The Penn State Scandal in a Nebraska Context
With the release of the Freeh report on their the independent investigation in to the Penn State scandal, the biggest story (maybe the only story) in sports today are the damning findings and recommendations concerning Joe Paterno and the highest ranking Penn State officials. When I'm forced to try and get my head around the impact of these kinds of atrocities, I tend to ask... "What if this happened at Nebraska?" Maybe you do that too. So, to put yourself in the shoes of a PSU fan today, I ask you to consider the more tarnished portions of our icon's record.
First, spend some time reading the findings of the Freeh report. I defy you not to feel sick when you are finished. The investigation appears very thorough and independent. The findings are put as plainly as possible, considering the horrible subject matter.
One of the most damaging portions of the report, in my opinion, is as follows:
"Four of the most powerful people at The Pennsylvania State University - President Graham B. Spanier, Senior Vice President - Finance and Business, Gary C Schultz, Athletic Director Timothy M. Curley, and Head Football Coach Joseph V. Paterno failed to protect against a child sexual predator harming children for over a decade. These men concealed Sandusky's activities from the Board of Trustees, the University community and authorities. They exhibited a striking lack of empathy for Sandusky's victims by failing to inquire as to their safety and well-being, especially by not attempting to determine the identity of the child who Sandusky assaulted in the Lasch Building in 2001. Further, they exposed this child to additional harm by alerting Sandusky, who was the only one who knew the child's identity, of what McQueary saw in the shower on the night of February 9, 2001."
There you have it. They knew. They willingly chose not to act. They put kids in harms way and covered up child sexual assault for decades. These aren't just four regular University employees. These men are part of the senior leadership and, in Paterno's case, an icon. Let that sink in.
So, how do we assess the situation and damage? What if this were Nebraska? How would you react as a fan? As a litmus test, consider the worst part of Osborne's legacy as a coach. You know what is coming, right? Lawrence Phillips.
Whenever any opposing fan wants to disparage NU, they just say the name Lawrence Phillips. Phillips was a great football player and a troubled human being. He beat a woman. That's a terrible crime. For his actions, he was put through the legal system, and suspended for much of the 1995 season. Tom Osborne's re-instatement of Phillips once he completed the legal process was, to put it lightly, unpopular. I was at the stadium the day Phillips returned to action. Some fans booed. Others refused to go to that game or future games.
While Osborne would argue that Phillips had paid a penalty for his crime and that being on the team was in his best interests from a behavioral and psychological standpoint, there was no un-ringing that bell. Some now saw Osborne as a win at-all-cost coach. True or not, unfair or not, Osborne would have to live with the outcome of his choices and the perception of choices.
So, now put the worst moment in Osborne's tenure side by side with the current PSU scandal. It's obvious that what happened in Happy Valley appears terribly - exponentially - worse.
Consider the crimes and duration. All abuse is terrible. The type or gender should not be subject to a qualitative debate. But, when you consider how long and how entrenched the Sandusky crimes are - the number of victims, the amount of "grooming" that went on, the children being intimately around the PSU program - it makes the Phillips case look small. One was isolated. The other was systematic.
Consider the actions taken. Phillips was arrested. He was suspended. He was processed. In Penn State's case, none of that happened. Things were hushed at Penn State. In the interest of protecting a sport - football - Paterno and PSU officials covered up horrible crimes.
Consider the timing. The Phillips situation was unique as it coincided with an unprecedented three year run of success for the Huskers. That made it even more high profile. The Penn State situation spans decades. Sandusky's tenure there covered decades, dozens (even hundreds) of games, and two national titles.
Consider the implications. Osborne was viewed as a coach seeking to win games and get his best player back on the field. As things played out, it was obvious that NU squad may not have even needed Phillips to win in 1995. At Penn State, it was clearly about protecting football; not just one season but the entire program.
The self-serving letter issued by the Paterno family yesterday offers the argument that Sandusky's actions somehow don't tarnish or impugn the quality of the football team. That's ridiculous. Of course it impacts the football team. The criminal - the predator - was a valued and long-term coach. And, the people covering up the crimes were coaches and athletic officials. This might not involve blocking and tackling, but it has everything to do with football. Was Sandusky a part of the team? Yes. Did he help them win games? Yes. Was he kept on the team? Yes. Case closed.
Consider the long-term damage. In Nebraska, the Phillips situation is still a hot button issue today, more than 15 years later. I know some of you are secretly seething because I brought it up. And, I know I'm tired of hearing about it from opposing fans. The historical significance and angst caused by the Phillips case will be a drop in the bucket compared to the long term impact this scandal will have at PSU. This can become a multi-generational topic. It's now fair to question everything we knew or thought about Joe Paterno's legacy.
During the Phillips mess, I remember wearing Nebraska gear while traveling out of state. I heard some comments about it from NU detractors. I thought what Phillips did was wrong, and I was embarrassed. I didn't defend Osborne's choice.
So, in light of today's report, consider this - is "We Are...Penn State!" still really a rallying cry?
7/12/2012
Interesting how this can happen and they have a great recruiting class…don’t any of these kids have parents?
CBS (?) is calling for the Death Penalty for Penn State.
What’s more important than protecting children? This is a University for Gods sake, not a strip club.
Might be there with CBS. Paterno’s legacy will be forever tarnished, as it should be. I’m actually afraid of reading the report. Wow.
Phillips not withstanding, I’m proud to be a Nebraskan. We do things right. No scandle, no investigations, just boring old Nebraska… the kind of place Johnny Stantons parents wants their son to be. And rightfully so.
7/12/2012
The statement you quote isn’t a fact but an opinion based conclusion by Freeh. I am a UNL grad (1998) and remember the Phillips situation well. These are 2 very different animals - Phillips was a student athlete. Sandusky was a retired football coach. The 4 folks at PSU made a gross error in judgment in 2001 but the statement suggests they covered up years of abuse. There is nothing to suggest they knew about other abuse (Sandusky was cleared by the police in the 1998 incident - probably wrongly) - I don’t believe they did. The 4 were uncertain as to what happened and what to do and made the worst choice in how to proceed.
7/12/2012
Yes, Chad. The statement about it being covered up for decades is an assertion or opinion on my part. The Freeh report does not spell things out prior to 1998.
Does anyone really believe that Sandusky started this behavior in 1998? Does anyone believe that nobody (Paterno included) didn’t know or suspect anything sooner?
Sandusky coached at Penn State for 30 years! He ran his Second Mile Foundation (where he reportedly found and groomed victims) since 1977. That’s decades.
Have you ever worked with a person closely? You learn things about them. My close colleagues know facts of my personal life. When you are around people, you see things and you learn things. The coaches and staff of a footballl program work insane hours. They are together more than some spouses.
Sandusky had children around him constantly. They were in the facility. They went on the road with the team and stayed in his hotel room. Coaches KNEW he showered with kids. That came out in the trial.
Damning as it is, the Freeh report is likely just a small portion of what went on at PSU.
7/12/2012
The powers-that-be at Penn St are cowards, plain and simple. And what is amazing is that their main concern is still protecting the image of the university and how will this affect JoeP’s legacy. Hey, Penn St, wake up! You have no image to protect any longer and you can throw the legacy of JoeP into the trash along with his statue that you should tear down. Not only should Penn St be thrown out of the Big 10 but out of D1, as well.
7/12/2012
Well with hindsight we found out today what many probably all along suspected. When you are confronted with a choice between good and evil (and yes a pedaphile operating in your midst is evil) and you choose to do nothing you have chosen a side. The lack of institutional control is somewhat ironic because the institution knew that this was ongoing and did nothing. They chose to manage the situation, and de facto, allow the pedaphile to continue. So in essence they did have de facto control of this horrific situation. Without the protection of Joe Paterno and Penn State this could not have happened over the time it did. They knew that there were real victims out there, that the number of victims was growing, that the perpetrator of it was a prominent member of Penn State, and they did nothing. They even knew that some of the victims were brutalized on campus. Still they did nothing. If anyone on this site was aware of something like this, happening ONE TIME, I am reasonably confident that somebody would make the call to the police to protect that kid. Penn State chose, willingly, and over decades, NOT to protect children. . .
This is the worst thing that has happened in collegiate athletics in my lifetime. What SMU, Miami or anyone else did pales in comparison. I’ll invite anyone to try to compare an institution being aware of a pedaphile, knowing of ongoing abuse, growing numbers of victims, and knowing that the victims were little children to slush funds, Sherwood Blunt, cars, and benefits. Heck even defrauding the federal government (Miami and Pell Grants) is nothing compared to this. Today’s press conference was draped in platitudes and with the delivery of smooth politicians. What steps are they taking to deny Sandusky’s $60,000 a year pension? Probably nothing. I agree that SMU did not deserve to be uncompetitive for 30 years. SMU should’ve been punished and if they were a suitable example for The Death Penalty then this situation walks way beyond the lines SMU crossed. Not even the same ballpark. SMU was out of control, but it did not enable, and protect a pedophile over decades. The victims at SMU were not little children who had to walk the rest of their lives with the horrific burden of being victims of this monster. If there was ever somebody should get a Death Penalty since SMU this is it. When you take the actions that Penn State did you deserve to not be competitive. If Reggie Bush has to give up his Heisman for $250,000 then what penalty does Penn State pay? Darren I truly appreciate your intelectual honesty in this posting because it is not an easy topic to address but there’s never been any institution that was confronted with something like this. . .
Joe Paterno probably over his career had to kick some people off the team. I am sure that the casus belli in all where that the people in question did not live up to the ethics, character, and values that Paterno expected of them. But when confronted with Sandusky he did nothing. Nothing. This is not hammering Joe Paterno or tearing down his legacy. He did that to himself. He did not live up to the very values that he demanded of the players in his program. With hindsight we know that this is now a fact. . .
7/12/2012
And I’ll throw this one out there too. It’s bang on the dot. . .
http://cfn.scout.com/2/1201836.html
7/13/2012
This article and the CFN article are excellent. The following paragraph from the CFN article sums it up for me.
“Obviously the Paterno statue has to go … NOW. As in the students should be rioting for the reputation of their school and in the name of righteousness by demanding that the monument to everything that can go wrong in big-time college athletics is taken down. Replace it with an eternal flame in honor of the victims and in recognition that what happened at Penn State under Paterno’s watch can be a catalyst to a massive effort to help those who cannot help themselves. “
I want to know how the present staff can walk past or be near where these atrocities occurred and how they talk about it. “Yes, that is where he sodomized a kids and no one did anything but we are recovering from that…”
They did NOTHING in order to protect $$$. The money is still being protected. PSU donations are at their highest in years but I have no doubt the civil proceedings and their very ugly presentations that were filtered out of this report will bring judgements that will be what brings the football program down financially along with the support they still have.
7/13/2012
Think they’ll get the death penalty?
Wakita, Oklahoma
7/13/2012
To me, this is obviously all stemmed around winning and has nothing to do with ‘saving face’ for PSU or covering for a good friend or as some would say, ‘coach’.
I have to believe that this investigation came through with the hard facts that like James said, we all suspected. ‘It’, was found guilty and that cannot be ignored. He had his ‘due process’.
As it turned out, Joe Paterno didn’t even abide by the human code of conduct when decency and integrity mattered the most. His true glory could have been doing the correct thing in turning in his friend at first evidence. I guess Joe was too caught up in being ‘god’ at Unhappy Valley and obviously turned his back on children when they needed him the most. I didn’t want to believe this but here it is.
What a well respected (at the time) coach allowed to go on for YEARS ranks right up there with the Hitler’s, Stalin’s and Pol Pot’s of the world. I don’t ever want Joe Paterno’s name uttered to me ever again. What an F’n disgrace he is/was to the university and mankind.
Yes to tearing down (and I mean tearing down!) his statue. Remove his likeness and name from the College Football Hall of Fame, as well. The NCAA has a perfect opportunity to do something good here in regards to some damage control.
Definitely punish the university, HARD. Make the SMU penalty look like a slap on the wrist. Take money, and I meant a lot of money, and give to all of the victims for starters. Sorry to the young athletes there but you would have to allow them all to transfer with no penalty and shut down the whole athletic dept. For a minimum of 10 years.
Sweep the faculty clean and pay all non-involved a nice severance pkg.
Make PSU pay for failure to act and monitor their employees. The lesson to learn here is to Put a price of putting the ‘WIN’ ahead of all else, unaffordable.
7/13/2012
I could be wrong about this, but has anyone ever answered during any investigation why Sandusky suddenly retired at such a young age? He supposedly had a promising coaching career ahead of him. I haven’t read the Freeh report, but this reeks of being forced out for “undisclosed reasons”.
To me, this whole ordeal demonstrates the need for everyone to challenge evil when it confronts our lives, no matter the embarrassment, no matter the personal cost.
7/13/2012
@ OU7times: Sometimes your comments drive me up the wall (whether or not you mean to play devils advocate, troll, or voice of reason I never thought to listen to). But with your recent post; I wholeheartedly AGREE.
As far as taking care of Sandusky…...I feel this is appropriate…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BahUC3EFWXA&t=1m32s
7/13/2012
@816: I don’t recall where I read it, but there was a conflict between Sandusky and Paterno. Sandusky was not on board with how Paterno wanted to run the program, and was very vocal about it during meetings, to the point where Paterno just couldn’t put up with him anymore.
7/18/2012
The Phillips incident was bad but Tom’s actions are somewhat forgiveable if you believe he was doing what he felt was right for Lawrence and not the program. I was recently reminded of the gun incident (by an Illini alum) that is probably more equivalent to the current PSU situation. I had completely forgotten about it. After researching I started to recall the incident and how I felt at the time. It was difficult to believe that Tom had done something wrong and that it was anything but a misunderstanding. The media was just on a witch hunt. I see similar sentiment from PSU fans. Today I believe he probably did something illegal and was protecting the reputation of the program. It’s important to realize the danger of putting somebody on a pedastal (or building a statue to them) and believing they will do no wrong.
Hopefully we have the correct oversight of Nebraska’s athletics that a coverup could not be perpetrated. If a coverup of a crime of this magnitude did occur I don’t think NCAA penalties would be necessary. Maybe I’m naive but I hope that the morality and good sense of Nebraskans would shut down the highly embarrassing monster we created for a long time. Loss of revenue would not be an issue.
The PSU culture seems so out of whack that a 1 or 2 year timeout probably won’t do them any good. It seems that their primary concern is getting past this incident or “healing” so they can get back to winning football games. In order to change the culture the NCAA should make it extremely difficult to win- over a long period of time. People are not fanatical about a losing program. Since the crimes against 10 victims were covered up for 10 or 12 years (dating back to ‘89 or ‘01, take your pick) then they should lose 10 schollies and a bowl ban for 10 or 12 years. When their students rush onto the field shouting “We’re the worst” (as the Northwestern students did) I’ll believe that they are a fine academic institution and have prioritized football correctly.