BREAKING NEWS: Family says former Penn State coach Joe Paterno has died

RIP Coach Joe Pa!

Sorry to jump in here, but after reading your response I have to ask...

If you truly believe the following:

The attitude of hate comes so easy to some.

"It's pervasive here."

then why is it you stay?

This actually reminds me of something Urban Meyer just said about Paterno on ESPN.

He said Paterno had a rotary phone at home. Paterno felt that taking the time to spin the rotary ensured that you really wanted to call that person, and gave you time to collect yourself if you were calling angry. It was about patience, holding your water, and making sure that what you are doing is intentional.

The media, who has a love affair with being “first,” could learn something from that story.

RIP JoePa. As a PSU student, I still feel the firing was the right thing to do. A lot of people direct vitriol at Governor Corbett for his role in the whole thing.

“Sandusky played for Paterno at Penn State, starting at defensive end from 1963 to 1965. And he worked for Paterno from 1969-99.”

I'm not a football fan, but I am surprised at the 800 pound gorilla sitting in the middle of the story that everyone ignores.

If someone came up to a cop and said, I just saw your brother raping a kid, think what comes next. If the cop does ANYTHING but report the incident to his superiors, he'll get crucified. Why? Too much connection between him and the alleged perp. Any involvement he has in the investigation will be considered inappropriate.

Yet even though he and Sandusky go back more than 30 years, after reporting this to his superiors, Paterno WAS supposed to stick his nose into things further?

Some kind of really twisted double standard is being applied here.

Thanks for sharing that. Using a rotary phone gave us time to slow down our emotions and more time to think. I could use a little more of that myself these days.

Your reply was a reasonable one, other than saying that I don't have all the facts...I have all the facts that are out there. I read the indictment from beginning to end...and the facts surrounding the police investigations in '98.

I fear you are ignoring some reason however; the reason that makes me believe beyond a shadow of a doubt that Paterno knew about the investigations by both the State College police and the PSU Campus police in '98. Do you really believe that JoePa knew NOTHING of this '98 flap? REALLY??

So if he did know, then the '02 accusation was at least the second time Sandusky was accused of fondling and/or raping a little boy that Paterno knew about. So, JoePa, by allowing that freak Sandusky to maintain a presence at PSU and take 10 and 12 y/o boys around with him abetted this felon. Yeah...I know...JoePa did a lot of good though...let's just forget about those boys he allowed to be raped by a guy who was a dee end for him and a really good dee coordinator. Sheesh.

exactly.

You can’t have it both ways..either you are the most powerful man at Penn State or you aren’t. He did not want to resign, that’s also part of the ego that made him a great coach, but it has downsides.

I give him credit for his coaching, but there is no way he did not know about Sandusky..this wasn’t just this situation, there were many others.

so he gets credit in his legacy for his coaching, and he gets credit ,albeit at great sacrifice to him, for having this whole sordid mess brought to light of day. He could have also made a statement that he never did denouncing Sandusky and his behaviors.

Hear-say? McQueary witnessed it first hand, and Joe made some calls. He should have got off his dumb ass, and dragged that pussy McQueary to the REAL police, and let the DA decide. He’d have been a hero, instead of a goat. Eff the football at all cost idiots!!,,

They actually go back 50 years. I agree with your analysis about Paterno considering Sandusky to be part of his family. When you listen to the tributes coming in from the former players, the most often word used is "family" and how much Paterno did for them after they left school.

Paterno knew Sandusky since he an 18 year old. He thought enough of him to hire him as an assistant coach. They worked together for 30 years and their families were close. Sandusky and his wife Dorothy "Dottie" (née Gross), whom he married in 1966, have six adopted children and took in foster children. One son, Jon Sandusky, is Director of Player Personnel for the Cleveland Browns. Another son, E. J. Sandusky, is an assistant football coach at West Chester University.

I can only imagine how hard it must have been to report Sandusky to this superiors. And I agree that expecting him to vigorously pursue prosecution given their long time personal relationship is a standard that very few can rise to. And I am sure there is an element of denial, especially if Sandusky told him that they were just "horsing around" in the shower. The entire situation is tragic for all concerned, including the victims.

Paterno has led a remarkable and exemplary life and it is a tragedy that his legacy will be stained by Sandusky's conduct.

I didn’t know that and it makes perfect sense. Thank you.

RIP PAterno

Mr Paterno reported second hand information.

Yes he did.....

In 2005 or 2006 an employee at my plant was arrested and thrown in jail after being accused of molesting his young daughter's girlfriend.

In the end, it was discovered that the girl lied and that she was put up to it by the wacko ex-wife........

I can't imagine the humiliation and being ostracized by neighbors and co-workers he had to deal with. He never fully recovered from his ordeal. That and the closing of our plant at the end of 2006 lead him to commit suicide in 2007.......Andy was a kind soul and good man too.

RIP Joe...you were the greatest.

Beg to differ... Bear Bryant was the greatest... Joe happened to coach longer.

And then assumed it was all good for the next decade or so.

May he rest in peace. Prayers for his family.

I fear you are ignoring some reason however; the reason that makes me believe beyond a shadow of a doubt that Paterno knew about the investigations by both the State College police and the PSU Campus police in '98. Do you really believe that JoePa knew NOTHING of this '98 flap? REALLY??

I agree that Paterno probably knew about the 1998 incident. There is no doubt in my mind that Sandusky's surprise retirement in 1999 was related to it. I would like to know if Paterno had any influence on those investigations and what was revealed to the university and Paterno about the results. I also have no doubt that having a 50 year relationship with someone as a coach and a supervisor clouds anyone's judgment about what they are willing to believe about someone they have known since he was 18 years old.

So if he did know, then the '02 accusation was at least the second time Sandusky was accused of fondling and/or raping a little boy that Paterno knew about. So, JoePa, by allowing that freak Sandusky to maintain a presence at PSU and take 10 and 12 y/o boys around with him abetted this felon. Yeah...I know...JoePa did a lot of good though...let's just forget about those boys he allowed to be raped by a guy who was a dee end for him and a really good dee coordinator. Sheesh.

Paterno reported the incident to his superiors. The question is how vigorously he should have pursued it. IMO his longtime personal relationship with Sandusky clouded his judgment. Could he have put pressure on the university to deny Sandusky the privileges accorded to former professors, i.e., office space and access. Sure, but the 2002 investigation did not result in any penalty or finding of guilt. And then there was Sandusky's participation in charitable activities.

After retirement, Sandusky hosted many summer football camps and was active in The Second Mile, a children's charity he founded in State College, Pennsylvania in 1977. President George H. W. Bush praised the group as a "shining example" of charity work in a 1990 letter, one of that president's much-promoted "Thousand points of light" encouragements to volunteer community organizations. Citing Sandusky's work with The Second Mile charity to provide care for foster children, then U.S. Senator Rick Santorum honored Sandusky with an Angels in Adoption award in 2002. Ex-Eagles head coach Dick Vermeil, current Eagles head coach Andy Reid, R.R.M. Carpenter, III, former Eagles owner, Matt Millen from ESPN, actor Mark Wahlberg, Arnold Palmer, and football player Franco Harris, among others, served on the Honorary Board of Second Mile,

My point is that this is much more complex and difficult than some black and white choice between good and evil. I can forgive Paterno for making a mistake in judgment and being human given his almost father like relationship to Sandusky, someone he first knew as an 18 year old. This is a real, Greek-like tragedy.

“Hard to feel sympathy for someone who knew that Sandusky was more than likely continuing to molest children, and chose not to stop it.”

bump

“Paterno has led a remarkable and exemplary life and it is a tragedy that his legacy will be stained by Sandusky’s conduct.”

The other thing I find troubling is how many people apparently don't realize that hindsight is ALWAYS 20/20. Looking backwards it is always easy to see the correct path. Looking forward is not quite so easy.

I worked with a guy for over ten years that I got to know very well. A decade or so after he retired, he was caught exposing himself to children. And apparently had been doing so for a long time.

Many of our mutual friends were mortified, with a tinge of displaced guilt. But why? This guy was the warmest, family oriented, DEEPLY devout Christian of the whole bunch of us. Quite frankly, back in the day if someone had come to me and said he was exposing himself to children, no way would I have believe them. My immediate thought would have been that they had some kind of vendetta against him.

The people that get away with pulling this kind of crap for decades do so for only one reason - they are very, very good at making people NOT suspect them. I am of course sorry for the victims. But as far as guilt goes, I have no clairvoyant powers (if I did I'd be picking lottery numbers right now).

Many people are talking as though this Sandusky guy walked around with a hat that said, "Child Molester." I suspect the situation was much less obvious.