JoePa and the Dangers of Protecting a Legacy

I think about the tragic events that have been revealed at Penn State, and I can't help but get even more upset about what happened. As a staunch lover of all things football, and as one of the most loyal and fervent fans of my teams (anyone that knows me can attest to my love of the Packers and the Irish as something that defines me as a person), this story has truly brought perspective to the front and center. I believe that the people involved in this mess completely lost perspective and put a football program above human dignity.

Here's a little timeline on the scandal:

• Sandusky was a coach from 1969 through 1999, but he continued to have access to the program and its facilities (most notably, the shower) until recently (September 2010). He began raping boys under the guise of his 'Second Mile' program for underprivileged children in the mid 90's. Many of these rapes were reported to authorities.
  
• In 1998, 'Victim 6' came home from a trip to the showers with his hair wet. His mother reported this to Penn State University Police. After he was interviewed by the department of public welfare, and admitted to showering with the boy, and hugging him, in the nude, in the shower, Sandusky is released with no criminal charges by the district attorney.
  
• In 1999, a Janitor walked in on Sandusky performing oral sex on a boy in the showers and did nothing to stop him. The Janitor told others on the staff, and was told who to report it to, but he never reported it.
• In March of 2002, Mike McQueary walks in on Sandusky, who is forcing sodomy on a ten year old boy. Instead of stopping the rape, he changes his shoes, and tells his dad. They decide to simply report it to JoePa the next morning. Over the course of that month, JoePa reports the story to his AD and the AD reports back to the grad assistant that Sandusky's keys were taken away and his actions were reported to the Second Mile.
• 3 YEARS LATER!!!! A boy known as 'Victim 1' meets Sandusky through the Second Mile program.
• 2 YEARS LATER!!!! Victim 1 starts highschool and Sandusky is banned from the school district when Victim 1's mom reports sexual assault.
• 6 MONTHS LATER!!!! Another boy reports years of sexual assault from Sandusky and the Pennsylvania attorney general finally decides to start an investigation... swift justice my ass.
• 1 YEAR LATER. Sandusky retires from the Second Mile and states that he wants to spend more time with his family... still nobody has any idea what he's been up to (except for his MANY victims and their families).
• 1 YEAR LATER!!!! Sandusky is finally arrested on 40 COUNTS!!!!

Okay, so I had to add some all-caps rage emphasis on some of those bullets, but I think it is important to note that this man was allowed to continue doing what he was doing for a minimum of 12 years before anybody arrested him, and nobody truly made an honest attempt to stop him from doing what he was doing.

With all of this laid out, I can only come to the conclusion that, on a grand scale, Penn State, its leadership, and the surrounding community completely lost the moral imperative to protect children and punish criminals in the name of saving face for their football program. I can only imagine that people that were close to this situation realized that Sandusky had coached under JoePa for 30 years, and won national championships with him, and they knew that JoePa had a legacy of excellence and integrity in the program that he built, and if this were to get out, it could ruin that legacy. This is why the District Attorney looked the other way instead of charging Sandusky with sexual assault in 1998. This is why the Janitors on staff in the locker room simply kept the story to themselves instead of going to the authorities. This is why McQueary told his dad instead of saving that child from the RAPE that was occuring. This is why they waited until the next day to tell JoePa, and why JoePa told the AD instead of the police, and why nobody ever went to the police. This is why it took nearly a DECADE for Sandusky to be charged and for the story to finally come out. I can't think of another possible reason for this negligence. JoePa will be forever tarnished by this, and rightfully so. This isn't the shepherd being punished for the actions of his sheep.... this is a man being held accountable for his inaction that led to horrible crimes against children by a violent sexual predator. This is a man being punished for being too proud of his own legacy to make the tough choice of turning in his old assistant coach immediately upon hearing of his horrible actions. JoePa deserved to be fired. Sure, they could have done it in person, but I honestly don't care... he was fired with cause.

This story brings with it a lesson in perspective for a super-fan like me. The things that I love most about Notre Dame and the Green Bay Packers are their rich legacies and traditions. I love that my teams espouse the highest virtues of the sport of football. That said, my love of my teams would NEVER supersede my morals. I could get over a minor scandal or two if the people involved were held responsible for their actions and if the leadership of the program were forthright (see the Kim Dunbar 'scandal' at ND for an example of how to take responsibility for the actions of your sheep)... what I could not accept is something like what happened at Penn State. I would be completely embarrassed to be a Penn State fan right now. The riots in support of JoePa are despicable and basically indicate the exact perspective problem that I'm describing. These rioting fools are putting JoePa's legacy above doing the right thing and absolving him instead of applying perspective and realizing that he made a career/legacy killing mistake.