From the 23-page Grand Jury’s report, the portrait of a villain emerges – or even that of a monster. The details of the accusations levied against this accused villain are so disturbing that they almost seem fictitious, as if they were pilfered from the plot of a horror novel co-authored by Stephen King and Scott Turrow. But the horror of this story is that it is not fiction, it is real.
The accused villain is easy to hate. He’s among the worst kind of villains, one who preys on the most innocent of our society – children. His modus operandi is sinister and diabolical, recruiting and entrapping these innocent youths through the false premise of much needed mentorship, guidance and love. And he targets the most vulnerable of children, those that are “at risk” and therefore in special need of more mentorship, guidance and love than even the typical child.
The portrait of this villain especially frightens and disturbs us, in part because of the pathological profile of his double life. The heinous crimes of which he’s accused portray a darkness and evil that is mystifying. Yet this darkness was buried behind an antithetical veil of human kindness and decency, a falsehood of caring and charity. Like the sex abuse crimes of religious leaders, the public is left to suffer the disbelief that a human being who was so revered for his righteousness could have secretly committed acts that were so horrifyingly wrong.
And in this evil plot the accused villain is surrounded by circumstances that render the story ever more unbelievable. There are people who missed opportunities to recognize the dark side of his pathological existence. There were early suspicions and investigations of the accused villain, by the local police, and by a District Attorney who never pursued the case and has since disappeared and been declared dead. And there’s an emerging list of witnesses who, since those early suspicions, either directly observed some of the accused villain’s horrible crimes or at least knew of suspicious behaviors or information that might have been seen as tell-tale signs of a hidden dark side. The public again is left to wonder why those signs seemed to have been ignored, downplayed or pursued only through a path of least resistance.
To be sure, it’s a horror story warranting the national attention it is receiving. And as we now all know, the central figure of this horror story is the accused villain, a man named Jerry Sandusky, a retired assistant football coach at Penn State University.
But there’s one additional ironic twist to this story plot. Amidst the overwhelming media attention which has dominated the news about this story, the central figure in all of this – Jerry Sandusky – has received a relatively sparse minority of the focus. Instead, the overwhelming majority of the news coverage has surrounded another character in this story – Joe Paterno.
The Joe Paterno Story We Needed
Joe Paterno
The question is why? Why do we have this apparent disproportion between the gravity of the allegations levied against Sandusky and the lack of media attention focused on him versus Paterno?
One possible explanation is that our society is viscerally outraged by any perceived failure to intercede on behalf of any victim. We carry the indignant, self-righteous belief that where others failed to act, we ourselves would have done the right thing if presented with those same circumstances. Of course, we usually have the luxury of believing and exclaiming that viewpoint without the likelihood of ever actually finding ourselves in those circumstances. But it doesn’t matter. The expectation is still there. And that expectation is even higher for people whom we hold in high esteem. People of authority. People like Joe Paterno.
But the public’s indignation only partially explains why Coach Paterno is dominating the media attention, while Sandusky goes almost unnoticed. There’s a more telling explanation to offer.
In a world so often dominated by dishonesty, disloyalty, cheating, scandal, greed and dishonor, we as a society desperately wanted and needed the old Joe Paterno story as we had come to know it over 50 years. And we are deflated – devastated, really – to see that story disappear from our landscape.
Prior to these horrid revelations, the Joe Paterno story was one of exception; the exception to the rule that one had to cheat and cut corners to get ahead. Before the Sandusky allegations, we could always look to Paterno who stood as a model for anyone who believed that things should and could be done the “right” way. When we saw scandal elsewhere we could turn to Paterno who allowed us to believe that notions like integrity, honor and values were not just words, but ideals that could serve as guiding principles, not just in football, but in life. If we doubted our own choices, we could point to JoPa who personified the Penn State slogan, “Success with Honor,” and who seemed to back up those words with his actions. In creating his “Great Experiment” he allowed us all to share a vision that one could develop a championship caliber football program while simultaneously maintaining academic excellence. And that vision could extend beyond NCAA football programs to business and community organizations; you don’t have to compromise principles to win or succeed.
The Joe Paterno story was the high-profile go-to example we needed to show that nice guys could finish first; that it paid to do the right thing. He offered all the proof we needed. His was the story of a man who coached one of only two Division 1 schools (the other being Stanford) which had no major NCAA violations in its long history. His was the story of a football coaching legend who actually defined winning for his players beyond the boundaries of just the football field. His was the story of a man who achieved fame and fortune through his success, yet maintained the humility of living in the same modest home, and staying committed to the same job for half a century. His was the story of a leader and mentor so trusted and revered that University alumni – players and non-players alike – would send their own children, and grandchildren to that university because of his influence alone.
Success With Honor
His was a story that we needed in so many ways. And the truth is, it’s a story we still need.
So perhaps having Paterno under the spotlight – rather than the accused villain who caused all of this – is understandable and explainable after all. We have so much to mourn in this recent horror story, and the loss of the Joe Paterno story that we had all come to rely on is another monumental sadness for all of us.
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