In this Oct. 22, 2011 file photo, Penn State coach Joe Paterno stands on the field before his team's NCAA college football game against Northwestern, in Evanston, Ill.That the bravery of the victims who testified against Jerry Sandusky was rewarded with justice renews faith in our legal system.
The former Penn State assistant football coach was convicted on 45 of 48 charges of sexual assault against 10 boys.
But if you thought making the demon face the light of his evil was the conclusion for the Penn State family and would be the first step toward healing, well, buckle up.
CNN's report of a few damning emails recovered during Penn State's internal investigation appear to cast another black cloud -- a deep and criminal and unspeakable black cloud -- on the PSU officials who slow-walked the early allegations against Sandusky.
In 2001, after then-grad assistant Mike McQueary told coach Joe Paterno, vice president Gary Schultz and athletic director Tim Curley about Sandusky abusing a boy in the showers of the Penn State locker room, the officials hatched a plan to turn Sandusky over to the authorities. According to the CNN report, the plan was detailed in an email dated Feb. 26, 2001.
On Feb. 27, Curley sent the following email to Schultz and PSU president Graham Spanier that, according to CNN, throws everything we thought we knew about Penn State football on its plain white helmet and signature black shoes.
"After giving it more thought and talking it over with Joe yesterday, I am uncomfortable with what we agreed were the next steps," Curley's email read. "I am having trouble with going to everyone but the person involved. I would be more comfortable meeting with the person and tell them about the information we received and tell them we are aware of the first situation."
Read that again. After speaking with Joe, Curley was "uncomfortable" turning a child molester into the authorities and wanted to discuss it with Sandusky. What words do you use to ask the devil to stop doing evil? And to say you "are aware of the first situation" certainly means you are aware of multiple situations, right?
And this was in 2001. There could have been at least four victims spared if the Penn State administrators had not remained silent.
Plus, it appears that Paterno was much more complicit than washing his hands of this and much more involved than his self-loathing -- and, it appears, more than a little bit self-exonerating -- excuse-making proclamation of "I should have done more." You can certainly make the argument now that Paterno could have done nothing and it would have been more productive than talking Curley out of turning Sandusky over to the police.
Granted, Paterno, who died in January, never will have a chance to answer these charges or even the fundamental question of why. Why would Paterno, the man who won more games than any major college football coach ever, step in and apparently try to keep the truth quiet and protect his program rather than the kids from the monster they knew Sandusky to be?
Unless Curley acted as a rogue agent and falsely implicated Paterno -- who had coached Curley and all but hand-selected him to be the AD -- it's hard to deny Paterno's role in what now appears to be one of the most tragic cover-ups ever.
(Plus, if anything has become clear during the muddled mess that was the last decade in State College, Pa., it's that Joe Paterno was as powerful as anyone in any line of work there. Forget the flow chart -- that's for saps and suckers who wear suits and ties. Joe Pa was his own city-state, and like the Vatican -- uh, poor simile there, huh? -- he answered to relatively no one.)
In truth, it's because the man who became a legend for his rolled-up pants, white socks and Coke-bottle glasses thought only of himself and of his football program. He knew then that the Sandusky scandal would wreck his career, especially in 2001, when Paterno was coming off a 5-7 season and wrestling with the internal debate that at 74 he had lost touch with the game.
Plus, the original allegations from 1998 certainly would have come out, making the entire crew look almost as despicable and dirty as they appear today. His "Success with Honor" slogan seemed short on success then. It seems bankrupt of honor now.
The jury finding Sandusky guilty should have been the step toward healing. Apparently, it was just the first shoe to drop in a sordid and twisted tale that will destroy all of Paterno's legacy.
Contact Jay Greeson at jgreeson@timesfreepress.com at 423-757-6273.