It’s been over four years since the passing of Joe Paterno, the polarizing former head coach of the Penn State Nittany Lions football team. Yet, there is still an ongoing struggle surrounding the legacy of the former coach.
200 plus players signed a letter demanding that the university put back a statue of Paterno outside Beaver Stadium. The statue was removed in 2012 following the conviction of assistant coach Jerry Sandusky.
Brian Masella argued on behalf of the players that the board members “haven’t made any headway in restoring our legacy, the players’ legacy, who absolutely did nothing wrong in the Sandusky.”
Their letter comes after a recent report found that Paterno knew of allegations against Sandusky since 1976 and kept them a secret. His family has strenuously denied those charges.
The University, for its part, has said that it will review the statue’s status once the fates of former college President Graham Spanier and former administrators Tim Curley and Gary Schultz are decided. There are still pending criminal charges against those men over the Sandusky scandal.
According to a recent PPP poll, Paterno still holds a 49-29 favorable-unfavorable rating with 21% unsure. Interestingly, party identification correlates to feelings of Paterno, with Republicans approving of the coach 58-26 and Democrats only having a 43-32 approval of the coach.
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10 Responses
Can we assume the other 20,000 players under Paterno do NOT support return of the statue? If so, his puny pro-statue vote is laughable.
How many of Sandusky’s victims signed the letter? If they are willing to look past Paterno’s inability to pick up the freakin’ phone and call the police, DA, or child welfare, than go ahead and put up 10 statues of him. Until they do, the 200 “letter men” have about as much say as I do.
Can we get a petition to put the statue in a jail cell next to Sandusky’s?
Yep, turn a blind eye toward Paterno’s true legacy, just like he turned a blind eye toward his assistant coach raping young boys. Penn State is truly a cult.
Hey, you used to write wonderful, but the last few posts have been kinda boring… I miss your tremendous writings. Past several posts are just a little out of track! come on!
http://circuitsage.com/blogs/blog_view&blog_id=146302
Also know that “The 200+ lettermen, who span the decades that Paterno led the team, also are seeking an apology for Paterno’s wife, Sue, and the restoration of the Player’s Wall — plaques that surrounded the statue and honored former players.”
Outside of “But he won a bunch of ball games!”, what argument do these people have? I’m itching to hear the “pro-child molestation cover-up” side of the conversation.
I agree. Spend time trying to improve the university rather than trying to prop up a flawed man. The mission of the Pennsylvania State University is research and education, and football is not part of that mission.
Screw paterno….his family ought to give back the free house and all the pension money
Imagine all the good that could be accomplished if these dopes directed this same energy toward more meaningful endeavors.