There’s been a lot of discourse about what Joe Paterno should or could have done. He heard from a graduate assistant that his former colleague and friend had sexually assaulted a boy in the showers of his locker room. He did tell his superiors, which seems to be within the legal requirements of his role as an employee of the institution. And then, as far as anyone can tell, he ignored it.
When it all came out – and it always all comes out—Coach Paterno
was a casualty. Not just his job, but his legacy as well.
I would say that Joe Paterno’s failure was a moral failure, a
failure of virtue and character, a failure of courage. When confronted with
perhaps the worst thing you could hear about a trusted colleague, he lacked
what my high school football coach (who was a contemporary of Paterno) called “intestinal
fortitude.” Coach Paterno himself said, “I wish I had done more.”
So what should Joe have done? I have a few suggestions:
First, he should have asked more questions. He is saying the
allegations from the grad assistant weren’t very specific. Really? They could
have been as specific as the questions the coach asked. You’re the head coach.
This happened in your locker room. This guy was at least a colleague, if not a
friend. You’d want to make sure you have a clear idea of what this guy saw. You
know what he witnessed will likely ruin someone’s life. Shouldn’t you make sure
you know as specifically as possible what happened?
After he reported it to his supervisors, the next thing he
should have done is confronted his friend: “I heard this from a grad assistant.
I don’t believe he is lying. What is going on?” Most guys know when they’re
being lied to. I would put a lot of faith in a tenured football coach being a
pretty good judge of this. Look your friend in the eye. Hold him accountable.
“What are you doing?”
From here there are only two options: help your him confess
his actions to the appropriate authorities – probably the police, with a lawyer
in tow; or go to the police yourself if he won’t do it—or at least confirm with
the school Athletic Director that the allegations have been reported to the
police. The main thing is, make sure this guy won’t be around any more young
boys until an investigation is complete.
As an aside, I have a feeling the coach lost a fair amount
of sleep over this. You don’t hear this about a guy you’ve worked with for a
long time and whom you trust as a human being and just brush it off after you
report it up the chain of command. Maybe he talked to his wife about it. Maybe
he kept it to himself and stewed. I don’t believe a man who has given his
entire life to coaching young men to excellence lacks the moral core to be
deeply disturbed by something like this.
For those boys and for Joe Paterno’s sake, I wish he’d had
the courage to ask more questions, confront the person whose been accused of
these acts, make sure it couldn’t continue, act in the best interests of those
who couldn’t protect themselves. In a similar situation, I hope I do.
Coach Paterno let a lot of people down—most of all, the boys
Sandusky had access to. I know he didn’t mean to. And with the life he’s lived,
this failure of courage is not indicative of every decision he’s ever made. But
it was a failure. And it will taint his legacy.
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