Paterno and Principles

  Principles only mean something when you stick to them when it's inconvenient.

- Laine Hanson (played by Joan Allen) in The Contender (2000) 

I would like to take the preceding quote and put it on large billboards in State College, Pennsylvania – and in fact anywhere else in the country where anyone thought that Joe Paterno got a raw deal. 

I felt physically ill at the revelations coming out of Penn State about the long-term sexual abuse of children by assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky. This was only compounded by additional disclosures that several people at Penn State in positions of authority – including head coach Paterno – were aware of this behavior, but the allegations were not reported to anyone in law enforcement. For almost ten years, while additional children were allegedly assaulted by Mr. Sandusky, silence prevailed in State College. 

Finally, on the evening of November 9 (late in my opinion), Paterno as well as PSU President Graham Spanier were ousted from their jobs, effective immediately. On the previous day it was reported that Paterno would be allowed to retire at the end of the current season, and he announced that himself on the morning of  November 9; I am grateful that the PSU Board of Trustees reconsidered and did the right thing. 

Then came another affront which made me angrier yet. It seems that scores of people, both within and outside of the Penn State community, believe that Paterno should have “at least” been allowed to remain as head coach through the rest of the season, and retire in some relative dignity. After all, hadn’t he built this football program into a national power? Had he not been responsible for the development of hundreds of young men into sportsmen and citizens, emphasizing scholarship and principle? Wasn’t he now the winningest head coach in NCAA Division I history? 

Does he deserve a break? He didn’t, after all, break the law. Even Pennsylvania's attorney general said that it appeared Paterno had met his obligations under state law; he reported the allegations to his boss. This is JoePa after all, right? A track record of 45 years of inspired leadership! The words “raw deal” and “he is a victim too” surfaced. 

No! No, no, no, NO. What are we thinking? 

Yes, Paterno was a coach, mentor, builder, winner, and arguably fulfilled his obligations under the law – all of that. And none of that matters any more with the revelation that he was aware of children being abused, and did not do everything in his power to make sure that it would not and could not continue. And all it would have taken is a single phone call to the police. Yes, it would have caused immediate scandal. It would have sent the University and the local community into turmoil. In a word, it would have been inconvenient – to say the least. 

This is where the quote I started with resonates. I had a great deal of respect for this man before this horrid affair came to light. And I get it that he was idolized by many. And 45 years is a long time. But on one occasion, he (among others) abdicated his responsibility as a leader and as a citizen and thereby allowed a predator to continue raping children. And he then stood on the posture that he had followed organizational procedure in dealing with this tragedy. Every last shred of any principles he once exhibited for his entire career was thereby rendered meaningless for me. 

The final tragedy is that so many people still venerate this man and think he deserves any consideration whatsoever, as a reward for the balance of the good he did. To those people, I say: read the billboard.