I don’t know if there has ever been a college football season where the actual games have continued to take a backseat to all the other issues. And if the sundry expansiopocolypse matters, Miami football scandal, the legitimate debate of paying college athletes all haven’t been enough. They all pale in comparison to the seriousness and depravity that has come to light in Happy Valley.
Now it is announced by Joe Paterno in a press release that he will be retiring.
Everyone comes at these matters with their own history, biases and knowledge. My wife has been working in juvenile justice for over fifteen years. She has been a juvenile court magistrate for nearly ten years. Her fist year as a magistrate she heard “abuse, neglect and dependency cases.” These were emergency hearings on the immediate removal of a child from their home, parent and/or guardian. Those are not taken lightly. They are done when the risk to the safety of a child is so great that there is not time for a regular hearing with procedural standards. The details in these cases created emotions that ranged from rage to hide under the blankets depression. There was not a week that went by where my wife would come home in absolute tears over a particular case that was so horrid. I would listen as she described the matters, and do what I could to comfort her while trying not to lose it myself. My wife is much stronger and less selfish than I. Could never have kept doing that for even a year. Sadly, I have actually heard more disgusting things than what was described in the indictment of Sandusky.
There are two primary parts to the Sandusky-Penn State child molestation scandal. The first are the crimes by Sandusky. Horrific. Disgusting. Repulsive. Tragic. There aren’t words sufficient to describe the revulsion anyone with a shred of decency feels if they actually read the charges and years of preying on young children. Those are being handled by prosecutors and the legal system. It has been investigated, charges have been filed. Sandusky will never truly pay for his crimes, because there is no punishment. No remedy that can ever make whole what he has done to so many.
Then there are the crimes — both legal and moral — by so many in the Penn State administration. That is where everyone has their focus at this time.
Sundusky’s crimes up to a point, are not the fault of Penn State. They did not create the monster inside of him. These actions, sick and depraved, were not spawned by Penn State. They have happened before and will happen again. Where people in power and control over children have taken advantage of them, destroyed lives for their own perverted urges.
Where the powers that be at Penn State bear great responsibility, culpability and shame is in how they acted when confronted with information on Sandusky’s actions. The cover-ups made the volume of the horrific crimes worse. It also makes the level of culpability so much greater. If there had been action taken in 1998 after the police investigation. If the police would have been contacted in 2002. Instead, each time there was a chance to do something, the choice to do nothing became the only option, because to do something would be to admit to doing nothing every other time.
It has been hashed, rehashed and detailed since this weekend on how the people who could have done something instead chose to passively or actively do nothing. Whether it was Tim Curley and Gary Schultz choosing to aggressively not act on the reports of Sandusky’s actions. Instead their response was to try and minimize risk to Penn State by telling him not to bring the kids to the facilities. They didn’t try to cut off his access to the facilities or do anything that might draw attention that there was something amiss. They just wanted to make sure it didn’t happen on the campus and hurt Penn State’s reputation. Or Joe Paterno‘s. They didn’t want to have any damage inflicted on the moral high ground continually claimed and marketed with Penn State and Paterno.
Schultz, by the way, admitted that in 2002 he had some knowledge of the 1998 incident involving Sandusky. Though, he claims not to have ever read the report or knew specific details. Making him one of the biggest villains in this, even as he is mostly a behind the scenes player.
This was apparently approved by Graham Spanier. Their culpability and blame is obvious and all three will pay with their reputations, jobs, and knowing that when the justifiable lawsuits occur that they have cost Penn State more than just millions. They more than anyone else in the Penn State cover-up bear the responsibility for PSU now standing for Pedophile State U.
Joe Paterno was the most powerful figure in Penn State. He is not merely just a football coach there. In March 2002, he had finished back-to-back losing seasons. The calls were for him to finally retire. That he was finally, legitimately, too old. Yet when confronted by Penn State officials — Spanier, Curley, a few Board of Trustees — about retiring or at least planning it, he essentially told them to “bite me.” That was the end of it, and no one had the stones or juice to force him out. This is the man who still maintained total control over his football program and activities. At that point in his career and life, he was confronted with the information of such a heinous act being committed in his football facility, by his own former top assistant.
He didn’t do anything, but pass along the information to his AD. Suddenly, the most powerful man in Penn State, was just another employee passing the responsibility up the chain of command. He never sought more information. There was never any attempt to make sure it was being acted upon. There wasn’t even an attempt by Paterno to confront Sandusky. He did the legal minimum and then compartmentalized things. He didn’t want to know any more. He didn’t want to do any more.
There was a reason that there was no shortage of people saying Paterno needed to retire or be fired over this.
Schultz has already retired once. Curley was probably closing on reaching a point where he would/could retire. Spanier is likely finished, but as a university president he’s made money to do quite well after this. Paterno was likely going to retire after this season. None of them really have to deal with the fall-out in terms of their careers. Reputation, sure.
The one person that probably loses the most is Mike McQueary. He is only in his 3os. He had a solid reputation as a recruiter. Reasonably was considered a good young coach. Now, he will be toxic. He had his own boss try to toss him under the bus. He is very directly tied to this scandal. He had the least amount of power, some of the most dramatic and important testimony in the grand jury hearing, and failed to act directly when confronted with Sandusky’s heinous crime.
I’m sure many of you have very strong feelings about the culpability, blame and responsibility of the parties. To me McQueary still strikes me as the least culpable.
McQueary was the 28-year old graduate assistant who heard the noises in the shower at Penn State’s facilities. He is the one who looked in there to see the anal rape of an apparent 10-year old boy by Sandusky. He didn’t stop it. He didn’t say anything. He was freaked out by it and just got the hell out of there. He went to his dad to tell him what happened, and they agreed to go to Joe Paterno first rather than the police.
Paterno apparently didn’t tell him that he should report it either. Instead Paterno passed it along to AD Curley. Curley sat on that info for more than a week before — along with Schultz — speaking with McQueary. All the while, presumably, Sandusky was coming and going from the football facility and his office as if nothing had happened. And that continued, with McQueary being told little was happening but Sandusky having a few voluntary restrictions placed on him.
McQueary like the rest of the people with knowledge remained silent from that point on, until the Pennsylvania Attorney General begins an investigation into Sandusky. When McQueary is called to testify before the grand jury, he offers the graphic testimony we now know. It is in stark contrast to the vague statements from Paterno, Curley, Schultz and Spanier on the nature of Sandusky’s actions.
It was McQueary’s testimony that led to the perjury charges against Curley and Schultz. It was McQueary who Joe Paterno even tried to throw under the bus over the weekend when he issued his first statement trying to protect his own claims of ignorance of what happened.
“As my grand jury testimony stated, I was informed in 2002 by an assistant coach that he had witnessed an incident in the shower of our locker room facility. It was obvious that the witness was distraught over what he saw, but he at no time related to me the very specific actions contained in the Grand Jury report. Regardless, it was clear that the witness saw something inappropriate involving Mr. Sandusky. As Coach Sandusky was retired from our coaching staff at that time, I referred the matter to university administrators.”
I know a lot of people believe they would have acted better than McQueary. That they wouldn’t have just run from the sight of Sandusky with the boy in a shower. He wasn’t just some player at that point. He was a 28-year old man. That if it had been his kid or someone he actually knew, he wouldn’t have just run. They are all very good points, and I can’t dispute them.
I just don’t know for certain that I would have, at age 28 in the situation. When we are confronted with something so horrific. So wrong. Something that not only doesn’t compute, but goes against everything you ever thought or believed. Especially involving someone who was one of your coaches as a player. A figure revered locally. Like the temp janitor before McQueary — he just got the hell out.
[My closest analogy was witnessing two roommates nakedly disentangling from sexual activity while in college. It was completely unexpected for me. One of the guys had been a roommate for 2 years. I had no clue. Never saw that coming and the only thought at that moment was, “Get out, now!” Followed quickly by, “Booze! Lots of it!”
I joke about it, it was a consensual activity, and it is a funny story. But the fact is that it confused the hell out of me at first. That my first instinct was flight. Questioning my own unawareness: How did I not know?]
Should McQueary have called the police right away? I bet everyone wishes he had now. Again, I don’t know what I would have done in that situation. His family lived in Happy Valley. He went and talked to them. The very next morning, he went and talked to the Happy Valley equivalent of god.
He told Joe Paterno about it. The man who has always stressed doing things the right way. The man who was his boss. The man who’s moral compass is supposed to point the way.
What did McQueary see him do? Nothing, but pass word up the ladder. He saw the people in power at Penn State do nothing. He saw his school. His employer do nothing. Actually worse than nothing. They covered it up. He saw that if he came forward to the police he had no certainty that anything would happen. Gary Schultz’s job duties included oversight of the university police. Where do you go? Who would you trust?
Additionally, it could cost McQueary his career before it ever started. Who would stand with him? The coaching profession has a code of silence that is insane. If you are an assistant, you are expected to cover for your boss. You are there to take the bullet. If you don’t you are the bad guy, and you can forget about another chance because you become the untrustworthy one.
There’s a reason we have to have laws to protect and even reward whistleblowers. They risk much from a personal and economic standpoint, that makes it far easier to turn away.
More than Joe Paterno or any other figure in this mess, I would love to read an interview with McQueary. He stayed quiet all this time, yet he was also the most direct and honest in his grand jury testimony.
I wrote in a previous post today:
And one other thing I think about. How many of us would have stepped up? How many of us would have put the multi-billion dollar brand that is PSU in the full glare of the world. It’s easy to say “its about the children” while sitting back in our chairs watching this debacle. If you worked your entire life for PSU (from the red headed guy up through the ranks)would you have been so quick to run to the police knowing the firestorm that would have happened as a result? As sad as it sounds, I think most of us would have handled it the exact same way.
And you replied:
I can tell without hesitation that I would have both stopped the rape and reported it – regardless of the outfall that may happn.
Then Chas writes:
I just don’t know for certain that I would have, at age 28 in the situation. When we are confronted with something so horrific. So wrong. Something that not only doesn’t compute, but goes against everything you ever thought or believed. Especially involving someone who was one of your coaches as a player. A figure revered locally. Like the temp janitor before McQueary — he just got the hell out.
And you replied:
what a wonderfully detailed and insightful piece. You raise good points and give us all something to sit back and think about.
What is the difference?
Name more reckless behavior than not reporting child molestation…
Comment by notrocketscience 11.09.11 @ 4:48 pm
Exactly. McQueary is a key witness and the ONLY non-victim witness to a crime at this time to testify.
The case is substantially stronger with McQueary than without him.
While we can ALL talk about what we would have done if we saw that happening. No one knows for sure what they would have done. It’s just like when one is in battle for the first time. Some run, some can’t pull the trigger and some can but can’t hit the broadside of a barn.
When faced with fear, no one (except those that have faced it before) can be sure of how one would react. Studies have proven it.
As I type this Paterno & Spanier are both OUT IMMEDIATELY. THEY FINALLY DO THE RIGHT THING!
Paterno’s ploy doesn’t work !
Surma nailed that conference. Especially because it sounded like amateur hour.
And he’s the recruiting coordinator at the moment.
Let’s recall in all of this that the graduate assistant in question (McQueary) was age TWENTY-EIGHT. (28 years of age). He was the, “28-old graduate assistant who heard the noises in the shower at Penn State’s facilities [witnessing the rape of a ten year old boy].”
He is equally guilty in this. (Cathartic, his testimony was.)
He went home and talked to his daddy at age 28? Are you fcking kidding me?
The law is not fickle in such matters; ANY witness (or informed third party, even) to the behaviors investigated and recently confirmed vs Sandusky-needed call CHILD LINE; officially filing a REPORTABLE INCIDENT (for state and local-level review) within twenty four hours of the alleged crime (especially true in the event of bearing witness to an ass-fcking perpetrated against a ten-year-old in a Penn State locker-room shower
They are all guilty, equally so, Joe Paterno.
Furthermore, for those of you interested in this sort of thing; there has already been UPDATEs to **** Wikipedia**** Among them: “Joe Paterno, *former* head coach of Pennsylvania State University’s college football team…” is no longer head coach since early this afternoon.
Not that anyone doesn’t know that at this point…
Comment by Neil 11.10.11 @ 12:05 am
Minor correction or maybe not, he phoned his father from the locker room from what I remember of the Grand Jury report.
Whether this makes a difference or not, McQueary grew up with some of Sandusky’s adopted kids like the one who is currently Player Director for the Cleveland Browns. Even had ate dinner at the Sandusky’s, so the guy was still some of authority figure in McQueary’s eyes.
Hey look at it this way, there would have been some who after sleeping on it, wouldn’t have reported at all after weighing ALL the ramifications.
Again no one knows what one would have done in that situation. Talk is cheap.
It was certainly up to the higher ups to report it to the Police. And at that time, no one at State Penn had more power than JoePa.
Even had ate dinner at the Sandusky’s, so the guy was still some sort of authority figure in McQueary’s eyes.
Couldn’t have happened to a nicer bunch of guys who turned a blind eye to a serial child rapist.
Not from the perspective of ‘child molesters are cool’, but I almost feel like the regime has started to topple. Their ‘god’ has fallen. More than that, the crimes committed on those poor members of society no longer have to go hidden.
Yes, it is 11 years late… but better that than 35 when no one is left to be held responsible.
In my opinion, PSU should look to this as a time of radical renewal. Students, try and realize that you were lied to, your ‘god’ is effectively dead, or maybe worse than dead, as the infamy of what has transpired in State College will not soon be forgotten.
I would not be surprised if there is additional speculation into the acts of the administration.
Penn State, take charge, show others that the university can rebound from this, no matter if there is a struggle. Just remember the pain and sorrow caused by the few who put themselves, and their money higher than the safety of the most vulnerable of our brothers and sisters.
I have hated Penn State for a very long time, not the individual, but the system driven by its own arrogance. I am so very saddened that the young were treated in such a way. I am glad that justice has been found, and I challenge PSU to become more than your petty leaders ever were and bring your university to a better place.
Someday maybe the rioting morons at Penn State will understand that this situation has nothing to do with football and everything to do with horrible crimes that were permitted to happen as everyone turned their heads and looked the other way. Even the God of Penn State, JoePa himself, is not above this humiliation and total disregard for other vulnerable human beings.
So long Joe, your chickens have come home to roost.
Those firings are what is going to save what little reputation the University has in the short run and will get them over the hump and back to things being somewhat normal.
I was in the band for 8 yrs. (in the 70’s), and our “kool-aid” brought on visions of the Cathedral, not a statue of the supreme leader (HC).
Actions have consequences, and so does a lack of action…
Over the years, Universities have a habit of putting all their eggs in one basket. I believe at Pitt, we have had some good eggs, but our basket hasn’t always been that strong, thus scramled eggs. At PSU, on the other hand, I see the best basket that money could buy!
I work in an organization with hundreds of people and rumors spread like wildfire. I would find it hard to believe he knew absolutely nothing about these allegations and what Sandusky may have been up to?
Sandusky brought boys with him to team dinners, practices, bowl games, the boys stayed with him in bowl Hotel rooms, went to breakfast, lunch & dinner with him. You figure it out. Again it was the 3 wise monkeys. See no evil, hear no evil, do no evil.
For Sandusky surely was doing evil.
I also think Bradley is a puzzling choice based on how poorly he handled media scrutiny last summer when he was interviewing at Pitt. if he thought that was tough, wait until he gets bombarded with the same questions over and over again. I assume he will pull a mark mcgwire “I am not here to talk about the past” when pushed.
Thanks Chas for having this blog. I know I posted an extreme amount and Thanks to EVERYONE for bearing with me. This whole thing was….well…let’s just say an ordeal.
Truth & Virtue
Hail to Pitt !
By the way, Pozluzny said on Mike and Mike that Sandusky was “around the campus and visible” quite a bit when he got there in 2003. Well after everyone knew what he was up to…shameful.
The reason for me and in my opinion many of my contempories were at the university was to learn to think critically to gain a better understanding of ourselves and the world around us.
In my opinion these noble precepts have been lost as students are forced by the system to squander the precious years not on learning to think critically and queching the need for the youthful drive of intellectual curiousity but instead seeking out programs that do not enbody the human spirit but the bottom line.
Chas this is not a condemnation of you, thank God I am not 28 years old in this society, however I have a 31 year old son. I simply used our statement to vent my opinion of a society as others have before gone mad. Evidenced by the PSU scandal, the gap of wealth, a wreaked political system, and a disinfranchised group of some of our best and brightest.
Much more than I can even begin to go into on this blog and I wouldn’t even attempt to.
Just remember the old adage, divide & conquer.
He is right however I am old and it is obvious that we came from drastically different backgrounds.
I came from a lower working class family in Pittsburgh and was the first to go to college. Because of my quailty education at Pitt I earned a graduate fellowship and was able to obtain an M.A. and secure a job that moved me from the lower working class to a economic position in the lower middle class.
He may never need it since he gave it away to all the corporations but I am retired with actual annuity that I paid for during my 35 years of work. Generation X has to count on the goodwill of the corporate monguals for their retirement. I have a 31 year old son and I worry terribly about his financial future. You are right many in my generation sold you out as did those in yours but it was not concerning demographics it was because of culability and greed.
Believing the corporations had your interests at heart, allowing them to dismantle the depression era safguards, buy politicans, dismantle your right to organize, and outsource your lifes ovverseas. Look in the mirror not at me personally I acted against each of these actions.
Economic and political lesson is over.
Back to football.