I don’t want to hear about Joe Paterno’s legacy. I don’t want to hear about what a great coach he’s been; about the young men he’s helped; about the legacy he’s left at State College and Todd Blackledge and Chuck Fusina and Blair Thomas and on and on and on. I don’t want to hear any of it.
If we are going to blame a president for a poor economy and a CEO for mediocre profits and a camp counselor for a bad summer, how do we not blame a head football coach—especially a head football coach with this much power and sway—for what goes on with the people he hired?
Does this make Joe Paterno the devil? No. A bad man? No. What it does make him is, in part, responsible. Were he not the head football coach at Penn State, Jerry Sandusky never holds a position of authority. Had Jerry Sandusky never held a position of authority, well, this never happens. Not in State College, at least.
We’ve seen these sorts of situations before, and they never end well. Never. Much of this happened under Joe Paterno’s watch; by a man he endorsed and supported and befriended and employed.
Legacy? To hell with legacy. Penn State must relieve Joe Paterno of his position.
Today.
