Over the past calendar year, State College, Penn., has faced some of the most difficult patches any community could endure. Legendary ex-coach Joe Paterno’s untimely passing to lung cancer early Sunday morning was the last straw.
Paterno, 85, the exiled Penn State football coach, was fired last November due to what has now become a widely known alleged child sex abuse scandal involving former defensive coordinator Jerry Sandusky. Paterno could not survive the test of time for a chance at exoneration.
There have been dramatic fallouts in sports before, but none worse than the aftermath that came to light when the allegations against Sandusky made headlines. Unlike a baseball star that has been linked to performance-enhancing drugs, unlike Tiger Woods or Michael Vick or Jim Tressel, Paterno has no chance to redeem himself, however impossible it might have seemed to do so. At the very least, Paterno is not the one accused of sexual abuse, and that is not saying much.
A man who coached 46 seasons, a man who won two national championships, a man who will go down as the winningest coach in major college football history with 409 wins is now gone.
That being said, due to the allegations against Sandusky, are all of these accomplishments taken with a grain of salt? Maybe they are in the eyes of the public, as well as those who reside outside of State College. But one can see the profound impact Paterno had upon his former players and his peers around him throughout college football. Paterno was a father figure for hundreds of young men whose lives were forever changed because of the affectionate influence he had upon them.
Not to turn a blind eye to what transpired this past fall, but it is a damn shame for someone with such a storied legacy, and someone with a name so synonymous to Penn State football, to have gone out like this. Paterno is to college football what Vince Lombardi is to the NFL: neither would be what they are today without the efforts of both men.
At the same time, that legacy is forever undermined on the basis of failing to appropriately act on a situation that endangered the safety of multiple children.
Former Penn State All-American Matt Millen put it best on SportsCenter back in November, “If we can’t protect our kids, we, as a society, are pathetic.” Millen played under both Paterno and Sandusky.
That is the tragedy in all of this, in that Paterno was not supposed to end such a storied career in this manner. He was supposed to continue his winning ways as head coach of Penn State forever. Paterno’s life was Penn State football, and when that was taken away from him he passed away.
Moving forward, as Sandusky’s case will continue to unfold, we can hope the proper consequences are taken in the court of law, and that the victims of the allegations have some peace of mind that the proper actions are finally taking place. The hope is that this dark chapter in Penn State history is finally coming to an end, as a new era looms in State College.
What Penn State needs now, more than ever, is stability. What they need now, more than ever, is someone like Joe Paterno.
