The Shame of Joe Paterno

             It was back in 2008 when revelations broke that President Obama’s past reverend said phrases that seemed to smite White America, with the most blatant one being “God damn America.” While I do not support those comments at all, I think I can make a similar statement about something else going on in the news right now: God Damn Joe Paterno.

            Now, some people might think that phrase to be extremely harsh. To me, it’s not harsh enough. Instead of going down in history as the greatest college football coach, Paterno will now be remembered forever as the coach who lacked any kind of moral sense to help innocent children.

            It’s been released that when Paterno find out about the allegations against his defense coordinator Jerry Sandusky, he simply told the AD at Penn State and then did nothing else. He never went to the police, he never went to the Board of Directors at Penn State, and he didn’t even talk to Sandusky about it at all- he let him be, and he even allowed him the use of an office owned by Penn State. If you knew a guy who was accused of raping a 10-year-old in a shower, would you want anything to do with him, and would you really have stayed silent and lived life like nothing had happened? Yea, me neither.

            This whole “do nothing” approach puts into doubt Paterno’s moral code. If someone reported to you that they had witnessed the rape of a young boy, I’m pretty sure you and everyone else would go to the police immediately. Even if you didn’t go that far, I would at least hope that you would banish the perpetrator from ever setting foot in your workplace and totally isolating him for life. Paterno, on the other hand, simply did nothing besides tell some Penn State officials. The very fact that the man allowed Sandusky to still use Penn State facilities after he knew Sandusky had raped a boy is beyond comprehension for me.

            What sickens me even more is the overflow of support for Paterno that has been going on at Penn State, whether it was the students camping outside of his house last week before he got fired, or the riots that broke out after he got fired. Seriously, are you freaking kidding me?? These students are rioting for a man who indirectly supported a sick child molester. If Bret Bielema were ever accused of raping a child or of knowing about a coach who did so and did nothing, you would see me on the frontlines of protestors to get his butt fired. The students at Penn State who are still supporting Paterno are honestly just being idiotic, as I cannot begin to understand how you can still support a coach who has no moral sense or direction of what is good or bad anymore.

            On top of all that, if anyone reading this still supports Paterno, let me ask you this: if you’re child got raped by a local coach and another coach found out about it but did nothing, how would you feel? Would you still support the silent coach, or would you want to rip his head off with your own two hands?

            Joe Paterno’s tenure at Penn State has come to an inglorious end, and he has no one to blame but himself. He could have avoided all of this back in 2002 if he had just gone to police and quarantined Sandusky until the police could take over. His grave was dug by himself, and I have lost almost all sense of respect for the man. Just because he was a great football coach doesn’t mean he can do what he did. God Damn you Joe Paterno.