Mike McQueary Penn State: Assistant's Reaction Exposes Culture of Happy Valley

What would you do?

What if you were a late 20’s graduate assistant looking to move up the collegiate coaching ranks, and saw an extremely respected superior raping a young boy?

Would you try and break up the altercation? Would you pull the fire alarm? Would you call the police?

Or would you run away and call your dad?

Mike McQueary chose option No. 4, which was his natural reaction.

Sure, it was a horrendous decision. Sure, there are a million ethically and moral questions you can ask regarding his actions, but it brings up a bigger point.

McQueary decided he didn’t want to hurt the team, coaching staff and university over saving a helpless 10-year-old that is now scared for life.

McQueary went to high school less than a mile away from Penn State’s campus, and was the quarterback for the “Little Lions," where kids dream of playing for the iconic Joe Paterno. He lived out that dream as QB for the Nittany Lions from 1994-1997. Since 2000, he has been a member of the university in a slew of capacities, including assistant coach and recruiting coordinator.

In other words…this guy bleeds blue and white.

So when he was faced with the possibility of potentially bringing down his former defensive coordinator, Jerry Sandusky, McQueary did what he knew best: pass.

He called his dad for advice, knowing that he just witnessed something that could forever smear his beloved school. His dad suggested telling the coaching staff, not the cops. So McQueary obliged.

McQueary and the rest of the athletic department didn’t say a word upon hearing the news, something that state police Commissioner Frank Noonan believes is unprecedented:

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I don't think I've ever been associated with a case with this type of eyewitness identification of sex acts taking place where the police weren't called.

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The most telling part and the biggest reason to be so upset about the way this case was handled is that McQueary isn’t a follower. Just ask his old gym teacher, Kenneth Barto:

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I would say leadership was one of his strong points. Just from what I saw, he was a take-charge type of guy. The other guys on the team followed his leadership.

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He wanted to protect the program, a culture that takes years to cultivate. It’s great that kids are loyal to their college, but there is a line. Penn State football stepped over that line and used it to their advantage.

This story is far from over, with eventually cover-ups likely to be exposed. But remember that this goes deeper than just grown men failing to help a defenseless child. It puts the culture of the program on full display. Its proof that JoePa, Sandusky and the football team are more important than some kid.

Covering for his football superiors? That’s the only decision that made sense to McQueary…and there is something extraordinarily wrong with that. His decision is the product of a culture that had been cultivated for over 40 years under Paterno, a man we thought held a higher moral standard.

We were wrong.