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— Scott Allison and George Goethals
The following quote made about him I think sums up his life pretty well: “He died as he lived. He fought hard until the end, stayed positive, thought only of others and constantly reminded everyone of how blessed his life had been. His ambitions were far reaching, but he never believed he had to leave this Happy Valley to achieve them. He was a man devoted to his family, his university, his players and his community.”
It is very saddening to know that the traumatic events that led up to today took a toll to his final death. Such a great coach for over 60 years will never be forgotten.
I never thought of Joe Paterno as a hero. In fact, I didnt even know he existed until the recent scandals. Still, he seems to have been a larger than life figure to many.
Perhaps the greatest burden of a hero is responsibility. As a hero you are held up to a higher standard. Despite the fact that he had no part in the molestation of those boys it was morally reprehensible for him not to report it to the authorities. Yes, he told the University but if if those children were our sons, nephews or cousins would that have been enough?
Sandusky should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. However, he wasn’t the hero that Paterno was. It is an unfortunate paradox, but the hero will always bear the brunt of the blame in these situations. How many children will have to live with horrendous memories because of this incident?
No,I didnt know JoPa but I believe in the end he proved himself human. Susceptible to error and yes even death. I hope more blame goes on the other persons involved in the scandal so that perhaps he can finally get some rest.
“Those who supported the decision to dismiss Paterno believe that he failed to do the right thing to the fullest extent possible, and that additional children may have been molested after 2002 because of this failure. Those who opposed the decision believe that Paterno was a convenient scapegoat for the irresponsible conduct of higher-level administrators at Penn State who engineered the coverup.”
Both sides are right. Both statements are true. True heros do the right thing even when it is hard and for Paterno to have done the right thing, he would have been up against a very large aparatus at Penn State that covers up everything that could damage Penn State’s repuation. He did not prove himself to be a true hero and he was a scapegoat at the same time. Spanier went down too. Do we question that? No. So why do we question Paterno getting fired? Because he was Paterno and with that said, one should understand at Penn State Joe Paterno had even more power than Spanier and if he was a true hero, his course of action would have been much different. One cannot be a true hero when the choices are easy.
Joe will be highly missed. Alot of people dont understand or do not know how much Joe has done for college football.
It saddens me that such a football hero will be remembered in such a tainted way. While I do not remotely support his lack of speaking out against what he may or may not have known in regards to Sandusky’s actions, I do feel as if he was a hero in regards to the way in which he truly transformed college football. I do not believe that Paterno, had he truly realized the cruelty of what was going on, would have simply stood by and let it happen. I think that he will be sorely missed, especially in the world of sports.
I have very mixed feelings about Pat being a hero. I think he was a great football coach, but I think he failed a moral obligation to do all you can to protect those that can not protect themselves. Although, did nothing to those children he did nothing to try and protect them.
Although I did not know who Joe Paterno was until the scandal that hit, i don’t believe him to be a bad man. For the 60 years that he was a coach, he clearly was a hero to many for his great service and his ability to coach the team well. However, from what i have heard, it was not completely his fault as he did report the crime, and as it wasn’t followed up may have thought that it’d already been investigated. But if this wasn’t the case, maybe he should have tried a bit harder. Hopefully, from his death that won’t be all he is remembered by.
This entire situation deeply saddens me. Joe Paterno was a great role model for so many players, for so many years. He was the ideal image of a college football coach. And I think he still deserves this status. He reported the incident and did what he thought was right. His superiors should be the ones being scrutinized for the lack of action because they were the ones with the most power to do something. I think Joe Paterno’s death will make people forgive him quicker and he will quickly return to is iconic status, but it is sad that the mental strain this scandal caused him, probably played a huge part in his eventual death.
Joe Paterno was a great man, and certainly a hero within the world of college football. It is truly a shame that his legacy now includes confusion, and accusations. Though some people are quick to assume that Paterno was villainous in his decision not to be more persistent in informing others of Sandusky’s actions, I do not feel that this is a fair classification. Paterno has a long history of living by his motto “success with honor,” and for this reason, I would really like to believe that Paterno did what he thought was right. For JoPa’s sake, i truly hope that the death positivity bias allows for some of these negative perspectives to fade, and for Paterno to remembered positively, as the hero that he was.