Last week, the legacy of Joe Paterno was a bright light in the world of college football. Save for a few issues about retiring, he was widely regarded as the greatest coach in the history of the game, especially at Penn State.
Today there is no doubt that future conversations about Paterno will focus on his ugly exit from collegiate athletics.
The final chapter of the Paterno biography starts in a Penn State athletics shower in 2002. There, graduate assistant Mike McQueary, now wide receiver coach for the football team, witnessed former defensive coordinator Jerry Sandusky sexually assaulting a young boy.
McQueary went to Paterno's home the next day to tell him what he had seen. Paterno told Tim Curley, the athletic director for Penn State, about what he was told. Curley thought, much like a heartless moron would, that telling Sandusky that he couldn't bring children onto the campus any longer would suffice to remedy issue.
No reports to the police were made. Sandusky allegedly went on to abuse more children through his charity.
Everything stayed dormant for years, until now when the story came to light. Heads rolled almost immediately. Curley and another person who covered up the abuse, Gary Schultz, were both fired and charged with felonies, and the president of the university was fired.
Paterno, who gave six decades of his life to Penn State and its football team, was fired over the phone. The most respected man in possibly all of football was given his walking papers as unceremoniously as an employee at a fast food joint.
Critics argue that Paterno did everything he was supposed to do. They say he was not responsible to report the incident to the police, and that he is now being cast as a scapegoat for the school.
Sure, Paterno is not legally responsible for what happened, but on a moral and ethical level he is completely responsible. Once he realized that his superiors were not going to report the issue to the police, he should have gone to the police and filed a report.
Not reporting a crime is not the same as committing it, and we recognize that and understand it. None are trying to claim that what Paterno did (or didn't) do is equal to the heinous acts that Sandusky committed.
Paterno's failure to alert authorities, especially considering how deeply entrenched he was in the school's soul, made it impossible for Penn State to keep him. He followed the rules, but as the face of their football program, he needs to rise beyond that and do the right thing when he has the opportunity.
If the school decided to keep him, it would be accepting his inaction. The public outcry would undoubtedly destroy the school.
Character is not only defined by how you consistently carry yourself throughout life. If that were the case, nobody would be as angry with Paterno. Character also comes from how you handle the hard decisions. Unfortunately, the school and Paterno decided that the welfare of children being molested by Sandusky was less important than the image of their football program.
In the media feeding frenzy following the announcement, it's easy to lose sight of what matters. Students have rioted in support of Paterno on campus, and most of the focus has been on the ousted coach.
Let's not forget about the boys that were scarred for an eternity.
Photo: Courtesy of Laron Fomby
