I’ve never blown the whistle on anyone yet”, says Joe Paterno, “and I never will”.
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.
Let’s see now ... Jerry Sandusky, who worked for Saint JoePa, was convicted of child molestation.
The Penn State Athletic Director (nominally Saint JoePa’s boss), and the school’s president and vice-president are to be tried on charges of covering-up the abuse.
How could they be charged with a cover-up unless there’s probably cause to believe there was a cover-up? How are they alleged to have learned of it?
The guy below Saint JoePa was convicted, those above Saint JoePa in the PSU organization are to be tried, and there’s Saint JoePa in the middle, pure as the driven snow?
Willful suspension of disbelief may work for you in this case, but it doesn’t work for me.
You’re disturbed, and disturbing.
“Oh Good Lord, you must be the most gigantic fool on earth.”
No, the biggest fool was Joe Paterno expecting anyone would believe that he at his old age and experience didn’t know that men could f@@@ boys.
” Paterno made a phone call.”
Yep. To his buddies that set up JS with his golden parachute retirement in order to hide another of JS’s ‘indiscretions’.
That was rude.
” McQueary claims to have told Paterno about an assault”
It doesn’t matter what M told JP. JP was such an innocent old man he couldn’t understand how an old man could bugger a young boy ...
“Willful suspension of disbelief may work for you in this case, but it doesn’t work for me.”
It’s a national effort to restore JoePa’s reputation and at the same time get $$$$ from the lawsuit.
That seems to be a characteristic of Saint JoePa supporters.
As desperate as they are, that seems to be the case.
I wonder how many are on the Paterno family payroll.
“I wonder how many are on the Paterno family payroll.”
:)
“How many schools would award a retiring assistant coach the specific, written privilege of bringing young boys onto campus and into the athletic facilities, a few months after an investigation was conducted by the police into whether the coach had sexually molested a young boy on campus, in the athletic facilities? Does it really require clairvoyance to see the irresponsibility and potential dangers of such an act?”
What about the emails discussing their ‘liability’ in allowing JS open access to the facilities with little boys.
Now that I think of it, from the original post of this thread:
4 – JoePa did not cover up the shower assault, and this is what investigators and the authorities have said and continue to say.How could Saint JoePa have told his boss about the shower incident if, per your story, he knew nothing of it?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.
I'm sure you'll have another answer, again utterly divorced from reality.
The Paterno toadies exist in another world Dunc. Paterno KNEW! He damn well knew and he wasn’t gonna say a word. (See my posts #23 & #28 this thread). It is sad to see that this enabler of child sexual abuse has even one fan here on FR.
Needs fixing:
He damn well knew and he wasn’t gonna say a word.
I’ve never blown the whistle on anyone yet”, says Joe Paterno, “and I never will”.
There they are! The quote is from the June 10th 1974 Sports Illustrated issue, with a young and slender golfer Johnny Miller on the cover, in an article called: ‘A Case In Point’. (It was a story regarding NCAA problems at the time). My point is that if St. Joe would ‘not talk’, (If he knew anything), on something as insignificant, (really, compared to child abuse), as his fellow NCAA coach’s recruiting violations or other things as such.....then he sure as heck was not going to speak up about something years later that would completely destroy everything Penn State for a long long time.
McQueary told Paterno he saw "something." By his own admission he did not tell Paterno [or anyone else] that it was an assault. Paterno put McQueary in touch with the correct person to deal with the non-assault at that point. That is what I've said all along. No description of an assault; then Paterno set McQueary up with the right person to describe whatever the intern might have seen.
Does the word "Duh" mean anything to you?
It’s sad to see people who don’t know what they’re talking about comment on FR, and you’re one of them.
McQueary is now irrelevant to this discussion.
Bill Kline, the original author of this article, admits Saint JoePa knew about the molestation.
Are you going to throw a tantrum and accuse him of being a liar, too?
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.