Penn State football coach Joe Paterno finally released a statement regarding the matters surrounding the PSU football program stemming from child sex/molestation charges against his former assistant Jerry Sandusky. Within the statement Paterno mentions that he is devastated by the developments in this case and that he grieves for the children and their families. Furthermore the longtime head coach said that he would step down from his position effective at the end of the season.
Here is Paterno’s full statement via SI.com…
“I am absolutely devastated by the developments in this case. I grieve for the children and their families, and I pray for their comfort and relief.
I have come to work every day for the last 61 years with one clear goal in mind: To serve the best interests of this university and the young men who have been entrusted to my care. I have the same goal today.
That’s why I have decided to announce my retirement effective at the end of this season. At this moment the Board of Trustees should not spend a single minute discussing my status. They have far more important matters to address. I want to make this as easy for them as I possibly can.
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.
My goals now are to keep my commitments to my players and staff and finish the season with dignity and determination. And then I will spend the rest of my life doing everything I can to help this University.”
As it turns out, Wednesday night the board of trustees at Penn State University fired Paterno and university president Graham Spanier amid the child sex/molestation charges engulfing the university.
Tuesday, students and other supporters rallied outside Paterno’s home and other areas around the Penn State campus in support of the head coach.
The rallies make you wonder if the supporters are demonstrating blindly given the serious accusations surrounding the program in which Paterno played a huge role in.
With that said, when you look at those sickening and repulsive accusations that are coming out each and everyday, there is only one clear solution that needs to be done to the Penn State football program and that is to nuke it for the 2012 season.
Now saying that almost seems like a broken record for the simple fact of what has happened so far this season in college football.
First we had the Ohio State tattoo scandal in which longtime Buckeye head coach Jim Tressel was dismissed. Things get worse when it’s revealed that a booster had been paying University of Miami (FL) players for years on end and in one known case providing the funds to a stripper for an abortion who was impregnated by a Miami player. Then we get something that is leaps and bounds more horrific than the events that happened at Ohio State, Miami, Southern Methodist, etc. In short it’s probably the most horrific set of allegations surrounding not only a football program but a college based in the United States.
But, in terms of the NCAA the key phrase in all of this is football program.
Now we’ve heard it with Ohio State and we’ve heard it with Miami and that’s the phrase lack of institutional control. You can for sure argue that Penn State may have taken it to an entirely new level with the allegations at hand. However you would to think that if the NCAA wanted to go after Penn State over this they could surely nail them on that alone.
But should they?
The simple answer to that is yes.
In order for Penn State to truly try move on and rebuild what will be a tarnished image for years to come they need to entirely wipe out the coaching staff as well as the higher-ups in the athletic department. If this were to happen, it would seem as though the University would have no other choice but to cancel the entire 2012 season to rebuild the program, coaching staff included. The NCAA would need to take action on the basis of morality (which is almost an oxymoron when talking about the NCAA) and a cultural standpoint.
The next issue would be what would happen to the innocent players who had absolutely nothing to do with the scandal and allegations? From there the NCAA would allow any player who wishes to transfer to another school to play football without being penalized and losing a year of eligibility. Players who wished to remain at Penn State would not lose a year of eligibility during the wiped out 2012 season as well.
Now Penn State is going to get their investigation and their due process. The same can also be said for the former Penn State coaches and officials including Sandusky, Paterno, Schultz and Curley. It also may seem unfair the way that Paterno is being scrutinized by members of the media. However given the evidence at hand from the grand jury’s testimony and eyewitness accounts the child sex/molestation allegations very much involve those at the top of Penn State which very much includes Paterno himself.
Aside from the grand jury testimony and timelines that go back to the mid 1990’s of suspected child abuse by Sandusky, Mark Madden wrote an article for The Beaver County Times discussing the Sandusky/Penn State sex scandal… back in April of 2011.
It seems logical to ask: What did Paterno know, and when did he know it? What did Penn State’s administration know, and when did they know it? …
Worst-case scenario: Sandusky is charged. Then it seems reasonable to wonder: Did Penn State not make an issue of Sandusky’s alleged behavior in 1998 in exchange for him walking away from the program at an age premature for most coaches? Did Penn State’s considerable influence help get Sandusky off the hook? …
A grand jury, spurred by a complaint made by a 15-year-old boy in 2009, has been investigating Sandusky for 18 months. Witnesses include Paterno and Penn State athletic director Tim Curley. Interviewing Paterno about a subject like this had to have been one of the single most uncomfortable acts in the history of jurisprudence.
The firing of Joe Paterno and the dismissal of Graham Spanier is certainly a start the process of repairing a tarnished Penn State image. However it’s not nearly enough. Penn State and the NCAA knows what needs to be done next.
Ref: AP (image) The Beaver County Times, TheBigLead.com, SI.com