Note: The whole situation causes vertigo, makes one nauseous. The hurt is the bigger story, the tragedy for the families and children. This post is way way way down there in importance compared to the horror of what took place. This post only talks about an old man.
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An Ohio State Buckeye friend wrote to me today. “It’s a shame what they are doing to Joe PA.”
I agree. 84 years of integrity and people want to hang the old man.
My take:
He’s a coach. He follows the rules.
He reported it. He knew there was an ongoing investigation. He thought it was being handled, he was told it was being handled.
It’s not in that generation to second guess the line of command.
What’s he supposed to do? Become a cop? A private citizen trying to get to the ‘bottom of things’ like in a cheap movie after he told his superiors about the ex-coach Sandusky?
What about the human factor? He worked with Sandusky, built Penn State with the guy for thirty years and he hears this? Wouldn’t that shock you to the core? Wasn’t Joe in shock?
He must have heard about the prior complaints after this happened and that there was an investigation ongoing. What was he to do? Wouldn’t anyone assume the poor child was attended to?
Joe’s a coach. A single minded driven entity. Most wins in history. You don’t get that type of single minded success being the most well rounded human. He probably just turned it off after reporting it and went back to Penn State football and the next game, just like he wanted to this week.
What gets me are all the losers pointing their crooked fingers at the great man and trying to dance on his misery and burn him at the stake. I guess it takes them out of the reality of their failed lives for a while and makes them feel superior for once in their lives. Good for them. Good for the mob.
Did he make the best decision on the matter? No. He should have assumed his bosses wouldn’t call the police and that they would try to cover it up. He should have assumed gross incompetence and criminal acts from his bosses.
He should have got a Colombo coat and ‘sniffed around for clues.’ But he didn’t, he’s not perfect, who is?
Nope, he’s just an old coach that loves Penn State football and he assumed too much and put his head down and went about his business.
Richard Uzelac, Penn State 1980
