The Pecan Park Eagle

Joe Paterno, QB, Brown University, 1949.

I forget the precise quote, but I think it’s biblical in origin and it goes something like this: “To those who have much, much shall be asked.” Add that special requirement to the many times blessed life of the now deceased legendary coach, Joe Paterno, and you have a perfect storm formula for what may happen when our expectations of the great ones collide with the human condition of imperfection that rides within us all, and even in the hearts of the high and mighty.

Joe Paterno was a great football coach and human being, but in the greatest quiet challenge of his life, he failed all the still uncounted children who allegedly suffered in the hands of a Paterno employee, the now infamously accused Jerry Sandusky.

OK, the guy has not been convicted, but there has been enough there by eyewitness accusation to have pulled him out-of-place from doing any harm, or more harm, until his guilt or innocence could be sorted out and settled.

One big reason that earlier remedy never happened will always be the fact that Joe Paterno simply turned the matter over to his Penn State superiors and took no further action, even though the university quickly settled into a “let’s watch this situation and hope it goes away” pattern well over a decade ago.

As a mental health professional whose work has taken me through this unpleasant territory a few times over the years, I can tell you this much very clearly: It is horrible for the children involved and the longer they have to stay at risk, the more damaging it is. It isn’t easy for the eyewitnesses who stand up to the reality either. The offender is most often a family member, good friend or close neighbor, or a co-worker. It isn’t easy for most people to stand up to the reality of that behavior in people they love or value. The human escape wish is common: “Make this turn out to be untrue. Just make it go away.” Others turn the corner and make an abuse report and then quickly peel back into: “OK, I’ve done my part. Now leave me alone. I’ve got a life to live.” Psychologically, Joe Paterno apparently  got that far with the Sandusky allegations and no further.

I cannot remember a child abuse case from my own professional experience that hasn’t included someone who either made a report, or pushed the information upstairs for an institutional report, and then did nothing else, but these were just everyday people. They weren’t Joe Paterno.

The world expected more of JoePa and it didn’t happen. That makes him human, but unfortunately, it also stains his memory, his record, and his reputation from here to forever. That’s a heavy burden upon Paterno’s family and all the people who love him, but it is nothing by comparison to the harm done to those innocent children.

The casualty list from child abuse is similar to the casualty list from war. It will take years to get even an imperfect reading on how damaging this one alleged perpetrator’s actions in the Penn State case turn out to be for so many people.

One other note. It’s even hard to discuss this situation without treating Jerry Sandusky as a convicted perpetrator. He deserves a fair trial, if that’s even possible. It probably would’ve happened more fairly had everything been pressed to full light years ago, but that didn’t happen. It had to get tried in the media just to get our attention.

And now – even the opportunity for all around justice gets lost in the flight.