Joe Paterno Dead at 85

[mister b]

You know it might have been lung cancer, but I think it was a broken heart. A university he gave his life too fired him over the phone after all those decades.

My thoughts too.

There are a wide range of emotions on the entire Jerry Sandusky issue and any anger should fall solely on the shoulders of Jerry Sandusky for his improper actions and those in authority that mishandled the investigations, not Joe Paterno, who when made aware of Sandusky's actions, reported them immediantly to his supervisor, Penn State AD Tim Curley.

Joe Pa did what was required of him to do. Where the failure happened was above Joe Pa and with the local and state government.

I am now starting my 6th decade of life and 1 thing that I have seen is that many older folks, such as Joe Pa, were taught to not talk about people who did things like Sandusky did. Many will tell you of a "funny uncle" in the family who everyone kept their kids away from. People with problems like Sandusky were kept at arms lenght in years gone by. Joe Pa was a product of his upbringing and while this is not an excuse for any actions that he should have taken in the eyes of some, he did what was right and reported to his superiors what was passed on to him. The blame for allowing Sandusky to continue at Penn State with his Second Mile Program was a decision that was made above Joe Pa and I'm sure that Joe thought that Sandusky had been cleared of the earlier incident from 1998 since the authorities did nothing further.

The simple fact that the State Attorney General choose not to charge Paterno with anything satisfies me that he did what he could with the Sandusky situation.

Joe Paterno, a flawed human like the rest of us, was not responsible for Sandusky's actions or the lack of actions from other people who were in the positions of authority to look deeper into the accusations. He ran a clean program and did things the right way. Joe Pa was a scapegoat and was discharged of his duties in the most cowardly of fashion via a phone call.

Joe Pa is guilty of nothing more that an unfortunate association with Sandusky.

Joe Pa's legacy of a fine coach who ran a very clean program and did things the right way will always be foremost in my mind.

As for Jerry Sandusky, if he is guilty of these accusations, and I do believe he is and there are probably more boys out there that have not yet come forward, I hope he spends the rest of his life behind bars.

RIP Joe Pa.

[Bleeding Red]

You know it might have been lung cancer, but I think it was a broken heart. A university he gave his life too fired him over the phone after all those decades.

My thoughts too.

There are a wide range of emotions on the entire Jerry Sandusky issue and any anger should fall solely on the shoulders of Jerry Sandusky for his improper actions and those in authority that mishandled the investigations, not Joe Paterno, who when made aware of Sandusky's actions, reported them immediantly to his supervisor, Penn State AD Tim Curley.

Joe Pa did what was required of him to do. Where the failure happened was above Joe Pa and with the local and state government.

I am now starting my 6th decade of life and 1 thing that I have seen is that many older folks, such as Joe Pa, were taught to not talk about people who did things like Sandusky did. Many will tell you of a "funny uncle" in the family who everyone kept their kids away from. People with problems like Sandusky were kept at arms lenght in years gone by. Joe Pa was a product of his upbringing and while this is not an excuse for any actions that he should have taken in the eyes of some, he did what was right and reported to his superiors what was passed on to him. The blame for allowing Sandusky to continue at Penn State with his Second Mile Program was a decision that was made above Joe Pa and I'm sure that Joe thought that Sandusky had been cleared of the earlier incident from 1998 since the authorities did nothing further.

The simple fact that the State Attorney General choose not to charge Paterno with anything satisfies me that he did what he could with the Sandusky situation.

Joe Paterno, a flawed human like the rest of us, was not responsible for Sandusky's actions or the lack of actions from other people who were in the positions of authority to look deeper into the accusations. He ran a clean program and did things the right way. Joe Pa was a scapegoat and was discharged of his duties in the most cowardly of fashion via a phone call.

Joe Pa is guilty of nothing more that an unfortunate association with Sandusky.

Joe Pa's legacy of a fine coach who ran a very clean program and did things the right way will always be foremost in my mind.

As for Jerry Sandusky, if he is guilty of these accusations, and I do believe he is and there are probably more boys out there that have not yet come forward, I hope he spends the rest of his life behind bars.

RIP Joe Pa.

Good post. That sums up my view of the situation also!

I didnt think it would be long before this happened to Joe Pa once Penn St showed him the door. He was the head football coach, not a law enforcement officer or investigator of the court system.

If a common employee reports a claim to their supervisor, that supervisor notifies proper personnel that handle the situation with a full investigation. While Joe Pa didnt follow up like he should, he in no way had any direct actions in what happened between Sandusky and those kids. Penn St should be ashamed for what they did to Joe Pa considering all that Joe Pa did for Penn State.

Penn State had to execute someone, it was Joe Pa. They knew the court system would take care of Sandusky, but they had to do something to try to make it look like they were dropping the hammer.

[seofan_via_dublin]

Just like people took Tressel to task for writing faith based books and motivational writings, then not following up on his own standards when he was put to the test, Joe Paterno failed at his biggest moral test.

He ran a program themed around grooming responsible and morally upright young men.
He had more than a legal responsibility to see the Sandusky issue out to a proper end, based on his 60 years of practicing and preaching a higher morale code. He did what was minimally required, and because of the way he lived his entire life, that simply was not and will never be enough!

I can seperate the pre-1998 Joe from his inactions in the Sandusky case. I can appreciate every great thing that he did. But while doing so, I can't ignore that kids were raped in the PSU facilities in part because Joe didn't follow through when he realized people above him had failed.

[VegasEagle]

Just like people took Tressel to task for writing faith based books and motivational writings, then not following up on his own standards when he was put to the test, Joe Paterno failed at his biggest moral test.

He ran a program themed around grooming responsible and morally upright young men.
He had more than a legal responsibility to see the Sandusky issue out to a proper end, based on his 60 years of practicing and preaching a higher morale code. He did what was minimally required, and because of the way he lived his entire life, that simply was not and will never be enough!

I can seperate the pre-1998 Joe from his inactions in the Sandusky case. I can appreciate every great thing that he did. But while doing so, I can't ignore that kids were raped in the PSU facilities in part because Joe didn't follow through when he realized people above him had failed.

Very well put Dubs Agree 100%

[Peake]

Mister B,

Let me start by saying I rarely disagree with you and your posts are very well written and constructed.

Now I must say I disagree with you, and couldn't disagree more. I am sorry that Joe Pa passed, I value all life, so I am truly sad for his family.

Did he do what he was supposed to do? Technically, yes. On an ethical and moral level he did the minimum. Now if your moral reasoning allows you to simply do the minimum, and your moral compass is ok with that, then fine.

To be honest I am a little tired of rehashing this subject, and I would suggest going back and reading the netire exert from the trial. He did NOT tell the AD immediately. He also did not encourage his GA to go to the police, which imo shows his lack of action.

The cultural excuse doesn't fly either. It was his job to be able to relate to kids in his program and be adaptable. If that was such a problem for him then he would have been let go a very long time ago.

Lastly, in his own words he said if he could go back and do it again he'd do it differently. I don't think we need to continue making excuses for him because he has passed.

[TRENCHFOOT]

mister b & bleeding red, very good posts by both of ya. i also feel the same way. NO EXCUSES HERE!! rip joe pa.

[C-Bolt]

I never could understand why the cops and prosecutors were not more to blame in this! They had Sandusky nailed different times and dropped the ball every time and maybe could have prevented more abuse,shame on them!

[TRENCHFOOT]

yeah but it sounds like some posters on here are'nt looking at the whole picture. good post c-bolt.

[Tigercannon71]

I never could understand why the cops and prosecutors were not more to blame in this! They had Sandusky nailed different times and dropped the ball every time and maybe could have prevented more abuse,shame on them!

Not enough evidence to prosecute. Then a couple years later the prosecutor went missing.

[TRENCHFOOT]

but the law had an idea that sick sandusky was doing it. should have followed up on it.

[Tigercannon71]

Just cause you have an idea doesnt mean you can prosecute. You have to have enough evidence to go to trial with a shot of winning. If not you have blown your case. The Prosecutor kept trying to get enough evidence to prosecute him, but never could.

[C-Bolt]

Sure took em a LONG time to get enough evidence after all the years this supposedly went on,seems the ordinary joe on the street that a kid say did something to them is in jail within a year if not sooner! After all they knew in 2008 it took over 3 years to get an indictment, REALLY?

[Tigercannon71]

Remember the Duke scandal? The prosecutors probably wanted an air tight case before they moved in. Plus there are a lot of factors in every case determining when to move in if its 3 years or 3 days.

[C-Bolt]

I understand and I'm not just blaming cops and prosecutors because there is a lot of blame to go around from coaches to judges and janitors and administrators,hard to point the finger at just one person in this case,probably a case of people were assuming something would get done and it never did.

[TRENCHFOOT]

I understand and I'm not just blaming cops and prosecutors because there is a lot of blame to go around from coaches to judges and janitors and administrators,hard to point the finger at just one person in this case,probably a case of people were assuming something would get done and it never did.

yep and u can bet joe pa was one of the people assuming something would get done.

[seofan_via_dublin]

That's my problem. JOE PA WAS PENN ST!
He ran that university, and was the most powerful man on campus.

In his position, he can't assume. He did what he was "obligated" to, but when it became apparent that nothing was being done, a person of his ultimate authority in that university should have championed further action.

[LoganElm_grad09]

I respect all Coach Paterno did in his career; I don't think that there will be another like him in a very long time.

That said, the black eye on his career will not be one that goes away easily (nor should it.) I think he got the shaft because he did what he HAD to do, but on the same train of thought there should have been more action taken on his part.

[Tigercannon71]

I think by 2000 his power was waning and he was no longer the power he once was at Penn St. Hence he did what he was required to do because he believed those above him had the ability to do more than him. Besides Sandusky at that point had been long retired so Joe Pa was no longer his superior. Sandusky was allowed to be there by the university so again Joe reported a university problem that he heard about 2nd handly to the proper authorities.

[seofan_via_dublin]

Of your timeline were "by 2010", not "by 2000" then you'd be right.

But in 2000, Joe was still the alpha male on campus.

Joe knew about Sandusky before 2000. It's the reason Jerry "retired".

[TRENCHFOOT]

i'm done with this topic. joe was a good man period. and there will NEVER be another one like him. i'm just glad that i lived to see his head coaching timeline. it was an unbelieveable era for a coach at one school. it will never be the same there without him. rip joe pa.