The death of legendary Penn State football coach, Joe Paterno, this past weekend has unleashed a maelstrom of comments in both support and criticism of this football icon. He spent six decades at Penn State and served as the head coach of the team for nearly half a century. He was greatly admired and respected by his colleagues as well as the general public outside of State College, PA, and was worshipped by those who chant the mantra of the university – “We Are Penn State”. His career ended suddenly and tragically when it was revealed that a former associate, defensive coach, Jerry Sandusky, was charged with sexual abuse of children. The alleged victims were participants in a respected charity headed by Sandusky who introduced them to the football program and used its facilities. The accusations are horrifying, and because of information shared by the children and others, are very believable.
Paterno’s role in this tragic story was not that he participanted in any abusive conduct, but that he was made aware of an abusive encounter involving his former colleague and a young boy at the Penn State facility. His resulting response was judged to be far less than adequate. Subsequently he was dismissed by the college’s Board of Trustees. If the information shared by those involved in the incident is accurate, then there is no escaping the fact that he made a tragic mistake. The result of all this is that a massive amount of fingerpointing and self-righteous judgment has surfaced. I, in no way, am lobbying for a declaration of innocence on the part of this football icon, rather I would say that we all bear more responsibility than we are willing to acknowledge.
Paterno’s testimony to a grand jury investigating the accusations indicates a reality that has been missed, or perhaps dismissed, by most of the public, and certainly by those who claim that they would have been decisive and heroic in their immediate response. Paterno indicated that he couldn’t truly grasp what was being shared with him by a graduate assistant who witnessed a shameful event. Paterno, in his mid-70s at the time, said he could not understand what was being described to him. It simply didn’t fit his concept of reality. Those of us, more worldly and less naive than the coach, find it inconceivable that he didn’t understand what was really happening between the nationally known former coaching assistant and an innocent child. One columnist stated that Paterno hadn’t changed his wardrobe since the 40′s and his morality since the 50′s.
As a person who has dealt with elderly parishoners for nearly 40 years, I am constantly amazed at what many don’t understand about late 20th and 21st century sexuality. I say this not to excuse Paterno for his failure to respond to the circumstance, but instead point out his blissfully limited and outdated view of reality. Rather, I would challenge each of us to take more seriously our responsibility to be aware of the problems that naive perspectives can cause in the reality of today.
Coach Paterno’s outdated attire and acknowledged naivete were part of the mystique of his iconic nature and the source of humorous anecdotes. In fact, the things which made him quaint were the very things that threatened his dealing with problems beyond his experience and comprehension. He was the most recognized and respected symbol of his university’s personna. As such he was above challenge or rebuke, and that is a recipe for tragedy. Just like the elder whose driving skills are no longer adequate for today’s driving conditions, and thus a potential threat to themselves and others, so was this coach who lacked the realization of the dangers of today’s sexual landscape.
Those who had the opportunity to acquaint the coach with those dangers – his family, colleagues, univerity, etc. - neglected the responsibilty to insist on a review of his competence in those areas where a 1950′s perspective was no longer adequate to deal with today’s realities. Just as it becomes necessary for someone to take the car keys from the driver no longer equipped to take to the road, so also was the responsibility for someone take away the keys, or provide a chauffer when the coach was no longer equipped to handle the potential problems of the “road”. There are no automatic downloads to update understanding of changing times and issues.
Yes, Joe Paterno failed to do all that he could to protect those who were put at risk on the campus of Penn State. But others share in that guilt because they failed to step forward to challenge him in order to protect the vulnerable. To critics who arrogantly insist that they would have been willing to risk life and limb to protect those who could not protect themselves, where were you when you chose to make jokes about a quaint elderly coach rather than risk confronting him about his inadequacies in dealing with the reality of today’s issues and problems. The excuse for each of us is that we weren’t or aren’t willing to risk our place and position in life to confront our icons.
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