A legacy, which seemed untouchable, has now took a 180-degree turn. Joe Paterno has been well known for being one of the best coaches College Football has ever seen. A man, who has had one of the highest graduation rates among former and active college football coaches, will not be remember as that. Joe Paterno never broke any major NCAA-violations during his 46-year tenure as the Penn State Head Coach. Which, has been rare in the last quarter-century, when we have seen USC, Miami, Ohio State, and many other top programs break numerous NCAA-violations. He has donated millions and millions of dollars to the University of Penn State to help hundreds of thousands of young adults to get the best education possible. He has more wins than any other Head Coach in the history of Division-1 Football. Yet, he will simply be remembered as not going to authorities to report an incident that occurred with former Defensive Coordinator, Jerry Sandusky, and an innocent, young boy. He did what he was suppose to do when he heard about these incidents, he told the people above him at Penn State. Shockingly, Tim Curley, the Athletic Director, and Gary Schultz, the school Vice President, did not do anything when Joe Paterno told them what Mike McQueary had told Paterno in 2002. However, Joe Paterno is the man to blame in many peoples' eyes. I understand Joe Paterno is Penn State football, and he could have made a moral decision to go to authorities. However, he was unsure of exactly what went down, and he told the people above him at the University that are responsible to act on these allegations. If these reports could have been false, then Joe Paterno could have been in trouble with the law with reporting false information. He did what he was suppose to do and told the Athletic Director and the Senior Vice President of Penn State University. Yet, they put what Joe Paterno told them under the rug, and were more concerned about the name of the University, and not these innocent children. The three people that should take blame in the most severe scandal in the history of sports are: Jerry Sandusky, Tim Curley, and Gary Schultz. But, the two men that could have ended this before this 2002 incident were Centre County District Attorney Ray Gricer and Detective Ronald Schreffler.
In 1998, campus police and local law enforcement authorities investigated an allegation that Defensive Coordinator Jerry Sandusky, had engaged in inappropriate and perhaps sexual conduct with two boys in the football facility's showers. A lengthy police report was filed, the two boys were interviewed along with their parents, and even Jerry Sandusky admitted to showering with these boys. Yet, District Attorney, Ray Gricer, did not prosecute Sandusky. Ronald Schreffler, the lead detective in this case, did not do what he should have done in this case. He should have done a better job of making sure Jerry Sandusky was charged, and yet all Schreffler told Sandusky was to not shower with boys anymore. The only thing that resulted in this case was what Schreffler told Sandusky and he was forced to resign as the Defensive Coordinator at Penn State. This is when this could have ended. There could have been a countless number of young boys saved from this horrific act by a sick old man. Nobody is talking about this issue, and yet, Joe Paterno is the man to blame in peoples' eyes. We are talking about people that work for our law enforcement that knew Sandusky was showering with young boys, and yet all they did was tell him not to shower with young boys. Are you kidding me! You should never even have to say this to anybody, and it was treated like this was something that was normal in society. Jerry Sandusky should have been behind bars at this point. If this would have been a regular guy he would have been prosecuted hands down! Yet, Jerry Sandusky was a well-known figure in Pennsylvania, regarded as being one of the top Defensive Coordinators in the nation, and this played a huge roll. DA Ray Gricer made the worst decision possible. He put football above children, which is NOT ACCEPTABLE!! He did not want to be the guy who prosecuted a well-known figure, and allowed this sick old man to keep preying on young, innocent boys. This should have been over with in 1998, and who knows how many boys would have been saved from Jerry Sandusky.
Yet, people are still putting all the blame on Joe Paterno. No one is saying anything about current Penn State Wide-Receivers Coach, Mike McQueary. He was the guy who actually saw Jerry Sandusky with his own eyes in the shower with a young boy, and he turned around and walked out. Put yourself in this situation, how could someone make a moral decision to turn around and leave. This is where he should have went into the shower and beat Jerry Sandusky's ass and then dragged him to the police. Yet, all he did was go tell Joe Paterno that he saw some inappropriate behavior with Jerry Sandusky and a young boy in the shower. Nobody knows exactly what McQueary actually told Joe Paterno. Yet, we are all jumping to conclusion that Joe Paterno knew everything that went on in the shower, when in reality we have no clue what he was told. Still, Joe Paterno did what he should have done. He told the two people above him about what he heard from McQueary, and yet the AD, Tim Curley, and the School VP, Gary Schultz, did absolutely nothing. These two men, should be held just as responsible as Jerry Sandusky, because they could have stopped any other potential young boys from getting sexually abused after 2002. All they had to do was report these incidents to authorities and let authorities take it from there. A few days after McQueary told Joe Paterno about the incident, McQueary told both the AD, and the Senior VP, what he told Joe Paterno, and yet they still did nothing. I understand Joe Paterno could have done more and call authorities, but his job is to coach Penn State. He did what he should have by telling both the AD, and the Senior VP, it was their job to tell authorities. They are responsible for dealing with off the field situations that involve anyone involved with the athletics of Penn State, and they put this information in their back pocket. This is a horrific tragedy that could have been over in 1998 and in 2002, and it continued well beyond after that because the people who could have ended this, did not act appropriately.
On Wednesday night, Joe Paterno received a call from one of the members of the Board of Trustee and was told he was fired. Joe Paterno, a coaching legend, was fired over the phone. That is 100 times worse then getting dumped over the phone. Show the guy some class and have the dignity to do it in person, and don't be a coward and do it over the telephone. Yet, Wide-Receivers Coach, Mike McQueary, will still be out coaching on Saturday afternoon. He should be held with the same standards that Joe Paterno was. Joe Paterno will now be remembered with this scandal involving Jerry Sandusky. The University of Penn State is trying to pin this all on Joe Paterno and have him be looked at as the scapegoat, when it should be the University that should be taking the criticism. When in reality, he should always be remember as one of the best College Football coaches in the history of Division-1 Football. This guy made Penn State football, but more importantly, he has made the biggest influence on the University. Kids want to go to Penn State simply because of Joe Paterno. He has made this University one of the top Universities in the Nation. College football players from Penn State have always been in the top ten when it comes to graduation rates per year since Joe Paterno has been in charge. Find me another coach who cares more about their kids future than Joe Paterno. In all honesty, I do not think he knew exactly what was going on with Jerry Sandusky. People do not realize how much work coaches put in and I really do not think he knew Jerry Sandusky was doing these types of acts. When he heard about it in 2002, he did what any other Coach would have done. He told the people above him, and they were the ones who chose not to act on this situation, not Joe Paterno. This case could have been solved in 1998, yet the DA, Ray Gricer, did not act responsibly. Joe Paterno is the main target to blame, when in reality he should be the last. I admit, he could have done more, but he still told the AD, and the Senior VP, and they made the decision to not say anything. They were the ones who put the school's brand name ahead of poor, innocent, young boys. Paterno won two-National Championships, three-Big Ten Championships, 409 games, and yet he will be remembered for none of this. He will simply be remembered for not calling authorities, when in reality he made the correct decision by telling the two men who handle these type of issues. In my eyes, Joe Paterno's legacy will be remembered for everything else, but I am one of the few that will remember Joe Paterno for everything he did for the University of Penn State. His legacy is tarnished now, but for me, Joe Paterno will be remembered for everything he did for the University, the football program, and the community of Happy Valley.
