Why Joe Paterno Should Resign Before Being Fired

It is time for Joe Paterno to finally do the right thing. He needs to step down from his position at Penn State.

He owes it to himself. He owes it to the public, and he owes it to the alleged victims of Jerry Sandusky.

In all the reports that have surfaced regarding this issue, Paterno did not do anything illegal, but he acted in a completely morally bankrupt way.

Paterno had enough information to know that there was a problem with Jerry Sandusky. At the very least, it deserved serious investigation by the university and by law enforcement.

As Dan Wetzel of Yahoo! Sports reported, there were allegations from a graduate assistant that Paterno was the first one notified after the assistant allegedly witnessed Sandusky raping a boy in the showers.

Even if those allegations are false, there is the fact—as Wetzel also reported—that Jerry Sandusky was ordered not to bring kids onto the Penn State campus. There is also the fact that Sandusky surprisingly retired after this alleged incident.

Paterno would have been a part of this loop, and there is no way he would have let these things go on without knowing why it was happening.

There is no way around it. At the very least, Paterno knew there was an incident in the Penn State showers that very well may have been Jerry Sandusky taking advantage of a 10-year-old boy. 

And he did nothing with that information. He did nothing to ensure the safety of other boys. Boys that Paterno knew Sandusky had nearly unlimited access to.

There is no excuse that Paterno could offer up to atone for this. It is time for him to face the music and take the blame for his inaction.

He needs to let it be known that this perception is simply not the case:

To make a small atonement for his misdeeds, he needs to make it crystal clear that it is unacceptable to sit on information that could possibly ensure the safety and well being of others.

He needs to accept blame. He needs to show the proper amount of remorse that would come from someone who sat on information that may have prevented children from getting molested. He needs to offer a heartfelt apology, and tell the world he does not deserve to be coach of Penn State.

Joe Paterno needs to now do what he failed to do 10 years ago, and that is the right thing.