Penn State Scandal: Shame over Allegations Will Destroy Joe Paterno's Legacy

Joe Paterno’s legacy will be forever tarnished by the allegations that former defensive coordinator Jerry Sandusky did things of a sexual nature to a child.

As of right now, there are only allegations, but if they turn out to be true, Joe Pa and all of his accomplishments at Penn State will have a blemish on them.

Paterno admitted in his statement,

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“As my grand jury testimony stated, I was informed in 2002 by an assistant coach that he had witnessed an incident in the shower of our locker room facility. It was obvious that the witness was distraught over what he saw, but he at no time related to me the very specific actions contained in the Grand Jury report. Regardless, it was clear that the witness saw something inappropriate involving Mr. Sandusky. As Coach Sandusky was retired from our coaching staff at that time, I referred the matter to university administrators”

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Paterno should and most likely will step down as the coach of the Nittany Lions in the very near future because of this.

I imagine he will play out the season, but that will be all. As a coach in some capacity with the program since 1950 and head coach since 1966, I’m sure Paterno will be afforded some dignity during his fall from grace and will not be "fired," but the program cannot have him around anymore.

Paterno was once thought of as the gold standard that all coaches should strive to meet, but he has proven here that he is human and capable of making mistakes.

His mistake has most likely cost at least one young child their innocence.

When a graduate assistant traumatically reported that he saw Sandusky and a child together doing sexual things in the Nittany Lion showers, all Paterno did was meekly forward it up the chain of command and let it be.

That is not enough for allegations so shocking and horrible.

Since the organization covered it up and did nothing to legally reprimand this monster, again, if the allegations are true, Paterno will always have this dark stain on his accomplishments.

He had the capability to do so much more and put a stop to it then. It’s a damn shame he didn’t.