Penn State Scandal: Franco Harris Misses Point with Defense of Joe Paterno

The popular opinion at the moment is that former Penn State head football coach Joe Paterno could have done more to prevent Jerry Sandusky's alleged sexual crimes against children. Specifically, he could have gone to the cops when he was told of an incident involving Sandusky and a young boy back in 2002.

As popular as this opinion may be, there are plenty of people who disagree. A good portion of the Penn State student body made it abundantly clear after JoePa was fired on Wednesday night that they're still in his corner, and JoePa has a myriad of other supporters as well.

One of these is Pro Football Hall of Famer and Penn State alum Franco Harris. According to ABC News, he stopped by Paterno's Happy Valley house on Sunday, stopping just long enough to give reporters a piece of his mind.

As the report put it, Harris "doesn’t understand why Paterno is being portrayed the way he is, that he did what he should have done in the case."

This is not the first time Harris has opened up about Paterno's firing. He spoke to the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review on Friday, and his comments were much more elaborate:

"

I feel that the [Board of Trustees] made a bad decision in letting Joe Paterno go. I'm very disappointed in their decision. I thought they showed no courage, not to back someone who really needed it at the time. They were saying the football program under Joe was at fault.

They really wouldn't give a reason. They're linking the football program to the scandal and, possibly, the cover up. That's very disturbing to me. ... I think there should be no connection to the football program, only in the case that it happened at the football building with an ex-coach. I'm still trying to find out who gave him access to the building, who signed that contract.

"

Couple of things to note here.

When the board announced its decision to fire Paterno, the state of the football program was a footnote. John Surma, vice president of the board, said that the decision was made because it served the "best interests of the university as a whole."

As such, Harris' insistence that the board made the Penn State football program a victim of a witch hunt is a little off the mark.

Harris also had thoughts about Pennsylvania state police commissioner Frank Noonan's belief that Paterno had a "moral responsibility" to report Sandusky for the 2002 incident, which is detailed in a grand jury report.

"When I heard that, it blew my mind," Harris said. "Why would they bring the moral into the legal? Now, everyone gets to interpret in their own way. That's what really bothers me: Joe did what was right for him to do. He forwarded the information to his superiors. That's the legal procedure at Penn State."

Harris is off the mark here as well. If the moral and the legal were truly being mistaken for one another in this case, Paterno would be facing the same failure to report charges as Athletic Director Tim Curley and administrator Gary Schultz. But because he did indeed follow the legal procedure at Penn State, he is legally in the clear.

However, the point that has been stressed quite often in the last week is that the 2002 incident was too big to be kept within the boarders of Penn State. That it ended up being hidden within the borders of Penn State is even worse, as it essentially allowed Sandusky to keep up his alleged crimes for close to a decade.

As such, the moral gripe that people have with Paterno is largely justified. If the allegations against Sandusky are true, Paterno basically harbored a pedophile for nine years.

Paterno himself admitted he could have done more when he announced his intent to retire on Wednesday morning.

"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," he said, per the Associated Press.

The common criticism is that JoePa shouldn't need hindsight to know he should have done more. That said, at least he could bring himself to admit that he made a mistake.

If Paterno can admit that, then so should his various supporters, Harris included. Paterno's reputation for being a morally flawless individual held for a very long time, but it no longer applies.

The sooner people like Harris give it up, the better.