RIP Joe Paterno
 

I don't care what anyone says about him. I've looked into this whole Sandusky case and Paterno may have been able to do more but I think people are putting too much blame on him. **** Penn state for not letting him finish the season.

Joe Pa was a legend in Collage Football.....He will be missed! R.I.P.

I liked Joe Paterno, and I think it's sad that his recent events not only affected his reputation so close to retirement, but also arguably led to an earlier than expected death.

He had a chance to do right, and while he never did anything legal, it's quite obvious he ignored a moral obligation. How someone could work alongside a sick SOB like Sandusky after being told of his crimes is beyond me. In a perfect world, JoePa would've taken a stand, refused to coach for Penn State if they didn't take action. Alas, he chose the cowardly route and I think it ruined him.

I completely disagree. People expect too much out of him. He was the football coach, that's it. His job was football. He informed his superiors. The athletic director knew, the head of campus police knew. All these people knew and they didn't do anything, but for some reason Joe Pa is getting the most heat about it. The AD should be held more accountable. He could have done more, but it's not like he completely kept it a secret. He went to his boss about it. The AD was the one who should have taken further action. I haven't lost any respect for Joe Pa. He was a great man and a great football coach.

I never said he was the most culpable.

No one makes a career out of reporting pedophiles. It's something that you should no matter what your job is.

But he did report it. He reported it to the people who should be held accountable. They should have handled it and he should have been able to focus on his job.

He neither reported it to the police, nor had any issues working next to an unreported pedophile and I think that's morally wrong.

Someone with the integrity that we all thought JoePa had, would have reported it to the police even if the administration didn't act, because that shows someone cares enough to go beyond fulfilling his contractual obligations. It isn't about who's job it is to do what, it's doing the blatantly right thing.

What a disgusting opinion.

I'm not surprised to hear you say that.

Like I said, he could have done more. But He's getting more heat than the other guys who should be held more accountable. People act like he was the one abusing those kids. I still have respect for him. They should have at least allowed him to finish the last few games, he told them he would resign after the season. As long as he was there and as much as he did for that school, they couldn't even let him finish the season. And that's what I really have a problem with. I could understand him getting all this crap about it if he was the only one who knew about it and he kept it between him and Sandusky, but that wasn't the case.

Yeah..he's been around a long time.

Joe Paterno = :bowdown: R.I.P.

I remember Joe Pa back to the Todd Blackledge days with Curt Warner in the backfield. He was an inspiring coach. Its very unfortunate that he didn't do the right thing,but his legacy as a head coach will never be forgotten. One of the true greats along with Stagg and Bryant. Its a real shame to see him pass on.

I'm sorry, who was more accountable? Is the head of the school more responsible because he's "In Charge"? Everyone who's aware that some kid is getting raped is just as accountable as the others. If you're trying to suggest otherwise, then you're a moron.

I honestly don't see what your point is. He told his superior rather than the police, which suggests to me that he was concerned with embarrassing the school, when he should have been thinking about some kid getting raped. ****ty, but at least he did SOMETHING. But when nothing else happened afterward, he should have manned up and gone to the police, but he didn't, which suggests that he was still concerned with the school (and possibly his own skin for not immediately reporting the incident to the police in the first place), rather than some kid who got raped. So, **** him.

I will never understand how people's love of football can cause them to still have respect for someone after they've done something scummy. If Joe Douchebag from accounting gets arrested for embezzlement, nobody says, "It's a shame he did what he did, but we'll always remember him for being such a great accountant." Apparently covering for pedophiles, dog fighting, or rape don't count as good enough reasons to throw someone under the bus if they're good at football.

You can choose to remember him however you want and I will do the same.

If I remembered Joe Douchebag as a nice, caring family man than yes I would say that.

JoePa didn't commit a crime, just ignored a moral obligation. And I'm not defending him either, but I have no idea what was going through his head, whether he just wanted to cover the program's ass or what.

But they were talking about Paterno in the context of being a family man. They were talking about him as a football coach.

Well, it certainly didn't seem to be, "I'm gonna do whatever it takes to make sure no more kids get sodomized."

Alright maybe in that context. I don't defend someone like Michael Vick, because he hasn't exactly redeemed his actions with his character.

And I agree with you that there's no excuse for his actions, I'm simply explaining why some of us will still remember him in a positive light.

I'm not saying he's the devil, but at some point your good intentions pale in comparison to the consequences of what you do. If he hadn't reported dog fighting for instance, I'd be pissed at him, but I wouldn't be calling for the guy's head on a platter, but no matter how good a person he is, his inaction still almost certainly resulted in another child losing their innocence.

Seems like they could've waited till he died before releasing all that information. Who knew he'd go so soon.

It's not joes fault that Sandusky is a creep. He could have done more, but I don't think he should be bashed like he is because he didn't. People are acting like he is complete scum and he should only be remembered by this one thing. He did great things and many of his players will tell you about the great Affect he had on their lives. He donated millions to help build the schools library. It's possible that he was so overwhelmed about this that he didn't really know what to do. He told his boss and I believe his boss is the one who should have made further steps to do something about it. But no, let's put all the blame on Joe.

He gets more heat because there are still so many people running around talking about what a "hero" he was. Nobody's calling the other people involved heroes.

He failed to report child rape in his workplace to the police, he shouldn't get to finish the season.

He reported it to HIS superiors, who assured him that it would be taken care of. So essentially you're condemming this man for trusting is his organization to do the right thing. I'm sure if you would have told him from the start that no one was going to do anything about it, he would have gone to the police directly.

He's not the least bit guilty in my eyes. It's a shame he had to spend his last few months the way he did.

I'm condemning this man for not reporting a really horrible crime to the police. The police are who you report crimes to, not your boss.

What makes you think that? He saw his superiors fail to do the right thing for ten years and never said a word to the police. He could have spoken up any time but he didn't.

He was a football coach, public relations and criminal matters were above his pay grade, period.

Plus he didn't witness the crime first hand, all he had to go on was third-party testimony. What's so unreasonable about looking into the credibility of the accuser before calling the police? This matter was a school administration issue, not an athletic department issue. It's simply not their job to determine guilt or to go over anyone's head to launch a criminal investigation. He did what he was supposed to do. The sin is on Penn State upper-management, not on their football coach.

I agree, crash override. I'm glad someone is seeing it like me. He never witnessed the crimes, for all he knew it may have not been true.

I can see how some people are upset with him, but I don't think he deserves all the flak he's gotten. Everyone makes mistakes. And I don't even think he made a huge mistake. If he had truly known and witnessed the crimes, and he just kept it between him and Sandusky, then I could understand all this hate aimed at him.

He's the complete opposite of Sandusky, IMO. Sandusky abused and ruined the lives of many kids. Joe Pa nurtured and left a great influence on the lives of many kids.

What?! So if you witness (or someone below you witnessed and reported it to you) child rape, you'd tell your boss instead of the police, because it's "below your pay grade"?! Moron. :rolleyes:

Well, while you're vacillating, another child might get raped. That's what's unreasonable about it. Especially since he worked with the accuser and would have known him personally.

Besides, he wasn't "looking into the credibility of the accuser". He was doing jack ****.

This was most certainly neither. This was a police issue. P-O-L-I-C-E I-S-S-U-E. What don't you understand about the fact that the school had no business dealing with child rape on their own?

When you suspect children are being raped, you report it to the police. The possibility of children getting raped is the first priority, with embarrassment to the school and suspect being a far distant second priority.

The sin is on EVERYONE who didn't go to the police. The school and Paterno. Seriously, I don't understand this football worship that causes people to be ****ing retards when it comes to football stars breaking the law.

Which is why you tell the police. Because it MIGHT be true, and children MIGHT be getting raped. WHAT THE **** IS SO HARD TO UNDERSTAND?! CHILD RAPE = TELL POLICE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!

Honestly, I think he should have been charged with obstruction of justice.

http://images3.wikia.nocookie.net/__...oding-head.gif

Tell that to the kids who got raped while he was letting his bosses handle it.

There's no way he could have known the validity of the report at that point in time. Thanks for the moron comment, it really helps prove your point.

True, but this still doesn't prove Paterno guilty of anything. Like I said before, he routed the complaint to his superiors, which is commonplace in most employer sexual assault training maunals.

Speculation. Period.

The DECISION of whether or not the matter should go to the police most surely is a school administration issue. The athletic department has absolutely no authority to make that decision. The fact that you don't recognize job descriptions, and/or, chain of command, are irrelevant.

So I'm a deviant rival of Penn State, I go get an internship at their athletic department and, after a few months of working there, accuse the assistant coach of sexual assault. The entire athletic department is fired and arrested, and my team beats Penn State in football for the next 8 seasons straight. You call this justice? YOU HAVE NO PROOF!!! YOU ARE PROSECUTING ON SPECULATION AND HERESAY!!

I suppose you condone witch trials as well???

They are hired to coach football. They are not security guards, they received no observe and report training when they were hired. They want to coach football. When someone comes to you as a football coach and says I saw so and so assault a player, you send it to administration... THAT'S THEIR JOB, TO HANDLE IT.

What's so hard to understand about the fact that the man was doing his job. You are trying to crucify a man because he didn't do what you feel in your innocent little mind was right. Circumstances change, and false reports happen all the time. It's not his job to investigate assaults, it's his job to win football games, which he did pretty well.

Stop trying to taint a man's legacy just because he was used as a scapegoat by an institution who knew THEY did the wrong thing.

p.s. The Batlord raped me in the shower, arrest him please... No investigation needed, he's accused, that's enough to ruin his life. Take him away please. No seriously, I called the cops on you bro.

So the police would have taken his word for it and arrested him? Yeah, I'm pretty sure the police would have investigated... Found it to be true... And then justice would have been served much earlier.

Maybe this is just me but if I reported something like this to administration and nothing changed (lets be fair and say I even wait a year)... It's time to bypass them and head to the police.

This.

I don't know any of the details so I can't really comment but WTF people, stopping child abuse isn't above anyones pay grade. If your job involves children you do have a certain responsibility for them and making sure they don't get raped is pretty ****ing high up the list. It's not something anyone should turn a blind to.

Which is why you call the police. You know, the people (unlike Some College) who are qualified to investigate child rape.

It wasn't supposed to prove my point, you moron. It was supposed to show you that I thought that you were a moron. I provided reasons why I thought you were incorrect and a moron, so I feel justified in calling you a moron. If that pisses you off, then prove me wrong.

I'm sorry, but if my employer tells me to report child rape to a superior, who has no business investigating child rape, rather than the police, then I'm gonna break protocol on that one.

Not really. Had he been doing anything it wouldn't have gone unreported to the police for TEN YEARS. Anything he was doing was obviously next to useless.

A university's chain of command is in no way qualified to deal with child rape. Ur a moron, derp derp.

So then the police investigate, see no sign of child rape, investigate further and find out the truth, the entire athletic department was never fired in the first place since there was no legitimate evidence, and the rival school is implicated in a conspiracy. Sounds good to me.

I'm sorry, what? Almost nobody receives "Observe and Report" training. Does that mean that almost nobody has the qualifications to report child abuse without some...committee to report to to investigate whether or not your accusations are worth taking to the police?

Your logic is doing some impressive contortions right now. I suggest you have it join the circus.

I've dealt with this already. A university administration is in no way qualified to deal with child rape. Oh yeah. Derp derp.

And neither is it my job. So, I guess it would be alright if I ignored child rape too then, right? This isn't about what his job was. This is about his responsibility as a human being to another human being (and a child no less).

It's true. I did. And he liked it too. Derp derp.

:laughing: That's pretty funny man.

I'll admit that he could have done more but I don't think he's deserving of the complete assault he's receiving. He's getting more flak than Sandusky himself and that isn't right.

This thread ended prior to the Freeh report that pretty conclusively determined that Paterno was complicit in a terrible cover-up, and there were many more victims that didn't have to suffer at the hands of Sandusky were Paterno to worry more about kids being raped than Penn State football. I'd like to know if those who were defending him in this thread feel the same way now, knowing what we know. I would also ask them how they would feel if their young son was raped by Sandusky after the shower incident in 2001.

This post is the equivalent of "neener neener I told you so".

Fair enough, except that I didn't. I wasn't here. But I would've agreed with The Batlord and Janszoon were I here.

Yeah, cause the ability to train kids to throw and catch balls is what makes you a worthwhile human being.

While I agree, as best as I know, if it were possible to overlook this terrible choice (it isn't) of prioritizing a football program over protecting innocent kids from a fecking predatory monster, JP did a lot of good things outside football (especially in academics).

But again, I agree. One bad decision can wipe out all the good in the world when it reaches this magnitude.

RIP best coach ever and great role model. His legacy will never be forgotten by true fans. Sad PSU didn't give him a fair shake when he practically built that University!!