Joe Paterno’s final legacy should be his most important — patience is always the smart move. The Penn State coach died Sunday roughly 12 hours after erroneous reports of his death. It wasn’t the first hurried move against college football’s greatest coach.
Penn State’s trustees fired Paterno Nov. 9, four days after former assistant coach Jerry Sandusky was arrested and charged with 40 counts of sexually abusing boys. It was a public relations move that should have waited.
Paterno deserved better treatment by both the university and media. He was never charged with any wrongdoing and announced his pending retirement after Sandusky’s arrest. Given Paterno’s program was never sanctioned for misdoings by the NCAA, what would have been the harm in letting him retire on his terms?
But no, everything has to be decided in two seconds in this age of Twitter, and the school’s board fired Paterno … on the phone … hours after the coach simply asked for a respectable exit.
Two months later, the trustees are looking pretty stupid. After everyone calmed down, it became clear Paterno wasn’t the wrongdoer here. He deserved much better than being fired to deflect criticism that the university’s administrators deserved.
This isn’t saying Paterno was without some responsibility about Sandusky. But it’s hard to know whether Paterno truly understood the horror of the situation. He chose not to interfere with those the university empowered to investigate the accusation.
Yes, Paterno should have done more than merely report the accusation as he was legally required. Paterno should have followed up. He recently conceded that. But that’s not reason enough to fire him.
Paterno was a good man. He did so much for Penn State. He worked for a fraction of the money his contemporaries received so the university could use those funds elsewhere. Paterno’s record 409 victories, two national championships, 37 bowl appearances and 250-plus players sent to the NFL over 46 seasons were just some of his contributions.
Wise leaders aren’t reactionary. They take measured steps when they are confronted with titanic decisions. They don’t hide behind a telephone and a late-night press conference.
The same goes to the media outlets that prematurely announced Paterno’s death. A student publication, Onward State, first reported it Saturday when Paterno remained gravely ill. CBS Sports and Huffington Post — two professional, major news outlets — soon followed, failing to verify it independently.
Paterno and his family didn’t deserve such idiocy in the coach’s final hours. Yet it’s the perfect example of the Twitter age, in which the media value speed over accuracy. It was a shameful act that deserves to claim a few jobs.
Years from now, Paterno’s role in Sandusky’s horror will be forgotten. But we shouldn’t forget JoePa’s final months, which taught us patience truly is a virtue.
Examiner columnist Rick Snider has covered local sports since 1978. Read more on Twitter @Snide_Remarks or email [email protected].
