Did Paterno Have Multiple Reasons to Stay Around so Long?

By now we are all well aware of the scandal that has recently unfolded at Penn State University.

I believe we are just hearing the beginning of it. New information seems to unveil itself daily. The snowball effect that will surely ensue is going to be extremely memorable for a host of different reasons.

We will start with the most obvious reason.

Joe Paterno was fired via telephone call on Thursday November 9, 2011. Was this the best exit strategy? Probably not. Penn State did have to do something immediately, though. Damage control is what the board of trustees should be best at. A university's board of trustees has one goal in mind: protecting the reputation of their respected university.

Mike McQueary apparently walked in on Jerry Sandusky in the Penn State locker room while inappropriate actions were occurring. It is difficult to judge his decision of leaving the locker room and going straight to Paterno, instead of the proper authority. Then again, was his proper authority not his head football coach?

McQueary was a young graduate assistant who had played four years of QB under Paterno at Penn State. The young professional was aspiring to make his mark in the program.

The thoughts of question that raced through his head are very difficult to pin point. His idol Paterno was the one person he found trustworthy.

When McQueary relayed the information to Paterno, that’s when protective measures should have taken place. Paterno was 76 years old at the time McQueary revealed the news of Sandusky to him. Plenty old enough to know that the appropriate guideline goes beyond the athletic director of the university, who served as the only person that Paterno went to regarding the matter.

The question then arises with ease: Does this information have something to do with how long Paterno paced the sidelines in Happy Valley?

As long as Paterno stays around, the information, or lack thereof, has a strong lid on it. Leaks are always going to be worrisome.

It only takes one person. Just as McQueary proved in 2010 when he lamented himself in football history by exposing his conscience to a grand jury.

However, this was not the first time that suspicion of Sandusky surfaced itself. In 2009, Pennsylvania State Attorney General Tom Corbett began investigating the program. However, when he was elected governor of Pennsylvania, he could no longer be involved with such matters, as the university is publicly funded.

All of these years of people adoring Paterno’s love for the game could easily be viewed as his love of secrecy.

When a coach becomes so involved in a program, they forget about the other aspects of life.

Vince Lombardi is a perfect example. In HBO’s spectacular documentary of the legendary football coach, titled Lombardi (a must watch if you are a red blooded American), his children tried their best to explain the undying love he had for the game. Lombardi’s son and daughter explained that their father was never more in sync or normal than when he was on the sidelines.

Lombardi once told his son that if the game was taken away from him, it would crush him more than any other possible event in the world.

That is the closest explanation I can give of these coaches' love for the game.

Could this be the case for Joe Paterno? Absolutely.

The all-time leading victor in NCAA football history could have possibly become so emotionally involved with winning and protecting his program that moral decision making came second, when it should be first.

In the United States, we place higher values on sport than just about any other facet of life. This can’t be any more demonstrated than in SEC football.

A board of trustees would more than likely shut down the school’s business department for a semester than cancel a football season. We see this in the midst of all of the controversy at hand regarding the situation.

We have yet to hear students speak about the possible devaluing of their degree. Or open up about all of the distractions that are occurring on campus and the reflection they could have on final exams.

Penn State University was founded on the merit of providing a top notch education, not winning football games.