Time To Go.....

Penn State football coach - Joe Paterno

Joe Paterno is as old as my father, and he is in much better shape.  He has been the gold standard for coaching, running a clean and successful program for 46 years - close to my entire life.  

Last Saturday the story broke that in 2002 an assistant coach walked in on a former coach having sex in the shower with a young boy.  The assistant told Paterno who in turn told a vice-president.  The vice-president did not notify the police, nor did the athletic director, nor did Coach Paterno.  And there, is the rub.  The coach says that he didn't know about the graphic nature of the incident, but that isn't what the assistant coach says, and that runs counter to my gut feeling.  I can only imagine the disgust and horror of walking in on an adult abusing a boy, and I can't help but think that the assistant coach would have been very candid and upset about exactly what he had seen.  At some point the Coach had to realize that the situation was being kicked under the rug, and at the very least it was his obligation to be a moral leader and not allow this adult to continue to prey on young boys.

We are all human, but whatever motives Coach Paterno had for not reporting this incident - they just don't measure up.