Paterno's Legacy in a New Light

Earlier this semester, I blogged about perhaps one of the biggest scandals in college sports history concerning Penn State Assistant Football Coach Jerry Sandusky sexually abusing young boys. When I first heard the story, I was dumfounded and disgusted by the decisions (or lack thereof) that head coach Joe Paterno made when he was first made aware of evidence many years ago that Sandusky had been taking part in these activities. Paterno, after telling a few "higher-ups" about the information he heard, never followed through with the accusations and, as a result, the news was kept only to a select few. When the accusations were made public last year, I, along with many Americans wondered if the news was held secretly because Paterno feared that getting rid of Coach Sandusky would negatively affect the team's performance. In my first blog post about this subject, Who is Really Winning?, I questioned his own morals, and ours as Americans: when did personal success become more important than our core American, let alone human, values?


With the death of Joe Paterno last week, I have begun to rethink my harsh original reactions to the story. Yes, Paterno's decision not to fully disclose what he knew about to Sandusky was a horrible decision on his part, but should that one bad decision completely blacken his entire reputation? What about the 46 years Paterno had coached at Penn State as a well-respected and beloved coach? How can all those years of his professional life be entirely overshadowed by one grave mistake?

David Haugh, a writer for the Chicago Tribune, helped shed some light on this issue that I've been struggling with. He says, "In the context of Paterno's memory, it isn't an either/or proposition. It isn't either he was good or evil; innocent or guilty; success or failure. It isn't either he symbolized the best of college football or the worst."


I think Haugh brings up a very good point. Morals cannot simply be viewed as black & white; there are always gray areas that often we as Americans tend to overlook. We are so quick to judge people, specifically celebrities, because we subconsciously feel that since they are famous, they should be held to a higher standard. However, the reality is that they too are human, and while it may seem that their celebrity persona makes them immune to making mistakes, they do screw up too. And when they do, there is no doubt that they are significantly more publicly criticized for mistakes they make than we are.

So, in response to my earlier questions, with new insight thanks to Haugh, I believe that the years of Paterno's professional success cannot be disregarded. He was a great coach and his students loved him; these facts should not be forgotten. He made a significant error when not following through with an investigation of Sandusky; this shouldn't be forgotten. He was a good man who clearly made an unfortunate error in judgment. "The weight of those positive influences remain too heavy to negatively tip the scales."