Joe Paterno: Why PSU Coach Needs to Defend Himself Immediately

Joe Paterno is affirming his guilt in the eyes of the public by remaining silent.

He sits and watches any hope of saving his credibility slide by each second he remains silent. If he truly has nothing to hide, then he must come forth with what he knows and what he has known.

Instead, he has chosen to remain silent as evidence mounts against him.

It is beginning to look like the next time we hear from Paterno will be on the witness stand. This runs contrary to the widespread description of Paterno being a hard-headed fighter.

This man is currently under the biggest imaginable assault on his character. You would think that these circumstances would raise the instinct to fight in Paterno.

If he truly believed he was being unjustly characterized in the court of public opinion, wouldn't he be screaming his case from the top of a mountain?

Instead he has chosen to hire J. Sedgwick "Wick" Sollers. Sollers is a high-profile criminal defense lawyer. Sollers' list of past clients includes former president George H.W. Bush.

Paterno hired this lawyer despite the fact that he has not been charged with any crimes. Beyond that, prosecutors have said he is a not a target of their investigation of the Jerry Sandusky allegations. 

This only leads to speculation that Paterno knows more information will be uncovered, further incriminating him in efforts to cover up Jerry Sandusky's alleged crimes. 

As a response to this move, Joe's son Scott offered this quote to the press:

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"My father's desire is for the truth to be uncovered and he will work with his lawyers to that end."

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It would be far more effective for Paterno to simply come out and give us the truth he proposes his lawyers will uncover. Instead, he is only making statements through others.

That pattern continued on Monday morning when Paterno had his attorney go on ABC's Good Morning America to denounce the bullying of one of Sandusky's alleged victims.

Sollers told Good Morning America, "Coach Paterno strongly condemns harassment or bullying of any kind, and he asks anyone who truly cares about Penn State to conduct themselves honorably and with respect for others."

These are hollow statements as long as they come from mouths belonging to people other than Joe Paterno. The public needs to hear this from Paterno himself. He needs to be an active participant in the reshaping of his image if those efforts are going to find any success.

Instead he chooses to remain silent, and in the process continues to watch his reputation be irrecoverably stained.