It's not the time but it has to be done. Paterno screwed up but before you say he screwed up royally you should consider two things. One, you think he was told a man raped a child because that's what the grand jury presentment stated. But the pretrial testimony has shown otherwise. McQueary never told him that. Nonetheless, after Paterno informed his superiors, one of the them the head of campus police, he should have gone outside the university when he followed up and they told him they would not launch an official investigation. McQueary never told these people what he saw fully, if he even knew what he saw. He never actually said rape or sodomy. He told everyone he saw only the boy in the shower and an arm pulled him into the stall. That's what he said at the time.
Was Paterno covering up to preserve his legacy? Everyone at PSU was covering up? Then why did they report the shower incident in 1998? That went to the local police, county DA, and child protective services. There was even a sting operation. Tell me, if they were trying to preserve the football program, why would they report Sandusky in 1998? He was still a coach back then, unlike 2002.
I thought Paterno should have stepped down immediately, he simply could not continue to coach, but I have lots of doubt about how he has been vilified. Initially, after reading the GJ presentment, I thought he had covered things up, but after Sara Ganim in the Harrisburg newspaper reported the pretrial testimony, I think he was given a story that was so similar to the 1998 investigation when Sandusky was let free even by child protective services, and he didn't go beyond the head of campus police who told him the investigation was closed. It was a mistake, but not one that a great many people in that position wouldn't have made.
