Joe Paterno Got Richer Contract Amid Jerry Sandusky Inquiry

www.nytimes.com:

In January 2011, Joe Paterno learned prosecutors were investigating his longtime assistant coach Jerry Sandusky for sexually assaulting young boys. Soon, Mr. Paterno had testified before a grand jury, and the rough outlines of what would become a giant scandal had been published in a local newspaper.

Read the whole story at www.nytimes.com

From our partners

• The 50 Worst Sports Movies - Bleacher Report
• 20 Reasons Baseball Is The Worst - Bleacher Report
• Sports Stars Of The '90s: Where Are They Now? - Bleacher Report

Comments

[TeeSC]

02:59 PM on 07/16/2012

I didn't think my respect for Joe could fall any more than it already has.

[Kimpeach]

10:37 PM on 07/15/2012

Shameful and disgraceful! This family shows JoePa's legacy and its not (and never will be) good. I hope the victims sue everybody, including JoePa's family!

[novabird]

06:52 AM on 07/15/2012

Like any good enabler, this horrible man knew Jerry Sandusky was raping boys years ago and he remained utterly silent. Apparently this man is "revered" by some people at Penn State. Personally, I would not want to be known as a supporter of a person who knows that children are being raped and looks the other way.

[thetxsndn]

10:04 PM on 07/14/2012

Penn State isn't removing the statue yet but Nike is going to remove his name from their world headquarters child care center. YAYYYY NIKE !

http://www.tmz.com/2012/07/12/joe-paterno-nike-penn-state-jerry-sandusky/

[TeeSC]

03:00 PM on 07/16/2012

It's a start.

[thetxsndn]

03:07 PM on 07/16/2012

Yup it sure is. I just put a letter in the mailbox for the board of trustees at Penn State telling them politely how worthless I thought they were for leaving that statue up.

[MrUnlimited]

08:33 PM on 07/14/2012

Is this the worst story to ever come out of a college sports program? I'm only in my mid-20s so obviously it's tough for me to judge. Any older people out there with an opinion on my question?

[thetxsndn]

10:41 PM on 07/14/2012

It's a good question. I can only say that in my almost 60 years, I have not heard of anything in college sports like this & I sure hope I never do. If it did happen, they have and still are covering it up.

[MrUnlimited]

11:57 PM on 07/14/2012

Yeah, I'm guessing that this scandal has put such a big spotlight on big college sports programs that it'd be tough for such horrific misconduct to ever occur again. But I'm probably wrong. We'll see.

[Madelaine]

09:34 AM on 07/16/2012

Well, you are Mr. Unlimited. The others can answer your question, but I want to stop by and congratulate you to the highest for your willingness to ask that question!

With that kind of openness, authenticity, etc....you will continue being a very successful human being! Thanks for your post, which enriches us all!

[MrUnlimited]

04:47 PM on 07/16/2012

Thanks for reading/responding. I've only followed college sports for ~10 years so I figured: why not ask? I'm not too proud to ask.

[Mr Hoodoo]

08:08 PM on 07/14/2012

It's really too bad "JoePa" is gone.

Seeing him being indicted and going through the legal process, being sued, all of that would be some small measure of justice for his aiding and abetting sandusky, for his treating sandusky "humanely" and sacrificing those boys for his own hide, profit and religion of foo'ball; for his complicity in covering it all up; and for his general lack of moral courage.

But he escaped justice.

[Mr Hoodoo]

07:42 PM on 07/14/2012

[Mr Hoodoo]

07:35 PM on 07/14/2012

Disgusting. Just...disgusting.

Anything for the god-like sport of foo'ball, university profit and self-enrichment, including sacrificing children.

Absolutely disgusting. And most assuredly morally criminal.

[PTAOfficerforObama]

07:20 PM on 07/14/2012

When Joe Paterno died, the artist of the Heister St Mural painted a halo on him. Today he painted over it. I wish he had kept going all the way to Paterno's shoes and then started on Spanier.

[thetxsndn]

09:49 PM on 07/14/2012

I hadn't heard he painted over it. That's good. I wish he'd have continued as well.

[novabird]

06:54 AM on 07/15/2012

People who enable child rapists don't deserve a halo on their portrait.

[jp1850]

07:16 PM on 07/14/2012

The "don't rush to judgement" ship has sailed. The abuse itself, the self-serving cover ups, Paterno's cold calculation to get out of Dodge ... The kindest word you can use to describe PSU officials, students, alums, supporters, corporate sponsors, and the Paternos is amoral.

[tippisheadrun]

06:57 PM on 07/14/2012

Does anyone else get the impression that the Second Mile kids were considered expendable by all the adults involved at Penn State? I'm not sure they even seen the kids, who were being abused, as human beings? Its like "Jerry's Kids" were lucky to be getting what they got from the charity & the abuse was just what happened to "those kind of kids".

This is a cold, cold bunch of calculating, devious individuals. They seem to so lack even the most basic aspects of humanity, that expecting any of them (particularily the Paterno family) to express shame or remorse would be laughable.

[mjune]

07:05 PM on 07/14/2012

Yes. Like Mrs. Sandusky and Mrs. Paterno and others saw those kids as lucky despite what had to be a serious question, at best, about what price they were paying for the attention they received.

[thetxsndn]

09:51 PM on 07/14/2012

I think both of those women have to answer for this as well as their husbands. Dottie Sandusky claims not to have known a thing yet it happened 100+ times in the basement of her own home & also happened to her own addopted son. Kinda hard to believe, huh ?

[jp1850]

07:06 PM on 07/14/2012

Don't blame it on all the adults at PSU and the Paternos. There's plenty to go around -- students, boosters, alumni, corporate sponsors ...

[mjune]

07:38 PM on 07/14/2012

Students are kids and bear no blame whatsover.

[Mr Hoodoo]

07:55 PM on 07/14/2012

You got it.

[qaan]

06:42 PM on 07/14/2012

All of these morlly bankrupt people using denial to keep the gravy train rolling just make me me sick. If this had been handled back in 1998 it wouldn't be the cancer that it is today.

I am especially disturbed that Penn State was not abiding by the Clery Act, which requires schools to report certain campus security issues on a regular basis. If they hadn't been compliant for 14 years, then the entire administration during those years should be held liable.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clery_Act

[thetxsndn]

09:53 PM on 07/14/2012

Excellent point & you are so right.

[Godweiser]

06:39 PM on 07/14/2012

Pretty nauseating, especially when taken in conjunction with the Freeh report. It paints a picture of Joe Paterno that shows that much of his talk about victory with honor was essentially empty rhetoric. I wonder if any of the students that rioted in defense of this idol of theirs regret it or feel used by the system in that regard? I wonder if anyone in the PSU community has considered their role in fostering this environment where football program types were held to no standard of accountability whatsoever. What sort of lessons will people take from this?

[Doug Watt]

12:51 AM on 07/15/2012

I have talked with alum and people who work there who refuse to accept Freeh's report that determined Paterno's guilt. In spite of the facts, they refuse to do anything but idolize Paterno.

[Madelaine]

09:45 AM on 07/16/2012

Honestly, PSU is in a valley...remote...isolated....the very type of setting where "What happens in...". You have a huge university of kids (and they are, indeed, that) who are emotionally overcome in a brainwashing atmosphere.....of course, a mass consciousness evolves. But I do see that shifting, as many seem to reclaim their moral compass, and are not afraid to stand up for it...to some degree.

PSU has done anything but create a safe environment for these kids, 'Godweiser'...I totally agree with you. We can only hope the lack of accountability becomes so apparent to them, that it suffers real devolution.

Sacking that statue is, in my opinion, a really good visual for the kids....PSU's delay in doing so only more displays their own lack of moral compass, regardless of what they would like us to believe. If the program receives the 'death penalty' (and don't bother, please about wasting your breath writing me about that) it would be another visual that there are some adults in systems who do the right thing!

[fhmjam]

06:38 PM on 07/14/2012

Ya gotta love the honesty, integrity and character all these jackasses showed just for money, power and prestige. Hope it serves 'em well in the afterlife.

[dee544]

06:34 PM on 07/14/2012

Dear Paterno Family,
Please sit your happy hindparts down and think through what you are doing for a minute! Unless your attorney is pro bono and signed on for life, the money Joe Pa negotiated last January will be gone in a hot minute because you are about to see a dang tsunami of lawsuits the likes of which hasn't been seen since the Howard Hughes estate lawsuits, and yours will go way beyond a contested will.
You cannot be responsible for what went on at the University in the football Department and president's office, the coach will have to answer for that before the head coach in heaven. But you will be held responsible for everything you do that brings more pain to the victims and their families. You have your family and the faith that you profess. Focus on that and move forward because the road that you are on can only lead to further heartbreak and destruction for your family.
Sincerely,
An Outsider

[jlsst]

07:16 PM on 07/14/2012

if I didn't know better - I would think you were my daughter...

[Mr Hoodoo]

08:04 PM on 07/14/2012

I sincerely hope this happens as you say.

If they were of real moral integrity they'd either refuse the monies or, better still, donate all of it to all those victims.

To dom otheriwse is to profit off these boys' horror.