Posted on 09/23/2014 7:20:57 PM PDT by FlJoePa
Penn State students and fans Saturday showed support for late coach Joe Paterno with a “Joe-Out” – wearing clothing or displaying images of the Hall of Famer at the Nittany Lions' football game.
As a Penn State alumnus, I am proud of my university and I remain proud of the work that JoePa did on and – more importantly – off the football field, with respect to inspiring students and improving academics at the institution.
Yet there remains in the public sphere this erroneous belief that JoePa was a conspirator in the alleged cover-up of the Jerry Sandusky scandal. Sandusky, a former Penn State coach, was charged in fall 2011 and convicted in 2012 of molesting boys over the previous 15-plus years.
Three years later, I await someone to show proof that JoePa was culpable. Even the infamous Freeh Report that looked at the scandal has not given any evidence that JoePa was a conspirator.
In talking to non-Penn Staters about the scandal, I have discovered that many of them have a tremendous misunderstanding of JoePa’s role in the matter. That does not sit well with me, considering JoePa did as much as – if not more than – to advance academics at Penn State University. Yes, that’s academics, not athletics. (For more, read this column written in 2007.)
None of this, of course, exonerates Sandusky or the three former Penn State administrators charged in an alleged cover-up. Sandusky is a monster. The others await their day in court.
Rather, this is an attempt to clear up misunderstandings about Joe Paterno and his role in the Jerry Sandusky scandal. Here are 12 things that most people do not know about JoePa and the scandal:
1 – Jerry Sandusky was not a coach at the time of the shower assault in 2001 in the Penn State football building. Sandusky was retired. JoePa was no longer his boss.
2 – Sandusky, as a professor emeritus, had access to any building that he desired at Penn State. In other words, he didn’t need permission from JoePa or anyone else to go into the football building.
3 – Sandusky targeted his victims through his charity, The Second Mile, and not through Penn State or its football program. The Second Mile, much more than Penn State, deserves blame for this tragedy.
4 – JoePa did not cover up the shower assault, and this is what investigators and the authorities have said and continue to say.
5 – JoePa, in fact, told his boss about the incident, which is the law.
6 – JoePa actually went one step further and also told the man who is in charge of Penn State’s police force about it.
7 – Penn State’s police force is an authentic police force, with about 50 armed police officers, arrest powers and with official jurisdiction over the Penn State campus. It has the same powers and responsibilities as any municipal police force in the state. In other words, Penn State police officers are not like security guards at a mall; they are the real thing and have made thousands of investigations and arrests over the years.
8 – JoePa didn’t just tell his boss and the man in charge of the police about the incident. JoePa also asked them to look into it.
9 – The Freeh Report was commissioned by Penn State’s trustees, who were looking – and still looking – to justify what they did. The Freeh Report has been proven to be faulty and is an interpretation based on supposition and circumstantial evidence – not a finding of fact or a verdict rendered by a jury. For more, click here.
10 – There is not one shred of evidence in the Freeh Report or anywhere – that we know – that shows JoePa covered up anything with respect to Sandusky.
11 – To this day, JoePa is the only person to have apologized for what happened, saying that in hindsight, he wished he would have done more. The key word is hindsight, as JoePa did not know at the time that Sandusky was a predator.
12 – Does anyone honestly believe that if he had known Sandusky was a serial molester that JoePa would have been silent? Furthermore, how could JoePa have known? Trained professionals in child abuse and law enforcement officials did not know.
Having said all of this, it is important again to note that Penn State, the institution, is not absolved of any wrongdoing. Innocent children were irreparably harmed, and a jury will determine whether the former administrators charged with a cover-up will be convicted of those charges.
But one thing is certain, and few non-Penn Staters in the public know it: By all evidence that we have seen, JoePa did not cover up any crime.
Many here don't realize this (or would never admit it), but Penn Staters are indeed winning this war.
Ask the ncaa lawyers how this is going. You think they eliminated most of the sanctions against PSU because of the Mitchell Report? Why on God's Green Earth would ANY organization backtrack on punishment against those that knowingly harbored a pedophile? What sense does that make?
They eliminated most of the sanctions because Wick Sollers, Paul Kelly, and Sue Paterno have them by the balls and will squeeze a full blown apology (and countless millions of dollars for charity) out of them - OR take down the entire ncaa in the process.
So you’re saying there’s not a smidgen of culpability on the part of anyone other than Sandusky?
Penn State should be razed to the ground.
Every square inch if it.
I agree. Same goes for numerous other, “institutions of higher learning”.
Yup. Along with a whole lot of other big universities.
“Yet there remains in the public sphere this erroneous belief that JoePa was a conspirator in the alleged cover-up of the Jerry Sandusky scandal.”
Erroneous heck! There is email proof that he was a conspirator. His own sworn testimony was that he knew and did nothing!
No. Sell it off. Turn the buildings into potato warehouses, or whatever. And give all the money to the victims.
And I call complete BS on this article. I will not refute the article point by point because the whole article makes me nauseous.
But consider this. The author refers to Paterno as "JoePa" throughout. How cute. Yet we're supposed to take the author seriously.
“Jerry Sandusky was not a coach at the time of the shower assault in 2001 in the Penn State football building. Sandusky was retired. “
JS was ‘moved into retirement because of the previous incident with a boy. JoePa looked the other way as JS continued to molest little boys.
“JoePa didn’t just tell his boss and the man in charge of the police about the incident. JoePa also asked them to look into it.”
ROTFLMAO!!!!!!!!!
Whatever.
“Does anyone honestly believe that if he had known Sandusky was a serial molester that JoePa would have been silent? “
YESSSSSSSSSSSS!
“But one thing is certain, and few non-Penn Staters in the public know it: By all evidence that we have seen, JoePa did not cover up any crime.”
One thing that is certain .... FlJoePa is full of BS!
The local and state agencies allowed js to adopt 6 children and foster dozens more. They are trained professionals taught to notice signs of pedophilia.
Why does it then fall on a former employer - a football coach - to figure out what they never figured out?
Losing sucks doesn’t it Gator? And I’m not talking about football.
“Losing sucks doesn’t it Gator? And I’m not talking about football.”
I have no idea what you are referring to.
I wanted to see JoPa led out of court in prison jammies, but God wanted to see him first. I’ll bet he got his just desserts.
I’m a Mississippi State fan, and we humiliated LSU in Death Valley (Dak Valley?) so much that Les Miles whine like a little sissy b*((h about one of our players. I’m a winner, and I think State Penn needs to implode their football program, blow up Sandusky Boy-lover Stadium, and start all over.
From my original post: "Many here don't realize this (or would never admit it), but Penn Staters are indeed winning this war. "
You believe louis freeh over the Paternos. LOUIS FREAKING FREEH. It's really hard for me to think of a more dishonest person in this entire country.
Saddle up though - as long as you like the narrative I guess. When was the last time louis the liar for hire publicly commented on his "report?" Or any of the other "reports" he was paid millions to "produce" without subpoena power?
Those here (like you) that don't get it - don't get it because you don't want to get it.
Just go off yourself. You’re an LSU fan. Joe beat the tar out of you with actual students.
My bad - MSU fan. Sad thing is that though you beat LSU on the field, you would have lost the spelling bee. To LSU!
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