Joe Paterno: Telling the Story of a Legacy
by KennardHusker on Jan 25, 2012 7:19 PM CST
in Penn State
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How do you really measure a person's legacy? Is it apportioned by how many buildings are named after him or her? Is it the dollar figures on a ledger? Is it the amount of wins on a sheet or the quotes in a book? Of course not. Our personal legacies won't just be remembered for how many ridiculously long articles we put out on the internet or how many Red Bulls we drink in a day. When we talk about something such as legacy, it is about more than just numbers. Legacy is about the emotions evoked when we tell the story of a person. Legacy is the full narrative - both good and bad.
In the days following Joe Paterno's death, I have read multiple accounts of the late, great Joe Paterno. Paterno Ave had an excellent write-up here at OTE in which he gave us a great insight into what made Joe so great to so many at Penn State and abroad, "Joe Paterno will be remembered as an historically extraordinary man, the rare individual who stepped into our lives and made our community a family." Across the entire interweb and in every major newspaper near and far, accounts of JoePa's everyman greatness shined even though the lingering effects of a scandal hung over everything like a black cloud that was hard to describe.
Let me stop everyone ready to comment me to death about defaming the name of JoePa. This piece is not about the negatives or positives alone, but rather about the symbiosis between both. This is about how we need to look at the story of a man who was literally regarded with such great esteem that even in the midst of a scandal involving the rape of children, we could empathize with an old coach who might have made a grave mistake. This is looking at the story about Joe Paterno being larger than life and yet approachable at the same time. Legacies are cemented in the stories, and for us to really evaluate how we see Joe Paterno, it is important for everyone to consider the good, the bad, and everything in between. After all, we cannot understand a whole without understanding the pieces.
The Context
A story cannot be understood without context. Joe Paterno ended his career with more wins than any other coach. In a staggering 60 year carrer, his coaching legacy became synonymous with longevity and generational transcendence. To put that into more digestible terms, think about Joe Paterno's coaching career next to historical events. He coached across 12 presidents, the Civil Rights movement, the admittance of Hawaii and Alaska, Vietnam, Korea, the Gulf War, 9/11, the Cold War, a Man on the Moon, the discovery of DNA and the H-bomb, every type of video playback you can imagine, computers of all sorts, cell phones, and the list goes on and on and on. Most of us cannot fathom the amount of change he continually endured to be relevant in a sport that likes to highlight the flavor of the week like JoePa did.
Beyond that, he embarked on the Great Experiment that believed so strongly in creating an environment of education that he and his wife literally donated $3 million of their own money to create a library where students would pursue greater knowledge for generations to come. By all accounts, the story paints Joe Paterno as a saint. Of course, if this was all we knew about him, an article on how should we really remember JoePa wouldn't be necessary, right?
Up to a few months ago, we all would have stopped the story there, but then the stories of Sandusky's child rape came out and we were all stunned by the realization that Paterno might have known enough to do more. That realization meant more to the school, the fans, and the alumni than anyone because it meant that maybe Paterno's 'legacy' was nothing more than a sham. As I look back personally, I am less surprised by the rioting at PSU in light of the identity attached to Paterno. Why was there such an identity attachment? Because as I have now come to understand, everyone had a story about Joe.
The Stories
Penn State fans are not much different than fans of any major college football team. They live and breathe their school, they believe most of what administration is doing is wrong until it's not, and ultimately, they love their icons. As a Nebraska fan, I get this. Osborne and Devaney are universally worshiped in the state of Nebraska. If Pelini wins a MNC, he'll probably get the king treatment as well. Of course, that is what I thought up to when this story broke. Joe Paterno is unlike any figure I have really come into contact with from a fandom standpoint. He was transcendent in a way. That is not to say he was perfect, but more that he managed to be the identity and the bedrock that was Penn State.
This is not to short the school. Penn State is doing and has done amazing research in medicine, has one of the greatest philanthropic viewpoints, and remains a place where students go to learn and expand their knowledge. I am a fan of higher learning and places that emphasize that mission. Still, it would be ridiculous for anyone to overlook the immense importance football had at Penn State. In the days following the uncovering of the Sandusky scandal to the public, I was initially outraged at how sports had managed to be taken more serious than allegations that children were harmed. I was truly heartbroken at a system that I was a part of had been so bastardized to the point where I, along with others, believed that following a game seemed somewhat meaningless.
However, that was probably a skewed point-of-view. That ignored the countless stories I have read on ESPN, CBS Sports, here, BSD, local and national newspapers, and anywhere else where people who truly knew Joe Paterno and the culture he believed in that effused praise on a man who did something bigger than life. I was struck by the reality that the story of Joe Paterno is not some digestible sound byte that we try to put in a box between minute 4 and 5 on the top of SportsCenter. His story was much more complex, and the full narrative spoke volumes to me - it proved that Joe Paterno deserves the adoration and respect he has been getting. Also, it means that the one story that has hung over the memorials around JoePa's passing this week deserves its turn to be told.
The Disaster
"The minute you think you've got it made, disaster is just around the corner" Joe Paterno
The Legacy
So what is Joe Paterno's legacy? What is his story? Many believe that JoePa's story will end up focusing on the good more than the bad. I think that is true, but for now until I am gone, I'll always think about his statement, "With the benefit of hindsight, I wish I had done more." There are a few moments in our lives where we have an opportunity to actually shape the stories that are told about us when we are gone. For most of Joe Paterno's life, he did more to create a positive and lasting image of greatness than any one of us can imagine. From a strict standpoint of success, honor, dedication, and genuine goodness, Joe Paterno seemed to do everything the right way. In one moment, that legacy was tarnished, and I feel like he knew that his actions would stick with him as an undertone to all the good he did. I think that was a regret he probably thought about until his final day.
Personally, I believe Joe Paterno was a great man. He was a man who lived by his instincts and believed that people deserved to be treated with utmost respect. He created a place at Penn State where the campus was his family. He was successful at all that he put his mind to, and he was good for football and made it a much better game. Coaches would do well to model their programs after him, and I would only hope to have a coach that related to generation after generation like him. Still, I will never see him the way he could have been remembered. The story will always have a chapter that includes Sandusky and child rape and the regrets of not doing more. As we write the legacy - the full narrative - of Joe Paterno, we must remember both the greatness of his career and fallibility of his humanity. That is not a bad thing, but it can definitely be a difficult thing. Still, the fact remains that his story is a legacy worth remembering and telling to the following generation, and maybe that is something that will not change.
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Great coach, yes, but he turned his back on a crime
that was taking place in his backyard, and innocent, young people have been scarred for life because he didn’t take action.
He had the power to end it all, fairly quickly, when he got wind of what was going on, and he did nothing, hoping that someone else would do something.
All his good deeds and donations for the good of his beloved university have been negated by the one thing he chose to do when he first got wind of Sandusky’s crimes – NOTHING.
By doing nothing and turning his back on the young people that were being assaulted and abused, he became an accomplice to those crimes.
The good is not negated, neither is the bad
I just don’t understand this
All his good deeds and donations for the good of his beloved university have been negated by the one thing he chose to do when he first got wind of Sandusky’s crimes – NOTHING.
Joe Paterno should have done more. He said so himself. To ignore this chapter of his life would be completely unreasonable. It is as much a part of who he was as the wins he accumulated. That being said, it does not negate the good that he did in the world. The Library, which will provide a place for students to reach their potential for years to come, has not fallen down. The thousands of people who have bought into his ideals of success with honor and have become productive members of society will not suddenly reverse course. The good he has done for our World is every bit as real as the bad. To ignore either would be wrong and intellectually dishonest.
DRUNJIFORNICATION
by SaturdayMorningKegStanzis on Jan 26, 2012 8:03 AM CST up reply actions 4 recs
People get lazy with word choice
Could
Should
Would
Joe Paterno could have done more
Joe Paterno would have done more (with hindsight)
The real question that has been asked through this whole ordeal is whether it’s reasonable to say that he should have done more. It requires a level of abstraction. Put yourself in his shoes. Forget what you know about how everything turned out, because if we’re being fair, that didn’t exist at that time and place and can’t factor into the decision.
It’s incredibly hard to do, and those who have known Joe and the consistency of his character are going to automatically want to give him the benefit of a doubt, they way you would a friend who you know to be a really good guy, and believe that to say he should have done more would be applying an unreasonable standard that honest people would fail to reach a majority of the time. Those who can’t set aside what ended up happening down the road and those who perhaps thought Joe was a sham his whole career will automatically shade their thoughts in the opposite direction and say he absolutely should have done more.
"We gon' get down. We gon' do the do. I'm going to hit these mother****ers" - Dock Ellis, May 1, 1974.
by OctaShields on Jan 27, 2012 10:53 PM CST up reply actions
Going to the police is not turning your back on people
Its farcical to think otherwise
Success With honor
by ICEICETHATGUY13 on Jan 26, 2012 2:50 PM CST via mobile up reply actions
You know the VP wasn’t the “police” right? “Police” are law enforcement officers with the power to arrest, not just set a budget.
Paterno fufilled his statutory duty by reporting to his nominal superior, the AD.
Well, I can understand your view on that.
but what i will counter with is that many many people around the campus, including MM (as stated in his testimony) have seen Shultz ordering the police around. If a man has the ability to cause the police to do action, then that man is in charge of the police.
and morally, which is the direction most people are going with this, then while you can argue until you are blue in the face whether or not Shultz is the police, you would have to decide whether Joe and MM regarded him as the police. You should read MM’s testimony in the perjury trial, where he stated that he thought Shultz was a part of the police.
We didnt get to ask Joe, but there had to be some reason Shultz was picked to be there, right?
All of our comments are irrelevant - LetsGoPSU
Ummm yeah
I thought that Joe was the one praised by the DA and attorney general for actually doing the right thing.
but you know… I could be wrong…
All of our comments are irrelevant - LetsGoPSU
I'd characterize her as damning him with faint praise
but you’re right, it was the state police comissioner who talked about the moral obligation for adults with knowledge of child rape.
Also, the reference above as to countering the DA is with regard to why Curley and Shultz have been charged. It’s not arguing Shultz is the police, because legally he is not the police (hence the charges).
You know that Gary Schultz was the head of the University Police at the time, right?
And these police can arrest people too, and hire full time employees, and aren’t just some rent a cops.
Success With honor
by ICEICETHATGUY13 on Jan 26, 2012 4:27 PM CST up reply actions
Then why were Curley and the AD indicted for failure to report? Because, at minimum, under your logic, the AD is in the clear and Curley.
Again, the DA has said Curley ain’t the police. Believe that if you wish, but that why he’s going to trial.
Schultz isn't the police? Fantabulous (Sidenote: That's a word!)
Never said he was. He was in charge of the Penn State police department.
(Off topic)
Really, they should be targeting people like the governor, who, As Attorney General of the state at the time, Corbett assigned a single state trooper to investigate the allegations – though that law officer was not authorized to bring charges against Sandusky because Corbett decided not to assign an agent from his office to directly supervise the investigation. His campaign was funded by the second mile.
Success With honor
by ICEICETHATGUY13 on Jan 26, 2012 5:35 PM CST up reply actions
Which allegations?
The ones in the 90’s or 2002? This wasn’t the first time JS was allegedly involved in improper conduct. So AFTER the allegations in the 90’s, the “shocked” card is ridiculous.
No offense
But the blatant misunderstanding of basic facts really doesn’t set the stage for meaningful discussion.
Curley is the Athletic Director
Schultz is the VP who is, in some regard, “head of police” (not trying to argue this, and mileage may vary)
Whether Schultz or Curley are police is irrelevant to why the Attorney General brought charges against them. Charges were brought for lying under oath, and the subject of the alleged lies was regarding what McQueary told them in their meeting in 2002. Even if Schultz as a police commissioner, the charge would have been the same.
You are correct that informing Schultz was not considered adequate to satisfy the statutory reporting requirements. That is why the failure to report charge was filed. I don’t believe anyone has argued this. What most people raise as an issue is whether there was an expectation that Schultz, as (enter whatever police relationship you believe here) was in communication with police and had the knowledge and resources to make sure a proper investigation was undertaken. Why this never happened is still unclear, but like Phil Knight said, it likely had nothing to do with Joe Paterno.
"We gon' get down. We gon' do the do. I'm going to hit these mother****ers" - Dock Ellis, May 1, 1974.
by OctaShields on Jan 27, 2012 11:01 PM CST up reply actions
not quite sure where you get doing nothing
and how you’re confusing it with doing more. I also am not sure what you would have had him do. He knew of one account, secondhand, of something that might have been sexual in nature. He realized he was out of his depth and passed it along to his supervisor and the VP who oversaw the police department. His supervisor then came back and followed up with Joe.
Now 10 years later, we seem to know the full story. We now know that Sandusky had been investigated for a similar incident before. We now know that several more victims have come forward. We know now that his supervisor, and the bureaucrat in charge of the police did basically squat all. Joe now wishes he had done more, maybe going to the police instead of the guy who runs the police. Maybe something else, I’m not sure.
I’m not here to tell you Joe is blameless, that he is a saint, because he isn’t. I am going to say that at the time, he probably thought he did the best thing for everyone… including the kids.
He is hardly an accomplice though. If someone told you about a crime someone committed, and later on a bunch of people got hurt, would that make you responsible for their actions? If your son came home and said he saw George Smith speeding in a school zone, would you call the police? Probably Not. But three days later, when speeding George Smith takes out a little kid, could you say in hindsight, that you wish you had done more? Does that make you an accomplice to his crime? No, probably not. Does it make you human? Yes, definitely.
In short, yes, his “legacy” is tainted, but gone? Not in the slightest.
All of our comments are irrelevant - LetsGoPSU
by jaytay13 on Jan 26, 2012 4:05 PM CST up reply actions 2 recs
Hate the sin, not the sinner
JoePa didn’t do more to stop child abuse (keep in mind — if Curley did his job and investigated what JoePa reported, Sandusky would have been stopped and JoePa would have been….well, not lauded, but at least recognized for doing the right thing), but he did report it. Still, if you think he should have done more, then that was a sin……something wrong that JoePa did.
So call that out. Everyone has. Everyone should. We all have a heightened obligation to protect children, and JoePa in this instance fell short of that heightened obligation.
But that’s it. That’s his “sin.” He was still a good, honorable, and distinguished man who added much to the lives of hundreds if not thousands of peoples’ lives, and raised a family, team, and university with honor. Hate his sin, but honor/respect JoePa.
by Chadnudj on Jan 26, 2012 11:19 AM CST reply actions 5 recs
I like your perspective, haven't heard many express this idea
I think the thing that gets my blood boiling the most is when someone says something like “this shows that the image Paterno carefully created over all those years of being clean and honorable and moral was a sham, and the only important thing in his life was football.” I mean, do people really think he spent 85 years playing a character that he didn’t real believe in to hide his real motive, and the only major crack in that veneer came out when it was revealed he might not have done enough with information of someone else’s misdeeds? That’s actually more incredible.
"We gon' get down. We gon' do the do. I'm going to hit these mother****ers" - Dock Ellis, May 1, 1974.
by OctaShields on Jan 27, 2012 11:13 PM CST up reply actions
When faced with the hardest decision of his life...
…he failed several times and people got hurt real bad.
Dikaia Upotheke - Justice Our Foundation
THE HARDEST DECISION OF HIS LIFE!!!!
Just wanted to emphasize that, since we know everything that happened and all
When we get the Pig, the Jug and the Axe, we'll have one hell of a picnic
Well Paterno time-traveled and read the presentment from 2011
then went back to 2002 and had to make a decision when McQueary came into his house. Do I stop the rest of the horrible things that will happen or do I report it to the people I’m supposed to and hope they don’t do anything with it so that I may continue coaching? It was a remarkable difficult decision, and he showed his humanity in the choice he ended up making.
Also, he failed several times.
"We gon' get down. We gon' do the do. I'm going to hit these mother****ers" - Dock Ellis, May 1, 1974.
by OctaShields on Jan 27, 2012 11:18 PM CST up reply actions
I can't wait to give the word legacy a rest after all of this
But what if his legacy is an improved awareness of child abuse? I think that is the most responsible way to honor him or to correct the errors.
No good comes out of trying to be more outraged at the situation than the next guy, just the same as no good comes from only choosing to remember the amount of good he did in his time on earth.
His passing left a lot of us in mourning, but hopefully no one ever forgets the victims. Instead of saying Paterno was bad or that people who mourn him are “in a bubble,” why not do something constructive? Instead of only honoring his achievements, why not honor him by doing something to break the silence around child abuse and changing the world for the better.
I know I will have no trouble telling my children about what Joe Paterno stood for in life, and using the final chapter of his life as a way to teach them to always speak up if something doesn’t seem right.
by ChrisHarrell's_stache05 on Jan 26, 2012 12:23 PM CST reply actions 6 recs
That's something he actually brought up in that final interview
The point of raising the awareness of something like that happening with anybody with unsupervised access to kids. There was some guy’s account on how the whole trial has changed how many coaches interact with kids it on the back page of SI a month or so ago, and they reaired an episode of Law and Order SVU last night that was on that same topic, which originally aired just before everything hit the fan at Penn State. A lot of the Catholic Church stuff was pretty hush-hush, but this blows the entire topic out to anybody who watches sports
When we get the Pig, the Jug and the Axe, we'll have one hell of a picnic
by Marshmoose on Jan 26, 2012 12:37 PM CST up reply actions 1 recs
Can we just stop with this?
I know it’s the off season, and not much is going on. Also, this is sort of a big deal, but it turns in to a cripletard slap-fight of legacy defenders vs people that can’t wait to say something bad about somebody.
HELP IS ON THE WAY
~Banned at ATO since June 3rd, 2011, 2ish PM PST
by SouthBayBuckeye on Jan 26, 2012 5:36 PM CST reply actions 3 recs
If we don’t fight about this, what will the righteous internet warrior community do instead? The “if I were on the plane during 9/11, I would have stopped it” market is already taken.
/Marky Mark'd
HELP IS ON THE WAY
~Banned at ATO since June 3rd, 2011, 2ish PM PST
by SouthBayBuckeye on Jan 27, 2012 12:21 PM CST up reply actions
Joe was a man, not a saint.
When you look at him as a man, not a saint, you can appreciate his accomplishments and virtues for their own intrinsic value. And, then, if you wish, note that he had some failings, made some mistakes, was caught up in a bad situation that he didn’t create and wasn’t prepared for. Or you can choose to forget that.
But if you try to canonize him, there will be people there pointing out the flaws.
Joe didn’t make himself out to be a saint. We shouldn’t either. Appreciate the good for what it was and the good it left behind…. and regret the unfortunate in the way that seems appropriate to you, but don’t ignore it. Joe would want you to learn from it.
Paul -
Go Sparty! Go Bucks! Go Tigers!
by pmeisel on Jan 26, 2012 11:03 PM CST reply actions 2 recs
I feel like he knew that his actions would stick with him as an undertone to all the good he did. I think that was a regret he probably thought about until his final day.
I read most of his statements re: wishing he’d done more and regret or whatever to be about the kids. I mean, take it with a grain of salt if you wish, but everyone who talked to him since he was fired has said that he was not bitter, was at peace, and had a clear conscience. He was obviously devastated by the allegations he read in the presentment, as any human being has been. But I don’t think he stared out any windows, wistfully ruing the fate of his public legacy.
I think he understood that with every good deed he did, with every lesson he taught, he was actually building tangible foundations for people and communities. Anything that happened wouldn’t make the good deed bad, or the life lesson meaningless. A legacy is not a ponzi scheme, that is built on fantasy and then when the bubble bursts, everything is gone. I believe he was content with his life. As I believe Jay said success is defined by other people, excellence is something inside you. This general philosophy actually dates back to comments and stories about Joe’s father, through stories about Joe in high school, through quotes he made while coaching and up until his final interviews and conversations.
"We gon' get down. We gon' do the do. I'm going to hit these mother****ers" - Dock Ellis, May 1, 1974.
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