What if you're wrong? I would be extremely hesitant to report to the police anything of this gravity if it's not something I witnessed personally or had some other form of proof.
You're guilty until proven innocent with stuff like that and even if you ARE innocent, you're still guilty for being accused. Would you throw someone you've worked professionally with for that long under the bus because of something an up and coming bright eyed kid says?
I'd think twice and can see how one would go through channels. Accusations like that are more dangerous and far reaching than a loaded gun in the wrong hands. I can't say how I would react had I been in Paternos shoes since I wasn't there. I bet the "call the police immediately" crowd would have some thinking to do as well.
It's one thing to say what you'd do, it's another to actually do it when you're playing for keeps. If you can't see how Paterno did what he did, which SHOULD have been enough, then you're not looking at this objectively. I certainly can and I don't believe his own personal career or "the program" weighed into the equation nearly as much as the delicate gravity of the accusations.
Demonize those who did investigate and cover up. Those ultra melons disappeared a DA! That order doesn't come from a football coach fellas. Much bigger works at play here.
No but people do get sued for making false accusations. Or accusations based on hearsay. Big time coaches and colleges are particularly susceptible.
Had he reported it and the report turned out to be false. that is what he was leaving himself and the school in for.
Its not like something like this would have been kept quiet.
We all look at the situation and say he should have done this or that. Or we would have done this or that.
But. We have the benefit of hindsight knowing already how its turned out. so it quite easy for all of us to say "shoulda,coulda woulda".
But as the saying goes. "Hindsight is always 20/20"
The above are prime examples of why I proposed the "food for thought" question (aside from trying to see who the true drama queens are).
Anyone that wants to proclaim what they would do in a situation like that, has either never had to make a hard life decision or is a person that doesn't examine all facets and consequences of a situation before taking action, which is a dangerous way to live, at best. For me at least, the decision to alert my superiors would have been automatic. The decision to call the police however, would have been been something warranting some serious thought for all the reasons stated above. Once you report it to the police, you can't take it back. The media gets wind of it and runs like hell with it. In this modern age where the media plays a huge role in public opinion and if you are a prominent media figure, if you are wrong, it not only affects you but it affects your wife, children, grandchildren, etc. It is not a decision that one should make lightly, especially if you have already made your immediate superiors aware of it and were not a witness to the act, itself. Now, by the same token, if he did indeed know with 100% certainty that this behavior was continuing and continued to do nothing, he is every bit as guilty as Sandusky. Alas, he is gone and as the old saying goes, "Dead men don't tall no tales". Perhaps Paterno already got his, nobody will ever know the entire truth.
It is so easy to target a large media figure like Paterno since, regardless of whether or not he was at the top of his chain of command (which he wasn't), he has become, after 60 years, the face of Penn State. Up until now, I would wager that 99% of the people on the street, whether football fans or not, would not recognize the names of any Penn State officials but they would surely recognize the name Joe Paterno.
What I have to keep dwelling on is the guy that has gotten the least media coverage out of all this, but should be gracing an 8 x 12 with Sandusky, is McQueary. Why is he not being crucified in the media? I would bet that it is because it is not nearly as big of a scoop as slinging the name Joe Paterno around. It should have ended right then and there. That would have been an excellent exception to the think first, act second rule. He should have beaten the guy within an inch of his life and called the cops. Then there would have not been a need to worry about him being wrong or whether or not his superiors could have threatened him with his career if they indeed have a wish to try to sweep it under the rug. The police would have came, it would not have been hearsay, and it would have been documented right then and there without a good chance of getting covered up. The only problem I would have had with controlling my actions in a situation like that would have been whether or not I could have stopped beating the guy long enough to call the police.
