"Joseph Vincent Paterno: Educator, Coach, Humanitarian." - My thoughts on Joe Pa, Pedophilia, Penn State & Jerry Sandusky

"They ask me what I'd like written about me when I'm gone. I hope they write I made Penn State a better place, not just that I was a good football coach." 

The above words appear on a stone wall behind a statue of Joe Paterno, affectionately called Joe Pa by many, that is located outside the East side of Beaver Stadium.  The statue has been a fixture on campus since 2001 and very few people probably ever thought they would need to question if Paterno had made Penn State a better place.

Now that the world knows about Jerry Sandusky's decades long assault on tender young boys, many are questioning if Joe Paterno is worthy of being called a Humanitarian and if he indeed helped to make Penn State a better place.

What say you? Joe Paterno first set foot on Penn State's campus in 1950. He has been a fixture and powerful presence on campus since the 1970's. He was the head coach for 46 years and finished his head coaching career as football's all-time winningest coach.  All that said, will scribes now write that Joe Pa made Penn State a better place?

I wasn't going to write a blog on the Penn State situation because I didn't initially feel I had anything to add to the discussion that wasn't already being said or written. After listening to the initial media reports, I thought it was a sad ending to a great career and felt that Paterno's life mission should not be defined by one huge mistake. 

In looking at Joe Pa's life, I saw many similarities to my father's (Clarence "Big House" Gaines) life as a college coach, educator, and humanitarian. On 11/9 I wrote:

When the 4th estate gets involved to this degree - Forget about it - Joe Pa and his family had to know what was going to happen - He's a proud man who had carte blanche at that University for many years. He went out on his shield. Not the type who is going to resign. Get a kick out of seeing him in his house. Man is worth millions, but money means nothing to him. One University, one Wife, and probably one house. Reminds me of my dad. Rarely see that type of stability and contentedness anymore. 

I read Joe Posnanski's article, "The End of Paterno" and shared similar senitments about Paterno and Penn State that Posnanksi expressed in his article.  Posnanksi has been working on a book about Joe Paterno for a couple of years.  

On 11/10 my opinions started to change as I was listening to Dan Patrick's timeline of Sandusky's sexual crimes against prepubescent boys. After listening to Patrick's 5 minute soliloquy I wondered what the ADULTS in STATE COLLEGE were thinking!

Here's the deal with Penn State. Every coach on the Penn State staff knew about Sandusky's illicit behavior.  I've been around athletics all my life. Coaches gossip more than anybody on the planet. No way in the hell Paterno & Mike McQueary were the only two members of that staff who knew about Sandusky. This Mark Madden article takes it to another level: "Jerry Sandusky RUMORED to Have Been 'Pimping Out Young Boys to Rich Donors." Amazingly, this article appeared on 4/3/11 - "Madden: Sandusky a State secret:"

Since April, and probably before that, because of the Grand Jury hearings, the University's leaders knew about this situation. They've had plenty of time to prepare for the fallout.

Many will think Joe Paterno and others in the Penn State athletic department, as well as a few select people in high levels of the University administration, knew about Jerry Sandusky's pedophilic ways prior to 1999. "WHAT DID JOE PATERNO KNOW AND WHEN DID HE KNOW IT?" That key question was addressed in a JULY 27 article, "Paterno will have to face the Sandusky situation."

Sandusky played for Paterno and graduated from Penn State in 1966. After a couple of assistant coaching stints at other colleges, Sandusky returned to "Happy Valley" in 1969 and never left. He was elevated to the defensive coordinator position in 1977 and held that position until he retired in 1999 at the age of 55. Knowing what we know now, the question that must be answered is why did he really retire in 1999?

This Mark Madden quote really resonated with me. "Joe is from a different generation. In his day, this stuff stayed secret. Thank God its not that way now. Another example of Joe staying too long." Paterno is Catholic. Penn State's attempt at a coverup reminds me of how the Catholic church coverd up for their priests - Joe Lapointe's article, "The Hard Truths" also drew the connection - "The alleged cover-up in State College, Pa., is analogous to the scandal that continues to stain the Catholic Church, a breach of trust between controlling adults and vulnerable children that disgusts and horrifies:"

I also read a few pages of the Grand Jury's report on Jerry Sandusky. Dan Patrick's timeline on Sandusky and Penn State is tame in comparison to the actual Grand Jury report.

And then I decided to write something that I feel is different than anything you'll read on Sandusky and Penn State. It's the only reason I'm writing this blog. I hope you take time to read it.

The media is missing a great opportunity to educate people about Pedophilia, which is Jerry Sandusky's MENTAL DISORDER. Have you wondered why a man like Sandusky, who was accomplished and respected in his community, would risk everything to satisfy his sexual urges by sexually abusing young boys? Sandusky's behavior can never be excused, but it needs to be understood and explained to the masses.

My wife is a district attorney in LA County. She works in the Sex Crimes Division. Her unit deals specifically with Sexually Violent Predators. Her main responsibility is to keep convicted offenders behind bars, or in mental institutions when they are eligible to be paroled. People like Sandusky cannot control their impulses/urges and need to be locked up and treated to protect society, as well as to protect them from themselves. When someone has a disease or mental disorder like Sandusky has, he needs help, a lot of help.

Is Pedophilia curable? No, it's not, but it can be managed and treated. A term a doctor might use to describe Pedophilia is that it's "enduring and chronic." My wife likes to say it's "permanent and incurable." These two words, "permanent and incurable" don't offer too much hope for the individuals that suffer from pedophilia. 900+ people in the state of California have been convicted of sexually violent crimes in a 15 year period. Over that 15 year period, only 20 have been CONDITIONALLY released. The word conditionally is important, because they are heavily supervised in the unlikely event they are released.

The people who knew of Sandusky's condition and tolerated it for so many years obviously had no understanding of the chronic and enduring nature of his condition. Whatever he said to them about changing his pattern of behavior were just hollow words, because he had no control over his impulses. In his own way, he was crying out for help and they neglected to hear/listen and respond appropriately to his cries. Pedophiles need to be reported immediately to authorities. They won't change because their mental condition won't allow them to change. Here's a link to somebody who gets the seriousness of this mental disorder, "Get Rid Of The Pedophiles And Let Football Be Damned."

What can we learn from the Penn State debacle? There are so many things that I can list, but the one thing I hope people learn is the responsibility they have for getting pedophiles off the streets. If you see or suspect suspicious behavior, don't ignore your gut instincts. Follow through and tell the appropriate authorities. We all bear a responsibility and Meg Fowler's excellent essay on "bearing responsibility" is one to be heeded.

POSTSCRIPT - Links to article & videos on the Penn State affair that interest me:

"Who knew what about Jerry Sandusky?" by Sara Ganim
"Absolute Power Corrupts Absolutely" by Matt Paknis
"Silence at Penn State" by Rick Reilly - Taking a vow against silence
 "What Every Parent Can Learn from the Penn State Scandal" by @realmattdaddy
 "You Must Read The Grand Jury Report" by Dan Bernstein
"Outside the Arena: College Sports Bubble Can Warp Values" by Kate Fagan
"Guest Post from an Angry Penn State Student"
"No one, it seems, knows Jerry Sandusky" by Elizaberh Merrill Story- excellent video comments by a former Sandusky recruit, Jon Ritchie, who attended Stanford, played in NFL and volunteered for the Second Mile Foundation.
"How Could They do Nothing" by Sandy Banks
"Sandusky Comments" Radio interview with Bob Costas
"What the Catholic Church Can Teach Us About the Penn State Scandal" by Patrick Hruby