Joe Paterno Brought About His Own Firing at PSU

Joe Paterno shot himself in the foot with his retirement announcement. The Pennsylvania State University football coach announced his retirement amidst allegations of moral failure in the wake of a child molestation scandal that has rocked NCAA college football. Later that night, he was fired.

The scandal started with revelations that former defensive line coach Jerry Sandusky may have molested up to 8 boys while working for Penn State, and even more after retiring. (The media is now reporting that the number of victims could be as hight as 20) In a timeline put together by ESPN, the founder The Second Mile charity for young boys, is alleged to have molested boys as far back as 1994. In 2002, then graduate assistant Mike McQueary alleges to finding Jerry Sandusky in the midst of a sex act with a 10 year old boy in the Penn State football showers. The next day McQueary told Joe Paterno, who then told his boss, Penn State Athletic Director Tim Curly. At the time, no report was made to campus or other police. After a lengthy investigation into Sandusky, police finally arrest him on November 5, 2011.

While it appears that Joe Paterno broke no laws, his morality was brought into question by not following up on the allegations made by McQueary. By not reporting the alleged molestation, Paterno and other university officials began to look as if they might have been involved in a cover-up in order to protect the university and the football program.

Many began calling for coach Paterno’s firing immediately after the allegations came to light, but he did not help himself with his retirement announcement. In it, he virtually admitted to a moral failing by saying: “This is a tragedy. It is one of the great sorrows of my life. With the benefit of hindsight, I wish I had done more.” This is a particularly damning statement in that it shows that he may have realized how wrong he was after the fact, and that his failure to do any follow-up at the time the allegations were made may have put more children in harms way.

The Penn State board of trustees had no choice but to fire Paterno with his “almost” admission. There are bound to be numerous lawsuits, and Paterno’s quote is likely to be used in the court to show that there was definitely wrongdoing, not only by Paterno, but by others who failed to report the allegation. With Joe Paterno’s admitted failing, and the failure of his bosses, Paterno handed a gift quote to victims’ lawyers, and he delivered a highly damaging blow to any defense Penn State had. Penn State had no choice but to fire Joe Paterno before he could do any more damage.


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