Scenes from this American life
In January 2011, Joe Paterno learned prosecutors were investigating his longtime assistant coach Jerry Sandusky for sexually assaulting young boys. Soon, Mr. Paterno had testified before a grand jury, and the rough outlines of what would become a giant scandal had been published in a local newspaper.
That same month, Mr. Paterno, the football coach at Penn State, began negotiating with his superiors to amend his contract, with the timing something of a surprise because the contract was not set to expire until the end of 2012, according to university documents and people with knowledge of the discussions. By August, Mr. Paterno and the university’s president, both of whom were by then embroiled in the Sandusky investigation, had reached an agreement.
Mr. Paterno was to be paid $3 million at the end of the 2011 season if he agreed it would be his last. Interest-free loans totaling $350,000 that the university had made to Mr. Paterno over the years would be forgiven as part of the retirement package. He would also have the use of the university’s private plane and a luxury box at Beaver Stadium for him and his family to use over the next 25 years.
The university’s full board of trustees was kept in the dark about the arrangement until November, when Mr. Sandusky was arrested and the contract arrangements, along with so much else at Penn State, were upended. Mr. Paterno was fired, two of the university’s top officials were indicted in connection with the scandal, and the trustees, who held Mr. Paterno’s financial fate in their hands, came under verbal assault from the coach’s angry supporters.
Board members who raised questions about whether the university ought to go forward with the payments were quickly shut down, according to two people with direct knowledge of the negotiations.
In the end, the board of trustees — bombarded with hate mail and threatened with a defamation lawsuit by Mr. Paterno’s family — gave the family virtually everything it wanted, with a package worth roughly $5.5 million. Documents show that the board even tossed in some extras that the family demanded, like the use of specialized hydrotherapy massage equipment for Mr. Paterno’s wife at the university’s Lasch Building, where Mr. Sandusky had molested a number of his victims.
The details of Mr. Paterno and his family’s fight for money seem to deepen one of the lasting truths of the Sandusky scandal: the significant power that Mr. Paterno exerted on the state institution, its officials, its alumni and its purse strings.
Since Mr. Paterno’s death in January, Mr. Paterno’s family, lawyers and publicists have mounted an aggressive campaign to protect his legacy. The family and its lawyers have hammered the university’s board of trustees, accusing members of attempting to deflect blame onto a dying Mr. Paterno. This week, they angrily disputed the conclusions of an independent investigation that asserted Mr. Paterno and other top university officials protected a serial predator in order to “avoid the consequences of bad publicity” for the university, its football program and its coach’s reputation.
What pigs.
UPDATE [SL]: But he drove a Ford Tempo! What a welcome refreshment Saint Joe was from this venal world!
I hope the family has to spend every last penny in litigation.
Well, Paterno certainly was good for the university. I mean, Paterno bought a library for the university (for certain values of “bought”).
How readily we come to see everything we have as something we are entitled to. How dare we question the privileges of the noble-born?
The fuck? The man is how old and made how much money and he hasn’t paid off that piddling amount of loans?
The key word is “interest-free”. If somebody gives you free money, you take it (and put it in the bank to earn interest).
I just wish Paterno hadn’t died. He should have had to face everything coming out now himself.
Yep. Anyone who was feeling sorry for Paterno’s poor unfortunate wife and family can stop now.
You know what’s really sad? Not even the continuing revelations about the unimaginably foul Penn State cesspit will make a dent in the armor of the college football racket.
Sandusky’s final game was a slobber fest for how awesome he is:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DVdmavookY8
Check out 0:55 for Lee Corso praising him and 4:00 for Sandusky being introduced. At 21:00, you’ll hear Brent Musburger say, “Joe Paterno talking to Sandusky, not happy with the turn of events.” It was in reference to a touchdown, but still.
The trivia question at 46:05 is about Sandusky, and it’s nothing but fan made signs and Musburger talking about how Sandusky is one of the most popular people on campus. That leads to this about a minute later:
Gary Danielson: Being known now and where he’s going to go work in the future is the Second Mile Charity that he’s so proud of.
Musburger: He helps an awful lot of youngsters.
OT but should I start to get worried that I work at the other University that excessively worships their over the hill coach?
http://www.goduke.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=4200&ATCLID=205177615
[...] (typeof(addthis_share) == "undefined"){ addthis_share = [];}The remarkable story Paul excerpts below really draws a line under Paul’s earlier point about the holier-than-thou sanctimony Paterno [...]
[...] post Scenes from this American life appeared first on ForexNews.com. Written by admin on July 14th, 2012 with no comments. Read [...]
[...] Scenes from this American life: Paul Campos [...]
What would be the consequences for Paterno and for the university if a court determined that some of this largesse was intended to influence Paterno’s testimony in the ongoing investigation? The question is purely hypothetical, of course, and not intended to imply that that was the purpose of the payments.
As bad as that Ford Tempo piece was, to Reilly’s credit his article yesterday was about a thousand words on what a piece of trash Paterno was and what a fool Reilly was for buying into the myth.
The bit about the Penn State professor calling him out on hagiography 26 damn years ago is crazy.
That was a good article thank you for sharing. I don’t think it absolves Reilly from the earlier articles, and I think Reilly would agree, but it does set a broader context that should be part of the record.
The hagiography story was pretty good. Couple that with the response that I think we all should adopt when someone points out there were no NCAA violations under his watch. “Yes, because they are really good at covering things up.” No one has the guts or skill to cover up something this evil for so long and so well on their first try. I predict that even as I write this scores of journalists, both amateur sensationalizing hacks and seasoned professionals and everything in between, are combing through every hint of scandal and questioning every PSU malcontent, whether player, coach or professor, for a story. And none of them will be constrained by any obligation to give JoePa the benefit of the doubt since they aren’t looking for evidence of his awful character but confirmation.
They might as well start a special section of Paternographyy at Barnes and Noble now.
Speaking of the title, anyone else hear the “This American Life” about Penn State’s students, from months ago (maybe October)?
Back then I sorta got the feeling that the kids at PSU were getting their heads on straight about this thing before many of the grownups. But this is all third-hand to me, so others can correct me as needed.