Joe Paterno: Student Support Means Nothing in Grand Scheme of Scandal

The students at Penn State are supporting embattled head coach Joe Paterno by showing up at his house and protesting in the streets.

Big deal.

Penn State is currently in the middle of one of the worst scandals in the history of college sports, and their beloved football coach is smack dab in the middle of it.

Sure, Paterno didn’t commit any crimes, but his lack of moral standards is appalling. Doing the bare minimum after hearing about a grown man taking a shower with a child is inexcusable for somebody in his position.

Fox Sports columnist Greg Couch sums it up nicely:

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If the report is right, Paterno, leader of men for the past half century, simply called his athletic director and passed on the information of the rape his graduate assistant described to him; like telling your boss on a co-worker who is stealing staples from the supply closet.

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Remember: Paterno is the biggest figure in Happy Valley, and arguably the entire state of Pennsylvania.

His name is on the campus library. A statue of him stands outside Beaver Stadium. An ice cream flavor at a shop in town is named after him. His image is showcased on a sandwich shop in the student center.

The man is everywhere.

That’s why it’s no surprise that throngs of students were awaiting his arrival, just as though Elvis was entering the building. People tend to be very loyal...almost to a fault.

That’s where the real irony in this story lies.

Why is Paterno under so much scrutiny right now? Because he was fiercely loyal to one of his closest friends. Paterno didn’t want to rat Sandusky out to the cops. I’m sure he wanted Sandusky to stop molesting kids, but he let others attempt to take care of that.

Now the students are sticking up for him and are ignoring the writing on the wall. They want to believe in their hero—the man who has brought so much joy to so many of them. They don’t understand what exactly JoePa did (or didn’t) do; they just want their coach to escape unharmed.

Penn officials recently announced that a special committee is going to be formed. This means that Paterno is going to get a fair shake at keeping his job—something that’s a long shot at this point.

Regardless of what happens, I can guarantee you they won’t be factoring in a single word the students say about it.