Joe Paterno Will Be Remembered as Neither Legend or Leader

College football's most treasured possessions are the legacies of its greatest coaches. 

Knute Rockne, Bear Bryant, Tom Osborne, Bo Shembechler, Lou Holtz are all immortalized in bronze just outside a stadium where they led young men to glory.

A week ago, there is no doubt that Joe Paterno's name would have been high on that list.

Paterno has not only presided over the Penn State football program since 1966, but for the last 45 years, he has been Penn State football.

With a record of 409-136-3, Paterno is the winningest coach of all time. He has won a pair of National Championships, a trio of Big Ten Titles and has won or been honored with every major coaching award several times over.

He has long been thought of as the moral compass of college football, a guiding light who ran a successful bigtime program "the right way." He was a champion for the university, a pillar of the community and an indelible figure that transcended the sport that he coached.

He was in many ways a living legend.

Those images of the legend were all shattered last week as news broke that former Penn State defensive coordinator and Paterno's heir apparent Jerry Sandusky was being federally indicted on allegations of sexual abuse of several minors.

The news of a prominent football coach at a major university being inappropriate with children would be damning enough, but it soon became evident that it was no secret.

In 1998, Penn State Campus Police and local law enforcement investigated a report that Jerry Sandusky had engaged in sex with a 10-year-old boy in the football facility's shower.

Sandusky admitted that he was naked in the shower with the young boy, promised to never do it again and the matter seemed to have disappeared.

On Saturday, the State of Pennsylvania released the Grand Jury Indictment report that outlined terribly disturbing details of eight separate incidents where a young boy was sexually abused by Sandusky.

The children were mostly selected out of Sandusky's "Second Mile Program" meant to benefit children. Many of the attacks occurred on university property.

The most damaging revelation toward Paterno is the knowledge that he had been aware of the crimes and had done nothing.

In 2002, then graduate assistant, now wide receivers coach, Mike McQueary, walked in on Sandusky committing a sexual act in the shower of Penn State's Lasch Football Building in 2002.

McQueary reported the incident to Paterno, who reports indicate reported the information to his superiors at Penn State, but did not call the police.

Twice Sandusky had been caught performing a sex act on a minor on the Penn State campus.

The football program had full knowledge.

Sandusky was asked to promise that he wouldn't do it again.

For all his successes on the football field, what Paterno's legacy will be headlined by will be an epic failure of judgment.

A man whose mission is the molding of young hearts and minds willingly left a monster free to prey on those very hearts and minds, so long as he didn't do it at Penn State.

Even after the full Indictment was published and the firestorm around Paterno had begun, he still failed to grasp the gravity of the situation. On his way to practice Tuesday, he and his son waded through a field of reporters between front door and car, and managed to say only that they were saddened that the press conference had been cancelled.

Given the chance, Paterno offered no solace for the victims, nor regret for his actions.

This afternoon, Paterno released this statement:

"I am absolutely devastated by the developments in this case. I grieve for the children and their families, and I pray for their comfort and relief.

I have come to work every day for the last 61 years with one clear goal in mind: To serve the best interests of this university and the young men who have been entrusted to my care. I have the same goal today.

That's why I have decided to announce my retirement effective at the end of this season. At this moment the Board of Trustees should not spend a single minute discussing my status. They have far more important matters to address. I want to make this as easy for them as I possibly can. This is a tragedy. It is one of the great sorrows of my life. With the benefit of hindsight, I wish I had done more.

My goals now are to keep my commitments to my players and staff and finish the season with dignity and determination. And then I will spend the rest of my life doing everything I can to help this University."

Most read this for what it was, a final grasp by a man who realized he had run out of rope.

The Joe Paterno era was over.

Everybody knew it.

The coach who had won more games than any other coach in college football history was not going out a champion, or a legend. His final season would not be remembered for the team's surprising 8-1 record.

He won't get the chance to lead his team into the first ever Big Ten title game, or the bowl game that will follow.

He won't get to ride off into the sunset as the man who coached more college football games than any other.

Instead he will be remembered for hanging on too long, letting pride trump prudence, ignoring proper judgment and being fired before he could resign.

What is worse is that he will be remembered for the scandal that pulled him down.

Just as Woody Hayes is remembered for being that crazy coach who got fired for punching a Clemson player, Paterno will be remembered for knowing one of his closest friends was raping children and doing nothing.