Joe Paterno on the Jerry Sandusky scandal – Do we really need to know more?

Joe Paterno - trying to give the media the answers they want

ESPN’s Brain Bennett wrote a piece about former college footballPenn State coach Joe Paterno and a recent statement he made regarding the ongoing investigation into sexual abuse by former Penn State assistant Jerry Sandusky (you can read it here).  Although more balanced than most pieces on this subject, I still wonder why people are still insisting Paterno “come clean” about what he knew.

I think Paterno has been through enough.  He’s been fired from a job he held for 46 years, as head coach of Penn State, and in probably one of the most embarrassing, humiliating ways anyone can get fired – short of a text message.  His named was taken off of the Big Ten Championship trophy.  He has been ridiculed, hated on, and generally bad mouthed by virtually every sportswriter in the country.  He has been diagnosed with lung cancer and is having bad side effects of the chemotherapy.  Where does the “blood lust” of the masses end?

I’ve stated this before, and I will state it again.  Joe Paterno didn’t sexually abuse these children, but he has paid the price.  Sandusky will get his day in court and (hopefully) will be punished accordingly, and why McQueary has been given a “free pass” from Penn State and the “unbiased” sports media outlets is beyond me.  Mike McQueary saw the abuse and didn’t call the police but Paterno got fired?  I’m still waiting for someone to explain that one to me, but I digress.

Paterno admitted he is old, and didn’t know how to handle sexual abuse allegations.  Why is that so hard for people to accept?  And with chemotherapy and other problems he is having now, should we really demand Paterno to explain himself?  Will Paterno doing interview after interview trying to appease the masses for answers make the victims whole again? Will it offer them any closure?  Probably not.  The only closure for the victims will be seeing the man who perpetrated those terrible crimes, Jerry Sandusky, to do hard time in prison.

So, I kindly ask the media, take ten seconds and really think about what you want from an elderly man undergoing treatment for lung cancer who is suffering lapses in his mental faculties.  After all, it wasn’t Paterno that put himself on a pedestal, it was us.