Penn State Scandal: Why Putting a Gag Order on Joe Paterno Was Smart Move

The Penn State scandal is bad enough as it is—the school doesn't need it to get any worse.

That’s why it was a very intelligent move by the PSU athletic department to put a gag order on head coach Joe Paterno for tomorrow’s press conference. He will only be discussing questions regarding Saturday’s game against Nebraska.

This is by far the smartest move to make at this point.

At the age of 84, Paterno isn’t exactly the swiftest on his feet at this point in his life. Throwing him to the wolves would result in at least one quote that will be misconstrued and posted on every blog, message board and sports website in the nation.

CNBC sports reporter and Twitter guru Darren Rovell agrees: 

Tomorrow’s press conference is going to be one of the most awkward 20-30 minutes of all time. Reporters are going to try their very best to bait Paterno into commenting on the allegations, and JoePa is going to be squirming.

Does Nebraska’s Taylor Martinez pose as your biggest offensive threat to date coach?

Yawn.

It’s a shame, because Penn State is No. 12 in the latest BCS poll and is playing No. 19 Nebraska in one of the best games of the week. Major Big Ten implications are on the line.

Too bad it’s a complete afterthought at this point. Let Paterno stand up in front of a crowd and pretend like everything is still OK in Happy Valley, it’s the only move to make right now.

But you can bet that’s the last thing on his mind, and the minds of everyone involved with the university.

It is truly a dark day in Pennsylvania and even its most famous state employee can’t fix it.