When Success Usurps Honor

"When the legends die, the dreams end; there is no more greatness.”
Tecumseh of the Shawnee

“Publicity is like poison; it doesn't hurt unless you swallow it.”  Joe Paterno

“Success without honor is an unseasoned dish; it will satisfy your hunger, but it won't taste good.” 

Joe Paterno

It was one of those Facebook debates sparked by a post that was quite a bit deeper than, “I am at Disneyland;” “I just ate spaghetti and meatballs” or “I just ran 5 miles.”  It was more controversial than “Rush is big fat idiot” or “Romney is a whore to business,” or “Obama wasn’t born in America.”

“Not trying to defend the cover up by Joe Pa but why is that everyone's focus? I'm so sick of hearing about that. How about the media puts the focus on the actual person who committed the 42 counts of child molestation!”

The post referred to the Penn State sex abuse scandal and the recent reporting and opinions on the just released Freeh Report (Download using this link), summarizing an 8 month long investigation into the university’s handling (or more properly, mishandling) of the more than decade long abuse of young boys by assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky.  .

 

There was some agreement to the initial post, and then my daughter was the first to offer a different opinion; “I guess it's just because Jo Pa knew about it, and it was ultimately his decision to not report it and do anything about it. In my opinion, turning a blind eye is just as bad.”

I offered my opinion, more or less seconding my daughter’s response; and so the debate was on. 

“There were ALOT of people that knew about it but you don’t hear anyone cursing them. Like the janitors that actually witnessed the events but never spoke up. Where's the headlining story on them?”

“…there were still lots of people who knew about this, including the campus police. There is lots of blame to go around I just don't believe all of it falls on Joe Pa.”

“...people knew about this before him so if they would have done the right thing this wouldn't be an issue.”

The Freeh Report isn’t riveting reading but what it lacks in drama it more than makes up for as a disturbing narrative.  Joe Paterno’s name comes up a number of times but clearly nowhere near as much as the others in power who knew about the abuse but chose to cover it up; former President Graham Spanier, former Senior Vice President-Finance Gary Schultz and former Athletic Director Timothy Curley.  Also clear in the report: 

     Officials were doing their best to maintain a state of denial. After a May 1998 incident, Schultz feared an “…opening of Pandora’s Box. Other children?”  A little over a month later, after what turned out to be a perfunctory investigation Schultz noted: “I think the matter has been appropriately investigated and I hope it is now behind us.” 

    After this and subsequent episodes, including an apparent rape by Sandusky in the showers during the winter of 2001, Sandusky was allowed continued access to athletic facilities.  

    There seemed to be more concern on the part of officials for Sandusky and the school’s reputation than for the victims.  After the 2001 incident in which no charges were filed, Curley suggested telling Sandusky “we feel there is a problem” and to offer “professional help.”  Spanier approved this as being a “humane and a reasonable way to proceed.” (Page 75) 

    Where was the humane concern about the child?  There was none.  On page 71 of the Freeh report; “There is no indication that Spanier, Schultz, Paterno, Curley or any other leader at Penn State made any effort to determine the identity of the child in the shower of whether the child had not been harmed.”

The Freeh Report is 267 pages of damning creepiness that implicates a number of individuals at various levels of responsibility, from janitors to coaches to assistants to university administrators, in allowing Sandusky to continue his predations.  The Freeh report is not about Sandusky.  It’s about Penn State and powerful individuals who became Sandusky’s enablers by covering up his crimes or soft pedaling them as “horsing around” as some of those concerned described it. 

And so why does it seem that Joe Paterno is getting so much scrutiny in the wake of the Freeh Report?  There are various parts to that answer.  First, Joe Paterno was the famous face of Penn State.  Regardless of any accomplishments by any other department of Penn State, whether academic or athletic, it was the football program led by Joe Paterno which was the most renowned.  Paterno was with with the program for 61 years and was the team’s head coach for nearly 46 of those years.  He had a phenomenal career coaching record of 409 wins, 136 losses, and 3 ties, was voted into the College Football Hall of Fame and was named to Sporting News' list of the 50 greatest coaches of all time (MLB, NBA, NFL, NHL, college basketball, and college football).  And this is just a sprinkling of his honors and awards. 

The name Penn State has for decades conjured images of the Nittany Lions; those plain white helmets and the bespectacled coach prowling the sidelines.  Before this scandal broke, you could probably stop 10 people on the street and ask them what the name Penn State brought to mind and a fair number would say Joe Paterno or the football team.  You would be lucky to find one who could tell you the names of the University President, Vice President of Finance or the Athletic Director.  And so while Paterno reaped the benefits of fame for decades it was the fame garnered during the good times that made him the focus of the news stories.  When the football team is winning games the head coach gets the headlines and reaps the benefits of those headlines.  When something attached to that program goes horribly awry the head coach gets headlines he'd not bargained for.

Successful athletic programs often come with an inordinate amount of power and influence within the university structure.  So it was at Penn State.  At Penn State the culture had a name, “The Penn State Way” which the report describes as having “an excessive focus on athletics that can, if not recognized, negatively impact the University’s reputation as a progressive institution.  It was the focus of football over discipline and University policy that was described on page 65 of the report. “Some individuals interviewed identified the handling of a student disciplinary matter in 2007 as an example of Paterno’s excessive influence at the University.  The April 2007 incident involved a fight at an off-campus apartment in which several individuals were severely injured by Penn State football players.  The former University official responsible for the student disciplinary process…perceived pressure from the Athletics Department and particularly the football program to treat players in ways that would maintain their ability to play sports including during the 2007 incident.

After a janitor witnessed an assault by Sandusky, he and two other janitors met to discuss what if any action they should take.  When it was suggested that they report the incident, the witness said, “no they’ll get rid of all of us.”  In an interview with the investigative counsel another janitor offered that “reporting the incident ‘would have been like going against the President of the United States in my eyes.  I know Paterno has so much power, if he wanted to get rid of someone, I would have been gone.’”  “Football runs this University.” (Page 65).  At Penn State, the athletic tail was vigorously wagging the University dog.

Finally, there was Joe Paterno the legend.  At some point in his career Paterno transcended mere mortality.  He was the coach who ran a program perceived to be squeaky clean especially when compared with other successful NCAA programs.  Paterno didn’t jump to the NFL despite many offers, didn’t bail out of Penn State for more money at another university, was known for his philanthropy and had a reputation as a leader and a mentor for young men.  Even his nickname conjured images of the patient, loving, sage, fatherly, man of wisdom – JoePa.  When I was a young adult and even up until recently I had a fair amount of admiration for Joe Paterno; at least as much as one can have when following college football from a distance.  Even to this casual fan the name Joe Paterno evoked a measure of respect.  Whether it was a reputation cultivated deliberately by the man himself or thrust on him by media and fans it turned out to be a double edged sword.  He had become an icon, symbolic of what a college coach should and could be; deified, particularly in Happy Valley, where the Nittany Lions call home; a valley that hasn't seen happy days in the past months. 

In those days when those powerful men had it in their grasp to stop the abominations, the legacy of success became the main focus.  Infamy jeopardized fame and as it turned out Joe Paterno failed to heed his own words and had swallowed the poison of his own publicity. 

When the scandal broke I wanted to believe in Joe Paterno. This upright, decent, honorable man could never have known about the horrors wreaked by his assistant coach  We’ve all done it; bought into a legend, forgetting that our idol is really human, denying the blemishes and the possibility that the man could actually enable the predations of a monster. Just as the young boy implored Shoeless Joe when he was forced to wear the mantle of a cheat we muttered at the news reports coming out of the car radio on the way to work; “Say it ain’t so Joe.”  But as we found, it was so, and it was hard to accept.

And some still can’t completely accept it.  Why is JoePa getting all the blame?  Maybe they can’t separate the crime from the legend of sport.  Maybe they feel that decade’s worth of a legacy has got to count for something; there have to be some credits that can be cashed in against this horrible liability.  I really want to feel sorry for Joe Paterno.  I don’t believe that he meant to be an enabler. But the fact is, he didn’t do his duty that under the laws of the land and more importantly morality he was obligated to do.  In the end we’re faced with the tragic irony that we believers who knew in our heart of hearts that Joe Paterno the legend would have done the right thing, the flesh and blood Joe Paterno did not. 

"Why is JoePa being made a scapegoat?  In the end, when we want to give any of these guys a break, be it a janitor, an assistant, a university president or a famous coach, we need to pause and focus on the heart of this case.  We should think about a boy.  Any boy; a son, a nephew, the kid who shoots hoops down the street or in my case my grandson (who I wanted to rush to and hug when this whole monstrosity came to light).  The boy is thrilled to his very core because he gets to go to the athletic facilities or sit on the sidelines of one of the greatest football programs in the country accompanied by one of the coaches (One victim recounted that he felt “like the luckiest kid in the world” to get to sit on the sidelines at Penn State football games).  For a kid the experience is surreal; the players gargantuan; the sounds, the crashing din of athletic power and the equipment and surroundings overwhelming.  And then the boy is allowed to workout at the training facility under the tutelage of the coach, a man who at this point the boy probably idolizes and trusts unquestioningly.  The day is an absolute dream and the boy can’t wait to tell his parents; he’ll be the envy of all of his friends; the whole innocent wonder swirls in his mind and then at the end of what seems like the most perfect day in the world that wonderful coach, the trusted new buddy suggests a shower…