The outcry from the Paterno family has been for the victims, in the wake of the university’s decision to take down the famous statue of legendary coach Joe Paterno. (To read the family’s response and see video of Paterno’s son, click here.)
“Tearing down the statue of Joe Paterno does not serve the victims of Jerry Sandusky’s horrible crimes or help heal the Penn State Community. We believe the only way to help the victims is to uncover the full truth. The Freeh report, though it has been accepted by the media as the definitive conclusion on the Sandusky scandal, is the equivalent of an indictment – a charging document written by a prosecutor – and an incomplete and unofficial one at that.”
The family claims that JoePa has not had his day in court, and for that reason, taking down the decision is premature and based on–what else?–the media and its acceptance of the Freeh report as truth. Well, what else do we have? But is that what prompted the university’s decision? I don’t think so. The victims and sheer wrongness of honoring a man who could have helped them might have been a more compelling reason.
From what I’ve read, the dismantling of the statue–love it or hate it–was a university decision–not a response to a coordinated media effort.
Unless the family has some hidden information, taped conversations, notes or transcripts from what he might have told them before he died, what is the university supposed to do to find out what his role was, other than the Freeh report? Joe Paterno is dead. Only he knows his truth. If he had lived through all of this, maybe he would have agreed that his statue should be taken down. We’ll never know.
Loading ...
The Paterno family needs to come to grips with the fact that the “legendary” football coach for years helped cover up the crimes of a predatory child rapist. Taking down Paterno’s statue is the least Penn State can do.
The statue of Joe Paterno should be left up.
It is premature,its like lets punish the dead coach.
Who helped so many become successful human beings become leaders .
Punish the living people who are more directly invovled.
Joe is not here and should not be the escape goat for others . He had been held accountable before his death.
Let the family and the dead rest in peace.
CASTING THE FIRST STONE, ARE THE ONES CASTING THE FIRST STONE ABOVE EVERYONE ELSE .
The statue of Paterno was placed to honor a man for his good deeds. A man, who in the end, covered up one of the worst University scandals in America, and shielded a child pedophile from the public and authorities. As long as Paterno was alive, HE was considered Penn State. They can only be on the right track once a man–who considers himself above the entire school board, student body, and the law– is reduced down to being someone with no accomplishments. Had Paterno stepped in, and saved those boys from Sandusky, then he would have been the hero he was proclaimed to be. But as we saw this past year in Sandusky’s trial, the pain and terror those boys had to indure was a direct result of Paterno’s lasting decisions at PSU. And there still needs to be more done.