The Boys

Over this past weekend the legendary football coach at Penn State University died. It was reported he was 85 years old.  Sixty years or so he coached at Penn State.  A pillar to the community of Penn State and countless young men, he ran a program, so it was labeled and believed to be as “clean”, “priorities in order”, “academics first”. He donated millions of dollars to campus needs, most specifically the university library. Then this past November Joe Paterno’s world as he knew it all came crashing down.

A scandal of the most horrific proportion was uncovered. A long-time assistant coach was accused of sexually molesting, abusing boys. Some of these atrocities it was reported took place right in the locker room and shower area of the football team.

The exact details of all that happened are clouded at best. Hours of testimony and a trial will be needed to sort through all the alleged details. In fairness to the accused, he is innocent until proven guilty.

This assumed innocence under the law however did not stop the avalanche of “bad” press.  People in high positions of authority at Penn State were being held accountable for not doing the right thing, and they lost their jobs.

Coach Paterno was one of those who lost his job, and it appears the biggest reason for this happening was because of what he did not do. For 60 years the coach was always there for his boys. He gave advice and direction. Doing the right thing was the mantra. Yet when these violations were told to the coach by another assistant coach, the details of these most despicable of acts, as his critics claim, he just did not do enough!

It is with the not doing enough that Joe Pa’s problems really began. It seems there was an apparent lack of sensitivity, a lack of awareness, a lack of the proper follow through to not only protect these young boys, but also to ensure this alleged type of behavior would never happen again on the Penn State campus?

Some claim there was a cover up. Protecting a long time friend Joe Pa has been accused of doing.  Preserving the squeaky clean image of an institution is claimed by some to be the motive. Whether true or not for these claims and many others, all along, these boys, the real center and focus of this horrible scandal, were pushed back out of the way, almost forgotten.

And here is the real tragedy of this morbid story unfolding. Lost in all the accused actions have been the victims, and all they have had to deal with. If the reported crimes are proven to be true, these young lives will be scarred forever, and this can never be forgotten.

So many questions as there always are when things go awry.  

Somewhere in this life, in this journey of a football coach, one full of so many triumphs, only to end in tragedy, there has to be answers. The difficulty though always is, to discover such answers hidden in the multiple layers of stories, motives, actions, and behavior. To get to these answers, layer upon layer must be stripped away.

Sadly in this story, unlike all the years of playing a football game, there are no winners.

Shortly after Coach Paterno’s firing in November, it was reported he was being treated for cancer. How crazy! One month earlier he was in the middle of another football season.

Joe Paterno’s life and all he knew came crashing down. The game of football and coaching, so dear to him for all those years ripped away. And now he is dead. Some say he died of a broken heart.

We will never know what the real cause was for his so sudden passing. But what must never be forgotten, to the highest of level is all that was potentially ripped from these boys.

In time the dust will settle. Others far closer to Penn State University, this college community, and Joe Paterno will help define his legacy. But there are other legacies as well. Each one of these boys, young men now, will carry their own personal legacies.

To each one of them will society be extra special and kind.