Penn State Football: Examining Joe Paterno's Legacy

The media coverage and general reaction to Joe Paterno’s passing is decidedly two-sided.

On one side, there is the slew of writers, comment leavers, bloggers and torchbearers who respectfully look back at Paterno’s 62-year career and aim to honor his achievements both on and off the football field.

These are the people that remind us that Paterno spent six decades dedicated to one town, one institution and the preservation of a set of ideals that is slipping from our modern world.

And these people are absolutely correct in their approach to memorializing Paterno.

But for every tribute-minded scribe or defensive remark leaver, there is inevitably someone that boldly reminds us that the events of the last three months cannot be simply ignored when considering Joe Paterno’s legacy.

These are the people that remind us that for every life Paterno touched, there are a group of young boys that were allegedly sexually abused while at some level, the vaunted coach had knowledge of it.

Yes, he reported the allegations up the chain of command, but that is where his role as an advocate ceased to exist.

And these people are absolutely correct in their approach.

Indeed, in the case of the legacy of Joe Paterno, both sides of the ongoing argument are accurate and fair.

And probably, at the end of the day, some fine line invisibly drawn between the two opposing factions is where the proper gauge lies for the consideration of Joe Paterno’s legacy.

He was a leader, a teacher, a champion, a coach, a mentor, a father, a husband and a friend, and he was an enabler, an overlooker, an allower and a less-than-diligent whistle blower.

JoePa was a saint, and yes, he was a sinner.

Perhaps what Joe Paterno was most guilty of was being a human being.

Identifying him as such does not let him off the hook for not fully fulfilling his role of protector in the alleged child abuse case, but it also does not completely wash away all the good he did for his family, his players, Penn State University, college football, his community and his country.

And because he was just a fallible human, we should let the man rest in peace.

But that does not mean that we should lie to rest the investigation, the examination and the search for answers as to why what happened at Penn State was allowed to transpire.

Yes, how was the allure of a high-profile football program made available for use as a guise to groom young boys for the alleged unspeakable sexual acts?

Though Paterno should rest, the inquiry, the quest for solutions, the need for sweeping changes and ultimately, the goal of prevention should not be given respite.

Is Joe Paterno’s legacy marred by the sex abuse scandal at Penn State?

Absolutely.

But at the end of the day, we will each individually and then collectively choose how to remember him.

And we would be prudent, as fallible humans ourselves, to be mindful that though the ugly and evil nature of what possibly occurred cannot be whitewashed by any number of good deeds that, on the other hand, the bad cannot serve to completely extinguish the palpable good.

Perhaps the lesson of Joe Paterno’s legacy is that no man or woman, regardless of how high they are held in esteem by our society of hero worship, can be perfect in such an imperfect world.