Joe Paterno: How Penn State Scandal Has Tarnished Legacy

Penn State was rocked by sex abuse allegations involving former coach Jerry Sandusky over the weekend. Two school officials, athletic director Tim Curley and vice president for finance and business Gary Schultz, have stepped down in the wake of the scandal, according to the Los Angeles Times.

Head football coach Joe Paterno has taken his fair share of heat as well, even though law enforcement personnel have said he did the right thing by relaying what he heard to administrators. But how badly will the incident tarnish the legendary coach's legacy?

The best way to gauge that in today's world is taking to social media to see how fans reacted to the news. Many people shared the thoughts of Jorge Milian, who tweeted the following about Paterno's statement:

Even if it wasn't a relative, doesn't Paterno have a moral obligation to report an accusation like the one he heard to the authorities? It seems like a situation that required more attention than simply passing information along and wiping his hands clean.

One of the biggest questions to arise from this scandal is whether or not Paterno will be able to maintain his job. He's been speculated to be on the way out before and there are some people, including the NFL Network's Albert Breer, that think this will be his ticket to retirement.

As with any major event, people have attempted to compare it to a historical story. Perhaps no idea has been more interesting than Mark Madden's, which links Joe Pa to a former president.

And then, of course, there is a football analogy via Dwayne Watts:

Throughout the storm of negativity, Paterno still has his supporters. Most of them echo that statement made by Holly Williams in response to CBS Philadelphia asking if Paterno should step down:

Even current students have come to his defense, including Macy G, who pointed to his long, successful tenure as head coach as the reason to lay off Joe Pa.

However the scandal affects his job status, Paterno's legacy should remain solely based on his on-field successes. You can't let the memory of the winningest head coach in Division I-A history be completely tainted by one, hopefully isolated, bad apple.

Not everybody agrees with that sentiment, though. Hunter Scoggins thinks the scandal will overshadow everything the 84-year-old coach accomplished at Penn State.

It will take some time before the dust settles and we get a better understanding of Paterno's role in the entire scandal. As it stands now, it's hard to imagine Joe Pa's legacy remaining blemish free. He could have done more and chose not to, which rubbed a lot of people the wrong way.