Lessons from Joe Paterno’s destroyed legacy at Penn State

Matt K. Lewis Senior Contributor
Font Size:

At some point during the Penn State scandal, someone probably tried to comfort Joe Paterno by telling him: “You’re the winningest football coach in history. They can’t take that away from you.”

Alas, they did. Every Nittany Lion victory from 1998 to 2012 has been wiped out.

He was literally put on a pedestal during his lifetime. But just as Saddam Huessein’s Firdos Square statue was toppled in 2003, “JoPa’s” statue has also met a similar fate in 2012 — another victim of a destroyed legacy and destroyed lives.

To be sure, much has already been written about this topic, and I have no desire to rehash what other writers have said. But I can’t help thinking one lesson is that we are often judged by our worst moments (this is especially true of leaders — football coaches, business leaders, pastors, etc. — but it’s true of all of us.)

Paterno clearly had some very good qualities. He, no doubt, inspired his players. He was a good husband who lived in a fairly modest home on campus. Unlike some coaches, he stressed academic excellence.

His was a sin of omission. He tolerated evil. He looked the other way.

How many of us justify inaction (albeit, regarding less egregious incidents) by rationalizing that we weren’t the ones responsible? When you’re a bystander, that’s wrong. But when you’re the leader, it’s an unacceptable abdication of responsibility. Doing the right thing entails more than simply avoiding overt acts of evil — it also requires stopping such beastly acts when they are brought to one’s attention.

Paterno clearly felt no compunction to honor the doctrine of in loco parentis, and that now defines his legacy, undermining any of the virtuous things he might have done during his career.

Life is not about counting up the totality of one’s acts, as if having committed a larger number of acts of kindness will balance the indiscretions. Sometimes it’s the big things people remember, despite everything else. For this reason, Bill Buckner is unfairly tagged as the guy who let a ground ball roll between his legs during the world series. And fair or not, Joe Paterno will always be the coach who looked the other way when little kids were abused.

This should also serve as a warning to get out when you’re on top. Paterno spent 46 years at Penn State. Wouldn’t 30 have been enough? The best case scenario is that a younger, sharper Joe Paterno wouldn’t have tolerated Jerry Sandusky’s behavior. (Maybe that’s wishful thinking?) Regardless, had Paterno simply retired on his own terms, sooner, he would likely have avoided this fate. There is a danger in hanging around too long.

When they are still applauding, it’s time to get off the stage.

Matt K. Lewis

PREMIUM ARTICLE: Subscribe To Keep Reading

Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!

Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!
Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!

Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!
Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!

Sign Up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!
Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!
Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!
BENEFITS READERS PASS PATRIOTS FOUNDERS
Daily and Breaking Newsletters
Daily Caller Shows
Ad Free Experience
Exclusive Articles
Custom Newsletters
Editor Daily Rundown
Behind The Scenes Coverage
Award Winning Documentaries
Patriot War Room
Patriot Live Chat
Exclusive Events
Gold Membership Card
Tucker Mug

What does Founders Club include?

Tucker Mug and Membership Card
Founders

Readers,

Instead of sucking up to the political and corporate powers that dominate America, The Daily Caller is fighting for you — our readers. We humbly ask you to consider joining us in this fight.

Now that millions of readers are rejecting the increasingly biased and even corrupt corporate media and joining us daily, there are powerful forces lined up to stop us: the old guard of the news media hopes to marginalize us; the big corporate ad agencies want to deprive us of revenue and put us out of business; senators threaten to have our reporters arrested for asking simple questions; the big tech platforms want to limit our ability to communicate with you; and the political party establishments feel threatened by our independence.

We don't complain -- we can't stand complainers -- but we do call it how we see it. We have a fight on our hands, and it's intense. We need your help to smash through the big tech, big media and big government blockade.

We're the insurgent outsiders for a reason: our deep-dive investigations hold the powerful to account. Our original videos undermine their narratives on a daily basis. Even our insistence on having fun infuriates them -- because we won’t bend the knee to political correctness.

One reason we stand apart is because we are not afraid to say we love America. We love her with every fiber of our being, and we think she's worth saving from today’s craziness.

Help us save her.

A second reason we stand out is the sheer number of honest responsible reporters we have helped train. We have trained so many solid reporters that they now hold prominent positions at publications across the political spectrum. Hear a rare reasonable voice at a place like CNN? There’s a good chance they were trained at Daily Caller. Same goes for the numerous Daily Caller alumni dominating the news coverage at outlets such as Fox News, Newsmax, Daily Wire and many others.

Simply put, America needs solid reporters fighting to tell the truth or we will never have honest elections or a fair system. We are working tirelessly to make that happen and we are making a difference.

Since 2010, The Daily Caller has grown immensely. We're in the halls of Congress. We're in the Oval Office. And we're in up to 20 million homes every single month. That's 20 million Americans like you who are impossible to ignore.

We can overcome the forces lined up against all of us. This is an important mission but we can’t do it unless you — the everyday Americans forgotten by the establishment — have our back.

Please consider becoming a Daily Caller Patriot today, and help us keep doing work that holds politicians, corporations and other leaders accountable. Help us thumb our noses at political correctness. Help us train a new generation of news reporters who will actually tell the truth. And help us remind Americans everywhere that there are millions of us who remain clear-eyed about our country's greatness.

In return for membership, Daily Caller Patriots will be able to read The Daily Caller without any of the ads that we have long used to support our mission. We know the ads drive you crazy. They drive us crazy too. But we need revenue to keep the fight going. If you join us, we will cut out the ads for you and put every Lincoln-headed cent we earn into amplifying our voice, training even more solid reporters, and giving you the ad-free experience and lightning fast website you deserve.

Patriots will also be eligible for Patriots Only content, newsletters, chats and live events with our reporters and editors. It's simple: welcome us into your lives, and we'll welcome you into ours.

We can save America together.

Become a Daily Caller Patriot today.

Signature

Neil Patel