Quote Originally Posted by sagegrouse View Post
The bigger problem for Joe Paterno is a long string of incidents and a clearcut pattern of behavior that indicated Sandusky had a problem with young men and boys (gosh, it is painful even to write that sentence). Costa this AM said he was surprised how much Sandusky said during his interview this week and, while his admitted behavior was not criminal, it was indeed "creepy." I tend to believe that Paterno knew everything that happened relative to Penn State football (much as K knows everything that happens at Duke). Let me restate that: "Joe Pa knew EVERYTHING related to Penn State football." There was a criminal investigation against Sandusky in 1998 for incidents that happened in Penn State athletic facilities. Does anyone really believe that Paterno did not know about this? Sandusky, by his own words, has said that he was told that year that he would not be head coach at Penn State. Then he retired the following year and never coached again, despite his immense reputation as a coach and recruiter. Does anyone really believe these events and non-events were unrelated to the criminal investigation and his "creepy" behavior? Meanwhile, Sandusky still had status at Penn State, was allowed to use facilities, and was able to bring young boys into the athletic facilities. Joe Pa could have stopped all of his Penn State access at any time and did not.

sagegrouse
It's not at all clear that Sandusky's behavior was recognized by those he worked with going back into the 1990's. I could not put my hands on a link, but I have seen references that Sara Ganim, the Hsbg Patriot-News reporter, who has done the original and best reporting on this scandal, has indicated that Paterno told the grand jury he was not aware of charges against Sandusky in 1998. The Second Mile Foundation had a long list of very prominent people who inter-acted with Sandusky and attached their names to his charity, which seems unlikely if there was some general buzz about his creepy behavior. Sandusky was married with six children; there have been no public utterances from them about aberrant behavior by Sandusky.

For what it's worth, the concept of Paterno knowing everything that goes on or has gone on with any relevance to the football program is contrary to the gripes of many Penn State football fans who have said going back to at least 2000 that Paterno had lost his touch, was not as sharp or energetic as he had been, and should have retired from the job much earlier.

Again, Paterno did testify under oath to the grand jury, and was found to be credible. At some point, we should learn more about just what he said.

He's obviously been the face of Penn State football and his reputation is tarnished by this scandal and his abrupt departure. But how much blame should really go toward him?