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PSU players still voice support for Paterno
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By Scott Brown
Published: Friday, July 13, 2012, 6:40 p.m.
Updated: Friday, July 13, 2012
Joe Paterno, who has been widely skewered following the release of the Freeh Report, received support from some of his former Penn State players Friday.
Starting quarterback Matt McGloin said he is forever grateful to Paterno for taking a chance on him. Tailback Silas Redd said the statue of Paterno outside of Beaver Stadium should remain standing.
“I feel he did a lot more good than bad for this university,” said Redd, who is entering his junior season.
Redd and McGloin were among the players who took part in the 10th annual Lift for Life late Friday afternoon. The event, which was open to the public, raises money that goes to research for rare diseases.
Paterno's once impeccable reputation crumbled following the findings that criticized top university officials, including the legendary coach, for fostering a culture of secrecy that allowed convicted pedophile Jerry Sandusky, a former Paterno assistant, to prey on young boys for more than a decade.
Redd, an All-American candidate, said that latest fallout from the Sandusky sex abuse scandal has not altered how he looks at Penn State.
“I think it's one of the best institutions academically and athletically in the nation,” Redd said. “My view of that is never going to change.”
McGloin, a former walk on, said he will never forget the faith Paterno had in him.
“Coach Paterno gave me the opportunity to play here, gave me an opportunity a lot of coaches didn't, so to that I owe my career to him,” McGloin said.
Penn State players participating in Lift for Life are expected to generate close to $100,000 for kidney cancer after all proceeds are collected, and they were hoping the event would bring positive news to a school badly in need of some.
The event had the unfortunate timing of coming one day after Freeh released his scathing report, and players were asked about the report as much as they were Lift for Life and the upcoming season.
“Any time you turn on the TV or you open the newspaper, you see it,” said McGloin, who was named the starter by coach Bill O'Brien last month. “It is tough, but we have no control over it. We just have to ignore the noise and just continue what we're doing and try to prepare ourselves for the upcoming season.”
Not that it has been easy.
“It seems like if you want to watch TV but don't want to hear about (the scandal), you have to play video games or something,” said backup quarterback Paul Jones, a Sto-Rox graduate.
Many players were tight-lipped about the scandal and implications that include possible NCAA sanctions. The NCAA said in a statement that its actions, if it takes any, will be dictated by how Penn State responds to questions about institutional control.
“I'll worry about that if it comes,” sophomore cornerback Adrian Amos said of possible NCAA punishment.
Players were unanimous in saying the negative light cast on Penn State has brought them closer.
“It really has rallied us,” Redd said. “Those guys are my brothers. I'd do anything for them. I'd do anything for the people on this staff and this program.”
Scott Brown is a staff writer for Trib Total Media. He can be reached at sbrown@tribweb.com.
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Mike, people like Dave choose to concoct their own scenario of what happened, and what didn't happen, in this case, so that in the end, there is Penn State football and Joe Paterno is still king. They refuse to believe the harsh realities of evidence presented in the Freeh report that flat out contradicts not only Joe's account of the situation, but poster Dave's as well. Joe said he had not one iota of knowledge of the '98 investigation; the report shows that was a lie. He knew about it and he followed its progress closely. So when Dave states:"It is difficult to fathom that any righteous person could stand by and do nothing in their power to stop or prevent an abuse or molestation of a child." I wholeheartedly agree. Guess what conclusion you can make about Joe now Dave?
Submitted by: Mike on Tuesday, July 17, 2012
To David You: "I believe that Penn State officials, including Joe Paterno, must not have believed the initial reports of the actions of Jerry Sandusky. Not being direct witnesses, they may have considered the reports to be either false or at least a misinterpretation. The fact that Joe Paterno had known and trusted Jerry Sandusky for over 30 years probably had a lot to do in swaying his judgement." No, no, and no! Everyone, including paterno knew exactly that Sandusky was a loose cannon in 2001. How can I say this? What are the facts? Read carefully the following.... Everyone, including yourself David, totally forgot about that tragic little boy victim in 2001. Pennsylvania law regarding the specific process for reporting of child molestation to a superior in public education is always immediately trumped, always immediately ignored, always immediately dismissed, always immediately set aside when a kid is undergoing a molestation at the exact same time of discovery. That kid in Shower 2001 was in immediate emotional and physical danger that evening, through the night, and the next day and beyond. He needed help immediately! And yes, there are no facts, no evidence, no proof that can dispel this observation. When a kid is found to be in a state of molestation, you always assume the worse and hope for the best. And that “worse” is always assumed to continue until a policing authority apprehends, steps in, and separate man from child. Again, when JoePa and McQueary were performing their pathetic conferencing ritual, a little boy, at the exact same time, was being terrorized! Agai, just like you David, upon hearing McQueary's report, Joe Paterno instantaneously abandoned, ignored, made invisible that little boy. Again, Paterno calculatingly and cunningly disregarded completely the rules governing his employment by calculatingly and cunningly disregarding completely that tragic little boy! David, from now on promise you will think kid first before anyone else when evaluating the Penn State tragedy. By thinking kid and only kid I promise to you, a clarity, an illumination, an intelligibility will suddenly be realized in judging a series of events dreadful and appalling! A series of events that found Paterno squarely in the middle of all that transpired!
Submitted by: David on Tuesday, July 17, 2012
It is difficult to fathom that any righteous person could stand by and do nothing in their power to stop or prevent an abuse or molestation of a child. However to put things into perspective, I believe that Penn State officials, including Joe Paterno, must not have believed the initial reports of the actions of Jerry Sandusky. Not being direct witnesses, they may have considered the reports to be either false or at least a misinterpretation. The fact that Joe Paterno had known and trusted Jerry Sandusky for over 30 years probably had a lot to do in swaying his judgement. It would be an easy decision if the person accused of such an egregious offense wasn’t someone personally known as a valued and respected individual. Based on this initial misjudgement of the reports, it is easy to see how moral individuals would initially support that respected colleague, rather than exposing them to a scandalous investigation. Unfortunately for the victims of Jerry Sandusky’s molestation and abuse, the inaction of the Penn State officials, based upon that support of a respected colleague, did nothing to prevent future molestation and abuse.
Submitted by: Alan on Saturday, July 14, 2012
http://www.scribd.com/doc/97821156/Sandusky-Paterno-and-the-Death-of-Ray-Frank-Gricar
Submitted by: Alan on Saturday, July 14, 2012
http://www.scribd.com/doc/97821156/Sandusky-Paterno-and-the-Death-of-Ray-Frank-Gricar
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