If Paterno weren't a football coach would he get to play out the season?

[rfranklin]

This guy should be escorted to the door by security like they do to people who have done much less or nothing wrong.

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. - Penn State football coach Joe Paterno has decided to retire at the end of the season, his long career brought down by his failure to do more about an allegation of child sex abuse against a former assistant.

Paterno said in a statement Wednesday he is "absolutely devastated" by the developments in the case of Jerry Sandusky, a former defensive coordinator accused of molesting eight boys over 15 years.

Paterno says the board of trustees should "not spend a single minute discussing my status. They have far more important matters to address."

http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/45186257/ns/sports-college_football/

[joeglow3]

1. Probably, yes.

Reality is he did nothing LEGALLY wrong. Rather, it was disgusting and morally wrong. I FULLY support dropping him today, but am not convinced what would happen if random chemistry teacher followed university protocol and never made the news (as he was not the football coach).

[hifiguy]

4. Yep. Paterno did his "legal" duty by kicking it upstairs.

So technically he didn't do anything wrong. Morally, he should have fired Sandusky on the spot. But he covered his ass by informing his superiors.

[Freddie Stubbs]

5. Sandusky had already retired by then

[hifiguy]

8. OK, I can't say I have been following the exact chronology

of this all that carefully. Sorry. :blush:

[Marrah_G]

12. He still had to know nothing was done about the charges.

He still had to know the guy was out there working with kids. The coaching world is a small place. He should have gone to the police when he saw nothing was being done.

[JVS]

6. "Morally, he should have fired Sandusky on the spot."

How do you fire a retired person?

[Bunny]

7. Sandusky retired from his coaching position 3 years before Paterno

was told of the allegations. There was no need for Paterno to "have fired Sandusky on the spot". He was already long gone.

[Marrah_G]

11. He continued to do nothing after seeing nothing was done after he reported it

He failed in his duties as a coach and as a human being. He allowed a predator to continue working with children when he knew this person was a pedophile.

[joeglow3]

13. All of which I agree with and stated

The question was not "is he a piece of shit and do I want to see him canned." That is a clear and resounding "yes."

Rather, the question was would someone else get similar treatment if they were not the football. I think, quite possibly, yes.

[Marrah_G]

15. I'm not sure I agree with that.

I think that colleges are often so obsessed with reputation that they downplay things they should not. Like rape, this was and is a huge problem but at least now it seems like they are trying to change it. I think it's certain types of "corporate culture" where we see people willing to look the other way rather then doing what they know is right out of fear of being seen as someone who causes waves.

[JVS]

2. If he were a player? Convicted felons are players! This guy is legally in the clear.

[Safetykitten]

3. I wonder how the interaction between him and the molester went, when they saw each other on campus.

[DURHAM D]

9. Three questions as I have not followed this too closely -

What caused this story to come out?

What is the gender/sex of Sandusy's six adopted children?

And, have any of the adopted children been suggested as victims?

JFTR - Joe Paterno should of called the police immediately because Sandusky had, and continued to have, access to children. End of story - no discussion.

[fishwax]

14. A few answers

"What caused this story to come out?"

The grand jury investigation started a couple of years ago involving a victim in a school district in another county. The mother of the victim informed the school and the school alerted the proper authorities. I believe the investigation began in 2009. News of the grand jury investigation did not break until some time later--either early this year or late last. There was some news coverage of the grand jury while it was still proceeding, but nothing, of course, approaching the firestorm since they handed down the indictment and released the presentment last week.


"What is the gender/sex of Sandusy's six adopted children?"

Five sons and one daughter.


"And, have any of the adopted children been suggested as victims?"

The names of the victims have not been identified, and as far as I know there has been no speculation about that. The biological mother of one of his adopted sons (Matt), however, did testify in front of the grand jury earlier this year:

Among those who testified was the mother of Sandusky’s youngest adopted son, a boy he met through The Second Mile, took in as a foster child and later legally adopted as an adult.

Matt Sandusky’s mother, Debra Long, told The Patriot-News that she had raised concerns about the behavior of her son and Sandusky once her son went to live with the Sandusky family in 1995.

“We tried to stop it back then,” Long said. “We were dragging it to the court system all the time and we couldn’t prevent it. It upsets me, because these kids didn’t need to go through this.”

[DURHAM D]

16. Thank you very much. nt

[Marrah_G]

10. He and alot of others should be in jail

I say that as a football fan who has a partner who is a football coach. Both myself and my partner feel that ANYONE who knew and did not report this to authorities when they saw nothing was done after reporting it to superiors should be in jail. They ruined the lives of children by looking the other way.

He should retire TODAY and be prosecuted tomorrow.