If there was anybody in sports that I thought no one would ever have any dirt on, it was Joe Paterno.
Paterno, 84, who is in his 62’nd season on the coaching staff of Penn State (44 as head coach), became the most winning coach in Division 1 football earlier this year when he won his 409th game, surpassing Grambling’s Eddie Robinson. Paterno has 24 bowl game wins (five of them majors), five undefeated seasons, and two national championships, amongst the notches in his belt. All of these records have been blemished by the recent sexual abuse allegations against his former defensive coordinator Jerry Sandusky.
Allegations against the defensive coordinator claim that nine years ago a witness (Mike McCreary) had seen him sexually abuse a 10-year-old boy in the shower. The incident was allegedly reported to Paterno, who in return informed athletic director Tim Curley. Curley related the story to school vice president Gary Schultz and that is where the story ends. No police or law enforcement had ever been notified. McCreary is now being held on 40 criminal counts concerning sexual abuse.
Did Paterno do what he was supposed to do? Legally, he did; morally he failed miserably. If McCreary had been turned into the police, how many of the rapes and sexual abuse incidents could have been avoided?
I take no pleasure in reporting the downfall of a sports icon; but when a football program becomes more important than the sexual abuse of a child, there is something morally corrupt with the entire system.