One of the points used to defend Joe Paterno is a list of all the good things he has done during his life especially at PSU. I'll stipulate right now to that list so it doesn't have to be repeated as it has been ad nauseum.
It is precisely because of this list of good deeds that the action or rather inaction of Paterno is so shocking. When people view that list that many hold up against any criticism of Paterno, it appears to be a shield for him rather than examples of how an ethical and caring person acts. Paterno is not and has not ever been infallible. However, that point never seems to have gotten through to his supporters or to people that view him from afar. The first group is blinded because they are too close and the latter group can't see because they are so far away.
Paterno was given an inordinate amount of power because of that list. If he had been forced to acknowledge earlier missteps then he might have paid more attention to basic rules of life rather than operate on a higher plane that does not have to take them to account. One of the bad habits he begun to display was a minimization of actions of his players. Here are some things that Paterno minimized:
In 1999, Paterno defended linebacker LaVar Arrington after he assaulted a defenseless Pitt punter in the middle of a game.
Then in 2000 he allowed quarterback Rashard Casey to start every game despite being charged with assaulting a cop.
In subsequent years according to Chris Korman, “Players were constantly getting into violent altercations with other students…. There were fights at the ice skating rink, the union building at the center of campus, frats, apartments, houses.”
Former Ravens cornerback Anwar Phillips was accused of sexual assault, yet was allowed to “play in a bowl game before serving his two-semester suspension”.
Korean looked into “probably a half-dozen others that never went to trial. Women were fearful they’d never get a fair trial in State College. Victims of beatings knew the scales of justice were already tilted against them.
ESPN actually compiled numbers to show just how rambunctious it got in Happy Valley, reporting that from 2002 to 2008 there were 46 players charged with 163 counts.
In 2006, LaVon Chisley, a defensive end who spent three years in the program, killed a fellow student by stabbing him 93 times. This was after he took loans from sports agents and became academically ineligible to play football. However, he was allowed to participate in Penn State’s Pro Day.
Paterno even went so far as to say Tony Johnson, a wide receiver arrested for DUI “didn’t do anything to anyone.”
Sports Illustrated in 2011 declared Penn State as one of the worst schools in college football for players with police records with 16 players charged.http://sexgenderbody.tumblr.com/post/12645066119/in-1999-paterno-defended-linebacker-lavarA coach does have to have his players' backs but only up to a point. They have to be willing to take action when those players have gone too far. Paterno never seems to have thought a player went too far. Paterno then received the same kind of unconditional backing from others. This is why and how a separate
culture was allowed to develop that considered itself above the law.
You can't and shouldn't give people gold stars and allow them to cover up later black marks. Each action has to be considered separately. That doesn't obviate those good deeds and in some cases they will moderate the punishment. However, when considering some problems that are so beyond the pale such as child abuse or covering it up, no amount of prior good deeds should excuse you from being held accountable.
If those first reports in 1998 had been dealt with without consideration of PSU's image and that of its football program, Penn State would not be in the mess it is now. There would have been an immediate PR hit, but when the first wave of rage and disgust passed, people would realize that the right action had been taken ASAP. The University would have done the right thing from a moral and ethical level. That would have eventually overtaken any bad PR and given PSU much higher ground to stand on. As it is, they covered up and began to sink into this horrific hole.
That inaction also allowed more kids to have their lives ruined. There aren't enough gold stars in the universe that can be gathered that can penetrate the darkness of that picture.
Paterno will join what I call my group of 50/50 people. These are people on the one hand who have done great deal of good, and on the other hand conducted themselves abominably.
General Douglas MacArthur is one of those people. In the early part of his career he earned The Congressional Medal Of Honor. He was considered a great commander. In his later years, he had begun to think of himself as infallible. He barely avoided a complete disaster at Inchon in the Korean War. He became insubordinate and refused to follow Truman's orders. President Truman had to fire him, and luckily he had the grit to do it. That avoided even more hegemony by the military over the civilian command.
LBJ is also on my list. On the one hand he pushed some of the most progressive and controversial legislation ever considered through Congress. In a biography, I read a story that has stuck in my memory about him. His first job after college was as a teacher in a small Texas town near the Mexican Border. Many of the kids he taught were poor Hispanics who had little and expected even less. LBJ refused to let those kids fail. He pushed them to succeed in his class and changed some lives forever for the good. He had grown up dirt poor and never or forgot it. Then you have the LBJ of Vietnam and election shenanigans. One doesn't cancel out the other. You have to look at both sides when considering his legacy.
Bobby Knight is a third person in my group. He had no trouble with the NCAA and his players reached high academic standards. Google Landon Turner and find out how Knight helped him. He had been in an accident that paralyzed him. Knight saved him from total meltdown.. Then you have the arrogant Knight who would and could be abusive to his payers and other people. Again, one set of actions does not exclude the other..
Being a 50/50 person is not compete ruination of character and a legacy. It just means that there are huge contradictions in someone's actions and few shades of gray. Most people are many shades of gray. Then there are the stark portraits in black and white.
The picture your life paints cannot be covered up forever.
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