12 million to throw a ball down the field, and 30,000 to teach our young children. Face it, our society is so f**ked up and ass backwards. People will do unspeakable things for the almighty dollar. It's simple, win and make money at all cost, period.

[slutbot]

It bothers me that people are so quick to blame Paterno, especially since he is dead and cannot answer the FORMER FBI director's assertions. It's all speculation and the usual blame game.

I wish the do-gooders and holier-than-thou's would express the same outrage, anger, and indignation with the one and only Pope Benedict XVI (Jozef Ratzinger) and his church who are ultimately responsible for the sexual abuse of thousands of minors worldwide.

I don't hear anyone clamoring to shut down the Catholic church or remove any public statues......sounds quite hypocritical.

[johaninsc]

...
....I wish the do-gooders and holier-than-thou's would express the same outrage, anger, and indignation with the one and only Pope Benedict XVI (Jozef Ratzinger) and his church who are ultimately responsible for the sexual abuse of thousands of minors worldwide.

I don't hear anyone clamoring to shut down the Catholic church or remove any public statues......sounds quite hypocritical.

maybe you haven't came across those posts yet..there have been many on that subject

a few from me too

[roadtripboy]

No love lost here for the Nazi Pope.

[refujiunderground]

i'm surprised that anybody would defend him in the first place when it was already stated many times prior before this that he knew about it, even saw one of the incidents take place and pretty much ignored it instead of taking it to the authorities. it wasn't just him alone that knew about it. too many pedophiles out here and the kids are the ones that are getting fucked over because no one is protecting them.

[pat grimshaw]

Why is anyone surprised by any of this? We pay someone 12 million to throw a ball down the field, and 30,000 to teach our young children. Face it, our society is so f**ked up and ass backwards. People will do unspeakable things for the almighty dollar. It's simple, win and make money at all cost, period.

Yes! 90% of 'sports stars' are morons so why should any person think this old paterno guy is any different from the morons he deals with?

[TheFallenAsexual]

^He didn't see an incident, Mike McQueary did.

[Telstra]

There is something about the Gary Schulz guy,that creeps me the hell out.Maybe I'm wrong but he makes my arm hair stand up.Sad story all around.Sounds like a lot of people kept quiet when so many incidents could have been prevented.Tells you something about the society we all live in these days.

just googled him. Is it because of his funny Jaw and eyes ?
Yeah i can he is an un-good looking guy

[Telstra]

Anyway, adults who love kids too too much is a warning sign including family, friends and scout leaders ... etc.

[Yves]

Penn State takes down Paterno Statue.

Penn State Removes Paterno Statue
Jennifer Preston
The New York Times, July 22, 2012

The president of Penn State announced on Sunday that the statue of the late Joe Paterno, the university’s football coach for 46 years, would be removed because it would be a “recurring wound to the multitude of individuals across the nation and beyond who have been the victims of child abuse.”

Statement:
Penn State Removes Joe Paterno Statue - NYTimes.com