Turns out Joe Posnanski was a prophet…
Three years ago the former Kansas City Star sports columnist took a ton of heat for his puff piece biography of disgraced Penn State football coach Joe Paterno.
You know, the dude who turned the other cheek while convicted child rapist Jerry Sandusky helped him become the winningest NCAA Division One football coach ever.
Take, Deadspin’s “A Plea to Joe Posnanski to Stop Writing Mealy-Mouthed Nonsense About Joe Paterno.”
Dead spin’s Tom Scocca quoted Posnanski from Sports Illustrated as follows:
“I asked Paterno at one point in that last month if he hoped that people would come to see and measure his full life rather than a single, hazy event involving an alleged child molester. ‘It doesn’t matter what people think of me,’ he said. ‘I’ve lived my life. I just hope the truth comes out. And I hope the victims find peace.'”
“A single, hazy event,” Scocca wrote.
“A single, hazy event.
“Jerry Sandusky is charged with 52 criminal offenses, spanning 15 years, against 10 different victims. Presumably Posnanski is referring to the one incident in which Mike McQueary, a graduate assistant coach at the time, said he had seen Sandusky anally raping a boy in the Penn State football showers and reported the rape to Paterno…
“The question Posnanski posed to Paterno is vapid nonsense. He was asking the old man to bullshit him. It’s like the Washington Post‘s Sally Jenkins declining to challenge Paterno when he told her he’d “never heard of rape and a man.
Sandusky
“Joe Paterno Wants Us To Believe He Has Never Heard Of “Rape And A Man.” Joe Paterno Is Full Of Shit.”
There’s more…
“Old people are not children, Scocca continued. “Old people have, on average, seen more things and worse things than young or middle-aged people have. Joe Paterno was not stupid, and he was not naive.
“And Jerry Sandusky was not some shadowy figure on the margins of Paterno’s life. He was hired as a graduate assistant in Paterno’s first season as head coach, in 1966, and he became Paterno’s most important collaborator.”
The Joe Paterno statue being removed in 2012
But three years later, all of that is forgotten and effectively forgiven.
Sandusky is behind bars, Paterno is six-feet under, now it’s time to wheel out that statue of JoePa and replant it proudly outside the stadium.
And this is what’s wrong with sports – college sports no less.
Because for $60 million Penn State and the NCAA decided they were willing to forgive and forget, so that the university could get back to winning football games and participating in the new football playoffs as if nothing ever happened. Again they can lay claim to and boast of Paterno’s brilliant legacy.
No harm, no foul.
Just as the other Joe – Posnanski – portrayed it three years back.
It’s a testament to deceased Oakland Raiders owner Al Davis motto, Just win, baby!”
And it goes hand-in-hand with NFL commish Roger Goodell‘s treatment of Ray Rice last year for an incident in which he cold cocked his wife in an elevator and was given but a wrist slap until the public uproar after TMZ leaked the video.
So Joe Paterno is back and all is well in Happy Valley.
Or is it?
“The NCAA relented and instead of holding Joe Paterno responsible for the sexual abuse of children by his assistant coach in his facilities, even after he learned about it, he is off scot-free,” Fox Sports Marci Hamilton writes. “The NCAA pivoted and restored the wins it had removed from his record as a punishment for his failure to protect kids. He’s back to 409. Yippee!”
So as you can plainly see, Posnanski had it right all along…
“Here is the message our society sends again and again to child sex abuse victims,” Hamilton writes. “Powerful men and their reputations must be protected at all costs, regardless of what happened to you and the roughly 20 percent of the population that has been sexually abused…
“The impact of the NCAA’s waffling is nationwide. Here is the message every university sports program currently covering up a child sex abuse (or adult sex assault) scandal heard last week: There might be some early strong reactions, but don’t worry. It will all go away soon enough.”
As for Posnanski, mum’s the word on the subject – nothing on his blog and nothing on NBC Sports website where he’s dentified as a contributor – even though he’s only had one byline between last October and the present.
His book about Paterno is still for sale, although former fellow Star twin sports tower Jason Whitlock said of it, “It’s difficult to discern what is most shallow in Posnanski’s book — the reporting, the access or the insight.”
But who gets the last laugh now? Posnanski, that’s who.
Apparently time heals all wounds…..even the anal raping of young boys.
4’09”. The average height of the anally raped boys by pedophile Sandusky. And the pedophile enabler Paterno gets his wins back and the billions keep flowing to the corrupt NCAA.
How quaint.
listen dude jo pat didn’t analy rape ne1
No, he just enabled the anal rape of young boys which is just as bad. Don’t want a multiple ruined young lives to get in the way of a few wins, eh?
ncaa is the most moneyhungry operation….they just want every sucking dime
they can get….because those schools need more money.
NCAA and Penn State approve of raping of young boys. Will this soon be a sport in the NCAA and on talk radio?
How the rape teams would be organized and how it would be scored would be interesting talk radio for some — but not for me.
Disgusting.
Damn!! Them Florida State Date rapists sure are gooooood!!!
Go Winston!
America has really embraced the mob mentality. Joe Paterno did not commit these horrendous acts. Instead of blaming Joe Paterno, who may or may not have done enough, or done more, how about blaming the criminal Jerry Sandsusky. Joe Paterno has a higher public profile, and is deceased. Did Joe Paterno make mistakes? It sounds like the answer is yes. But was he there holding the camera? No. If we start wiping away all of the accomplishments of someone’s life over a mistake, then we better start tearing down the Washington Monument and stop thinking about naming that Eastside Patrol Station after a man who made some mistakes in life himself. None of us are perfect, Joe Paterno was no different.
Let me put it in plain English so maybe you can understand . . . Joe Paterno looked the other way for years while his assistant stuck his penis up little boys’ butts. He heard the cries, saw the stream of little boys enter with Sandusky.
Paterno’s name should be erased and the entire administration of Penn State during that time should be put in jail.
Well we agree to disagree. It is a horrendous crime. But punishing one man for another man’s crimes doesn’t seem right to me. There is no question, Joe Paterno never once touched a child. What Joe Paterno did do was turn thousands of lives around. He took some of the most marginalized folks in State College, PA and gave them purpose. It was Jerry Sandusky that “heard the cries” and he should be the one facing this ridicule. Not Joe Paterno.
P.S. I hope you have a lot of Windex for that glass house you live in.
Joe Paterno knew what was going on and did nothing to stop it. He was an accessory to every rape the occurred from the moment he was made aware of Sandusky’s actions.
There’s a special place in hell for Joe Paterno.
ur an idiot. see i can make unsubstantiated claims too.
If you watch someone you know rob a bank day-after-day and you do nothing to stop the robberies, after many years of daily robberies are you now also responsible for the robberies because you did nothing to stop the robberies.
Look up “accessory before/after the fact”.
Joe Paterno was accused of ever having witnessed the abuse? Please link a source. I would be willing to stand corrected. Hearing an accusation and seeing evidence are two totally different things.
I don’t know Joey…
I think there’s a little more to it. How about blaming Sandusky, you ask? Done deal, he’s doing the time, so no sense playing that card.
But Paterno pretty clearly looked in the other direction and as the columnist above pointed out, tried to play dumb.
And since Sandusky was a huge factor in those wins – wins tainted by Sandusky’s hands – why should they stand? Paterno didn’t do it alone, Sandusky played a major role while both were dodging the child molestation bullet.
Plus don’t forget the heads of the school and athletics department who tried to cover it up. Does that kind of behavior at the highest level deserve to be celebrated? I think not.
As for punishing one man for another’s crime. I suspect you’ve heard of being an accessory. Of aiding and abetting – of enabling.
Yeah, it wasn’t Joe Paterno who rammed his you know what into all those little boys, but he went a long way towards making it possible.
When he well could have stopped it.
And he allowed the AD and university head to willfully cover it up.
It’s a disgrace upon the school, no two ways about it.
Hey I get it. These are AWFUL crimes. But there are two ways about it. Life happens, I don’t hold Joe Paterno accountable for what Jerry Sandusky did. I haven’t heard of any reports where Joe Paterno witnessed these crimes happening himself. We have been told that an assistant saw something in the shower, told Paterno, Paterno says he told the Administration (admitted he could have done more), Paterno dies and the Administration pull one real good C-Y-A and say the dead guy is lying.
I for one won’t get caught up in the hysteria being drummed up by the media over sex crimes. Jerry Sandusky is doing his time. Jerry Sandusky is the criminal.
As for this hysteria over sex crimes. What did we expect in the military when you try to put men and women together in a civilized fashion in an uncivilized profession? No matter what anyone tells you, if you’ve been there you know. War isn’t pretty, it isn’t civilized, your “feelings” don’t matter. 28 women accuse Cosby yet not ONE of them ever went to the police?
Maybe you can blame Crystal Gail Magnum and all the other false accusers out there that ruin lives like those of the Duke Lacrosse players. But Joe Paterno is just supposed to take some assistant as God’s Truth? Its kind of like the Bishop Finn thing, he went to the police, a high ranking kcpd police captain who is now a POLICE CHIEF in a large neighboring city. It was that law enforcement officer that said there was no need to report. Point is we can always Monday morning quarterback, but its not quite as simple when you are in the thick of it. Blame the criminal not everyone else. Blame Sandusky, Blame Ratigan, Blame Crystal Gail Magnum, these are the criminals that cause these crimes. And people like Bishop Finn and Joe Paterno get caught up in something they didn’t want anything to do with.
Put it to you this way..
—THE FOLLOWING IS A HYPOTHETICAL. IT IS NOT A TRUE STORY.———–
Suppose paulwilsonkc comes up to you tomorrow and says.
“Hey, Hearne, I was down at Stanford and Sons last night. I stopped by Glazer’s office to say ‘Hi’ and you won’t believe what I saw. There was Craig plowing this 12 year old girl. I couldn’t believe it!”
Is your immediate response to take paulwilsonkc at his word, and head on down to Overland Park PD to report it?
tough questions joey…but a stupid one.
If paul made those comments I would hopefully
assume the police would look into it. Bringling
glaze as the assailant is stupid only becaasue you
don’t understand glaze who paid his debt and would
never do this. But yes…if the info was taken to the
police they should investigate it…and report on it..
and follow up with any witnesses/evidence etc. that
might show a crime was committed.
In this case I would trust Wilson…he understand the
severity of the crime but using glazes name is
pure crap in my name in tis comment.
go home and play with your xbox joey.
hahaharley: joey’s posting must have been unclear.
1. you “assume the police would look into it.” The hypothetical posed was whether Hearne would REPORT it to the police. Its hard for the police to invesitgate something they don’t know about.
2. “bringing Glaze as the assailant is stupid”. it was made quite clear by Joey that this was a hypothetical and was NOT TRUE. But in case anyone else misunderstood. THERE IS NO ACCUSATION THAT CRAIG GLAZER HAS COMMITED ANY ACTS OF VIOLENCE AGAINST CHILDREN. The use of Hearne, Glazer, and paulwilsonkc was apparently based on their nature as “public figures”. Hearne is a public figure based on his ownership of this very blog. Craig Glazer is a public figure by his own admission and by virtue of his authorship on this site. paulwilsonkc is a pseudonym and it has been made clear that his identity is not widely known to the readers of this blog. the inference was apparently to paulwilsonkc the pseudonym, not the person.
3. As for your Xbox comment, no one should ever be caught with a Microsoft product in their house.
You see I am understanding the post as a hypothetical that strikes a little closer to home than some event that took place across the country. To see what Hearne at least “says” he’d do if faced with the same situation.
You have quite the imagination, Joey…
I’ll give you that.
However, what you’ve described would require a little more research (reporting?).
But to answer your question, yes, I would look into it.
Especially if Craig was an employee of mine and I knew him to be involved with several children’s organizations and he was bumping around with 12 year old girls all the time.
Thanks for the honesty, Hearne. you “would look into it.”
Joey put it perfectly:
“We have been told that an assistant saw something in the shower, told Paterno, Paterno says he told the Administration (admitted he could have done more), Paterno dies and the Administration pull one real good C-Y-A and say the dead guy is lying. ”
So now we are arguing about degrees. Neither you, nor Joe Paterno would report it to the cops and ruin a friends life without looking into it. In Paterno’s case his answer was to tell his bosses. In this case the accusations were true, and a true travesty occured that allowed Sandusky to continue. He made a mistake, he was wrong, but to imply he was holding the hands of the little boys leading them to the showers for Sandusky to abuse because he told his bosses instead of the cops is absurd.
From McQueary’s Grand Jury testimony:
“At one point, McQueary said Paterno told him, “Old Main screwed it up”—a reference to those who worked in Penn State’s administration building (presumably Spanier and Schultz), and their handling of McQueary’s eyewitness account.” Paterno went on to tell McQueary after the scandal broke. ““The University is going to come down hard on you,” McQueary says Paterno told him at their last practice before the coach was fired. “Don’t worry about me. They’re going to try to scapegoat you so get a lawyer. Don’t trust Cynthia Baldwin and don’t trust Old Main. (another reference to the Administration)”
Paterno told the administration about what happened. He told his bosses. Also from McQueary’s Grand Jury testimony.
“After seeing Sandusky sexually abusing the child in the showers, McQueary met with his father and a family friend, who advised him to tell Paterno, which he then did the following morning. McQueary would later meet with Tim Curley, Penn State’s former athletic director, and Gary Schultz, its former senior vice president for business and finance, within 10 days or so to tell them. Schultz’s oversight duties included the university police.“
huh joey….this was no minor shoplifiting charge…or speeding ticket…
or failure to wear a seat belt.
This was the worst crime committed by someone in authority with power
over another child or person.
How can you compare the two. The rape and harassment of young
innocent men….and a tickets stop for speeding
Joe paterno according to reports knew this was happening…melt down
his statue…take away his wins….bury him in a sewer………along with
man who committed these horrific crimes that destroyed thousands
of young mens lives….stop screwing around……this iis not jaywalking.
Where did Joey say nething about shoplifting or speeding or wearing a seat belt? I fail to see any comparison in Joey’s post. You ask “How can you compare the two. The rape and harassment of young innocent men….and a tickets stop for speeding” Where was this comparison made?
The whole point, i took from Joey’s postings was “we can always Monday morning quarterback, but its not quite as simple when you are in the thick of it. Blame the criminal not everyone else. Blame Sandusky, Blame Ratigan, Blame Crystal Gail Magnum, these are the criminals that cause these crimes.”
Unfortunately there are WAY too many Crystal Gail Magnum’s out there that make false accusations or use their children to make up stories to get back at an ex.
How about the Kennedy brothers rape and murder sprees throughout the 60’s? Should we take away the Kennedy stadiums, buildings, schools and roads? Deny their legacies? How about their political handlers and even the Secret Service officers that procured young women and then covering up their “dates”? How about Bill Clinton’s enablers and Bimbo squad participants after his repeated assaults on women? Should Hillary be cast aside for blaming far right wing conspiracies and the women themselves instead of Bill.
Old Joe was not charged. Just like the boys mentioned above. Let it go.
Well, Ted Kennedy deserved justice and used his family’s wealth and power to avoid it.
That was totally bogus.
He did not deserve the second chance that he got, but it does seem that he used his mulligan mostly well politically at least.
Although, he seems to have remained a dirt bag. Wasn’t he the one out carousing with his nephew when the latter allegedly raped that girl in Palm Beach.
I don’t think philandering – while clearly it’s something frowned upon by society – is in the same league as getting drunk and killing that girl then bogusly getting off the hook.
So the same thing that happens in the state pen, also happens at Penn State?
Go figure.
Nice one, Libertarian!
Only where the NCAA is involved is it sanctioned.
If Paterno had an inkling of an idea that Sandusky was abusing these kids, then did nothing, he may as well have been procuring them to be raped by Sandusky. Period. The fan boys who think Paterno should be given a pass are as delusional as the liberals who adore Ted Kennedy, while overlooking that little fender bender in Chappaquiddick. Ironic that so many Paterno supporters are willing to look the other way, not unlike Paterno looking the other way as lives were irrevocably changed for the worse.
Tony Bill was the starting QB for Penn State. Drank a six-pack after practice in the shower.
JoPa did nothing to help this young man get help with his alcohol abuse and kept him playing.
Until the day he got busted for being intoxicated in public when he suspended hi from the team.
He allowed a minor to get drunk on school property and it was fine as long as he was being productive.
I heard other horror stories from Steve Joachim who left Penn State to play for Temple.
My BIL was an all-star at Lehigh University and I heard a lot about Penn State and dirty play. MIL had a big picture of him intercepting a pass against Penn State which was on the front page of the New York Times.
Much philanthropy stems from the evil people did, trying to buy salvation.
Um, I’m with you on this one. Mark…
how many “fan boys” of Penn State do you think are on KCC mark? the local chapter of penn state alums says there are less than 500 psu grads in the whole metro area.
Could it be that some here realize that if they are in a position of power (a business owner) they could find themselves in the same situation. A situation they never asked to be in, and a situtation where one wrong assumption will ruin someone. Assume your friend is innocent and it turns out they did and you ruin the life of the next victim. Assume the person that says they saw something is telling the truth and turn in your friend and it turns out he is innocent and you helped to ruin his life.
The question is did Joe Paterno act in good faith, especially in March of 2002? Yes, Joe Paterno did. Paterno’s actions were generally in line with how most reasonable people would act if put in the same situation.
Paterno could not have made a citizen’s arrest. At some point Paterno was likely told that there would be no further action against Sandusky; after that point, Paterno appears to have ended association with his longtime friend and assistant.
That’s a very generous assessment, Jenna…
Of course Paterno could have – and should have – done more. Like going to the police and following through. Pressuring the head of the school and the AD to take action if they didn’t.
Or how abut confronting Sandusky and firing his ass?
Seeing as how Sandusky didn’t work for Paterno at the time, he had retired, did you want Paterno to re-hire Sandusky so he could then fire him? Seriously, 30 minutes of research would have made you look at least unbiased, instead of just throwing out fluff pieces. How about addressing some of these facts. If you have counter facts thats cool, but just saying your right because its the popular thing is not real journalism.
There are MULTIPLE primary source documents out there, from Grand Jury testimony to the Freeh Report to the Paterno Report. Some of them support your position, but your comments here in the comment section demonstrate how LITTLE you know on the issue. Seriously Hearne even knowing basic facts would allow you to make your point, and make a strong case, without looking like fool.
Markie mark: Joe Paterno was made aware that Jerry Sandusky was in the shower with a young boy a day after a witness saw it. What that witness told him is subject to interpretation, but we do know that the witness never told him that he had seen a boy being raped. It was the first and only time Joe Paterno had ever been told by a witness that Jerry had been in the showers with a young boy.
bullshit. Sandusky was convicted on 45 counts and at least 2 victims. This wasnt a game of leap frog in the shower. This was an ongoing pattern of abuse. Paterno knew enough that he should have fired Sandusky on the spot. Paterno, this man who supposedly loved and nurtured young men had a moral and professional obligation to keep pressing the issue. Try to keep things on an intelligent and mature level slick, dont call me Markie Mark, it makes you sound like a douche bag.
I got your back on this one, Mark…
And the fact that Paterno played dumb, like he didn’t understand homosexuality was totally lame.
The bottom line on all this is college football is a money play and too many people (including at the NCAA and college administrators) are making too much money to worry about ethics – beyond a certain point, anyway.
Plus they’re jock sniffers at heart and from the beginning of time – or at least in my lifetime, even at Pembroke Hill – school officials, parents and boosters have been willing to make huge allowances for top athletes.
This is no secret anymore.
It’s just disappointing when it’s a flagrant as this was.
They caved like frightened school girls three years ago when the heat was on and the minute they thought they could get away with it, they totally backtracked.
Why even remove Paterno’s statue and put those sanctions in in the first place?
The Penn State fans and alums didn’t like it in the first place; now they got their way.
That we know of, Salem
now you sound like a conspiracy theorist. is that what you base kcc journalism on now?
Where are the Craig Glazer comments? He is close to Joe Paterno’s age, and he’s been in prison…Look at this picture – you know he knows something about anal rape….
Criminy, Winona…
Paterno was like 84 when he died three years ago. Craig is nowhere near Paterno’s age.
The accused, the convicted & the guilty by association:
Jesus
Tokyo Rose
Sacco & Vanzetti
Ethel G. Rosenberg
Sports is a not so splendored venue of self-serving types to include more recent vintage Pete Rose, Tonya Harding, Barry Bonds & the NE Patriots among other. Cheaters who conspire individually at minimum , team(s) too likely, arguably.
If not as extreme Paterno’s case, John Wooden of UCLA is remembered as saint or sinner, far as a blind eye turned & a mouth kept shut manifested itself.
http://espn.go.com/blog/collegebasketballnation/post/_/id/12227/the-other-part-of-the-wooden-legacy
Man must always be considered suspect: nod Jeremiah 17:9 – ‘The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?’
Nod Gary Allen’s ‘None Dare Call It Conspiracy’, why not? Large scale, JFK/Dealey Plaza, smaller scale Joe Paterno and Penn State.
Shy being eyewitness (or even so), a matter what one espouses, final analysis.
“Child sexual abuse is the witch trial topic of our time. I fully grasp the powerful emotions wrought by this issue. Calm discussion is difficult. It is outside our comfort zone, creating a lack of awareness that provides cover for perpetrators to operate in plain sight.
However, we must remember what Johns Hopkins University professor Dr. Fred Berlin stated in his report: “In our legitimate effort to protect innocent children, the fair treatment of adults should not become a collateral casualty.”
Great point, but that is not possible when the national news orgs get involved. Just look at the effect on KCC>
The notion that an incompetent, ratings-driven media, along with some self-serving politicians, all acted in their own perceived self interest to tell this story in a way not consistent with the facts, or even basic logic is what is demonstrated by KCC, jack.
Joe Paterno is a good man who does not deserve to have his legacy destroyed by commentators, like Hearne Christopher, who at best don’t understand important details, or at worst are in over their intellectual depth.
That’s a low blow, c’mon man…
There are any number of topics that place me in a position of being in over my “intellectual depth,” but this ain’t one of them.
Far greater minds than mine have weighed in on this and pronounced Paterno guilty.
Read some of his tap dancing answers above to journalists while trying to play dumb.
This is a clear example of money grubbing sports junkies at Penn State and the NCAA re-cooking the books now that the coast appears halfway clear.
It’s a sad testament to our times. What it isn’t though is a wildly big surprise.
We all know pretty much how the game is being played today…just win, baby!
Shut the hell up and please quit sticking up for a man with serious character flaws at best. He was A PEDOPHILE ENABLER, plain and simple. The fact that you are sticking up for such a sorry excuse for a human being says quite a bit about you.
far greater minds have weighed in and said he was guilty? Can you please site some sources. Because according to Randy and SalemPerspective we have
-a former United States Attorney General Dick Thornburgh
– A Pulitzer Prize Winning Dan Van Natta
-The Sandusky Prosecutor Frank Fina
and many other high profile, well respected, highly qualified professionals, who say they got it wrong, and Joe Paterno in hindsight did what was to be expected. But I don’t blame you for not caring about your journalistic integrity on this story, because you thought it would be a fluff piece. apparently some people disagree.
In 2001, when the shower incident occured, Sandusky no longer worked for Joe Paterno, and access to the facility had been granted to Sandusky by the administration (Old Main) and signed off by provost Rod Erickson (who would ascend to the presidency in the first days of the scandal). Paterno, not sure what he could do in this situation, reported it to his superiors as required by law and by university policy.
ESPN writer and holder of multiple Pulitzer Prizes Don Van Natta said after reading all the reports: “Even if you believe he should have done more, it is a big leap to a cover-up, one unsupported by any evidence.”
In a September 2013 interview with the CBS show 60 Minutes, Sandusky prosecutor Frank Fina was asked if he believed Joe Paterno had been involved in the alleged cover-up. “I do not,” he said. “And I’m viewing this strictly on the evidence, not any kind of fealty to anybody. I did not find that evidence.”
The 2001 incident was one of two incidents at Penn State’s campus that were brought to anyone’s attention. A 1998 incident was investigated by the police, given to the county district attorney, and investigated by the state. The determination made was that no crime had been committed, and charges were never filed.
Perhaps we should be taking the Law License of the county district attorney, and State Attorney General. Joe Paterno was not trained to investigate and prosecute sex crimes, he was trained to report it. In 1998 it was reported, and it was a failed investigation by the state attorneys that allowed Sandusky to continue, not Joe Paterno.
don’t be throwin around that pulitzer word around on this site gonna make hearne go on a drinkin binge at glaze’s
Dream on, haha
The Freeh report made the following conclusions (among others):
Paterno failed to protect against a child sexual predator harming children for over a decade (Sandusky was charged for abuse that occurred between 1994 and 2009).
Paterno was complicit in concealing Sandusky’s activities from the Penn State Board of Trustees, the University community and authorities.
Paterno knew about allegations of child abuse on Sandusky’s part as early as 1998 and failed to act on them.
Wwhat the Freeh Report asserted is far from the truth. As FBI director, Freeh took Richard Jewell from hero to suspect in the 1996 Atlanta Olympic bombing. After the facts were uncovered, Jewell was indeed the good guy, but the damage was done.
An in-depth investigation by former U.S. attorney general Dick Thornburgh, former FBI profiler Jim Clemente, and Dr. Berlin presented a record supported by facts and evidence.
Both Thornburgh and Clemente worked with Louis Freeh. Yet both studied the report he issued and found it deeply flawed.
In his report Freeh alleged that Joe Paterno was not only made aware of the 1998 incident, but also “followed the investigation closely.” He based this premise on an email from athletic director Tim Curley to university vice president Gary Schultz with the subject line “Joe Paterno” and the sentence “I have touched base with the coach.” Not a word what he touched base about, nor the coach’s identity
Several people testified under oath that Joe Paterno was never told of the 1998 incident. In the lengthy 1998 police report on the Sandusky incident, Joe Paterno’s name was never mentioned. And Joe Paterno stated he had no recollection of being told. State law also required strict confidentiality in child sexual abuse investigations, so it would have been illegal for Joe Paterno to have been told.
don’t care two licks about this topic, but any word that comes out of Freeh’s mouth should be questioned. Lance-the-intern, you may be too young to remember so I’ll enlighten you about the legacy of corruption under FBI Director Louis Freeh.
-The Los Alamos Laboratories espionage scandal
-Waco
-Ruby Ridge cover-up
-the Olympic bombing frame-up of Richard Jewell
-the falsification of evidence concerning the Oklahoma City bombing
-and oh so much more
Probably not the best source for honesty. But thats my two-cents.
haha, right? its crazy how people just will believe anything if you throw a former (fill in the blank) name in front of it. doesn’t matter how corrupt they were in their public life.
reading Freeh’s report on Paterno was like watching Al Sharpton destroy a man’s life standing by Tawana Brawley
never thought of it but ur right
boy this worlds gone off the deep end. sandusky is a sick man, paterno was scapegoat, end of story.
If it’s the end of the story, randy why are so many people sickened by what Penn State and the NCAA has done. And where’s that statue?
No matter how many unbiased 3rd party professionals who investigate and state JoePa was NOT involved in any cover up, he will never be fully exonerated in the court of public opinion. Human emotions wont allow for us to just accept the fact that a monster did what he did and there wasn’t a massive network of culpable enablers. One monster who wasn’t able to be stopped in the moment is just too scary to accept. Hindsight is always 20/20, but like Lemmings off a cliff its emotionally more comfortable to keep blaming everyone remotely connected to PSU than accept these facts.
bart we can’t let facts get in the way of our pursuit for more clicks and ad revenue. get with the program.
I’m not so sure I’d label it a coverup so much as I would Paterno failing to be a man and stand up and do the right thing.
Lapse in judgment would be a generous assessment.
Stoopid could work, but who believes that?
Chickenshit? That’s a strong possibility.
But no matter how you cut the cake, what he DID NOT do was totally bogus and will forever taint Paterno’s legacy – as it should
Yep, the blind apologists coming out of the woodwork for at best a man with serious character flaws is pretty damning of how screwed up this country has become. Rome is burning and all people care about is being entertained no matter the cost.
Read these words carefully: Joe Paterno, in March of 2002, after being told by a graduate assistant coach that he had witnessed Jerry Sandusky allegedly raping a young boy in the football team’s facility the night before, notified the police. In fact, Paterno discussed what he learned with the man, Gary Schultz, who had administrative control of the Penn State police.
If Paterno’s intention was to conceal the allegations against Sandusky from authorities, why on earth would he discuss the matter with Schultz? What motivation would Paterno have for discussing the matter with Schultz other than involving the police?
I’ve been making this exact point since I read the Grand Jury Report when it was first made available to the public. THE EXACT SAME POINT. Which really pisses me off, because clearly there are idiots that will believe everything the media tells them. People will listen to talking heads before being bothered to look through FACTS that are admissible in the court of law.
All it takes is 30 minutes of your time to read through the report to see that Paterno reported this to the head of university police (schultz), Paterno followed up to see what action would be taken, and he was informed that after investigation, no charges would be filed. He wasn’t on speaking terms, nor friendly with Sandusky. He did not give him access to football facilities, the BoT did. Sandusky was not an employee in when the allegations were reported. Why JoePa takes blame is truly beyond my scope of comprehension.
Yeah, jagoff. HE should have gone straight to the police as the head coach. Going to anyone besides the police with this kind of information as a head coach of the football team is suspect at best. I could give a rat’s ass less what school policy you want to recite to me. Universities are famous for sweeping incidents like rape under the rug on a daily basis.
Why did he not do the right thing – not the minimal thing – and make sure this was properly investigated.
And why did he give those lame, naive sounding answers to journalists instead of just saying, “Hey, I fucked up.”
And Tony V, crimes of this sort are not the type that should be brought to the – wink, wink – campus cops. Seriously, dude – the campus cops?
And since when did the campus cops start pressing charges? What leverage would they have, put a boot on Sandusky’s car?
The point people are missing is that the Penn State police are different than most campus police forces. They are a real police force. They carry guns. They aren’t rent-a-cops. They have jurisdiction over the campus, which includes the Penn State football offices.
In 1953, Penn State President Milton Eisenhower (brother of Dwight D.) changed the name of the campus to “University Park,” and created a separate unincorporated community within the campus. When Paterno notified Schultz of what he had been told, he was notifying an appropriate authority.
next time you witness a crime in OP call the KCPD and see what they tell you about juridstiction. who do you propose Joe Paterno should have reported it to?
Hold it a second, Joey 2…
Given the outrageousness of Joey’s hypothetical, I was giving a guarded answer.
Of course if I knew for certain that Craig or anyone that I worked with was doing anything close to what Sandusky was doing, I would take action.
First and foremost, I would look into it to be sure. Pattern did not. He did the minimal reporting, then turned a blind eye to the situation.
I most definitely would not do that.
And yes, even if it was Craig – or let’s say The Stomper – if I knew it to be true, of course I would turn them in. How could I not?
It’s just such a bizarre question, but step one would be to verify.
What if Harley was F??king his dog in the A$$? Would you report that? Which I have been told he does!!!!!1
Huh ???
Once again we see, there is basically no floor for the desperate Paterno apologists. Face it. You’re obsessed with the shrill defense of a man who looked the other way when the welfare of children entrusted to him was violently and unspeakably betrayed, over and over again. Stop with the Kennedy/Clinton non sequiturs. I hope that when you crack a beer and watch your old college team play, that you’re able to forget that your school, your sports programs, and your faultless bronze idol Paterno will forever be stained by preventable crimes.
Go Team!!! Team spirit uber alles!!