Sports Talk: Paterno not so guilty

Last week one of the most shocking, disgusting and unbelievable scandals ever to rock the NCAA ripped through the nation.

Joe Paterno was fired.

Why? Nobody really knows. A lot of people think they know. But the Penn State Board of Trustees who fired him said themselves they “were still investigating details.”

Most people regurgitate the rumors they’ve heard. “He knew about child molestation within his program and did nothing.”

That’s not entirely true.

“As the head coach, he is responsible.”

In most cases, I would agree. In this case, after reading the 23-page Grand Jury report, I can’t agree.

According to the report, 17 other people knew about Gerald “Jerry” Sandusky, a former Penn State defensive coordinator who retired from the programin 1999.

In 1998, a young boy’s mother called (Penn State) University Police, reporting that her son was treated inappropriately by Sandusky.

The University Police detective Ron Shreffler and former Centre County District Attorney Ray Gricar had a conversation with Sandusky in which Sandusky admitted to inappropriate behavior with the boy.

That’s where this whole thing should have ended. Sandusky should have been locked up right then and there.

But, the district attorney concluded, “there would be no criminal charges,” according to the grand jury report.

Consequently, Sandusky still haunted the Penn State facilities well after his retirement in ’99.

He was granted emeritus status by Penn State president, Graham Spanier and was granted access to campus facilities even though Spanier knew about the investigation by the Child Protection Agency in ’98.

In 2002, a graduate assistant, now a part of the Nittany Lion defensive staff, Mike McQeary, saw Sandusky acting inappropriately with a 10-year-old boy in the Penn State showers. Instead of stopping the act or calling the police, McQueary went home and told his father. His father presented the issue to Joe Paterno.

Paterno called a meeting with Penn State athletic director Tim Curley, another Penn State official, Gary Shultz, in which Paterno reported “disturbing and inappropriate” behavior by Sandusky and called the two officials to act.

Curley and Shultz assured Paterno they would.

But, according to the grand jury’s report, “Although Shultz oversaw the University Police as part of his position, he never reported the 2002 incident to the University Police or other police agency, never sought or reviewed a police report on the 1998 incident and never attempted to learn the identity of the child in the shower in 2002.”

I won’t tell you where to point your finger. All I can tell you is the situation should have been handled in 1998.

The issue should have never reached Paterno’s desk. Seventeen people could have stopped Sandusky long before Paterno even had the chance to.

I hate that so many people are pointing the finger at the wrong man.

I understand the need to blame Paterno. He’s the face. He’s the coach. But he never should have been responsible.

And he definitely should not have been fired.

After 60 years of integrity, character and mentorship, turning to his superiors — who turned out to be detestable, morally bankrupt cowards — cost college football one of its most loved coaches.

Regrettable is simply insufficient.