Paterno biography: Penn State coach “sobbed uncontrollably” after firing

[cali]

Joe Paterno “sobbed uncontrollably” the day after he was fired as the Penn State football coach, sportswriter Joe Posnanski’s writes in new biography, Paterno.

In its latest issue, GQ published an excerpt of the book, which is released next Tuesday. GQ.com posted three short sections of that excerpt on its website Wednesday.

In one scene from the day after Paterno’s firing, the coach is emotional.

On Thursday, Paterno met with his coaches at his house. He sobbed uncontrollably. This was his bad day. Later, one of his former captains, Brandon Short, stopped by the house. When Brandon asked, “How are you doing, Coach?” Paterno answered, “I’m okay,” but the last syllable was shaky, muffled by crying, and then he broke down and said, “I don’t know what I’m going to do with myself.” Nobody knew how to handle such emotion. Joe had always seemed invulnerable. On Thursday, though, he cried continually.

“My name,” he told Jay, “I have spent my whole life trying to make that name mean something. And now it’s gone.”

<snip>

http://tracking.si.com/2012/08/15/paterno-biography-penn-state-sobbed-firing/

So he cried for himself and the loss of his good name. Tough. It seems he was deliberately blind to the suffering of children.

I have little sympathy for him.

[HughBeaumont]

1. Hey, I'm sure those molested and raped children cried too, Joe.

Crime is crime is CRIME. Blow the whistle, be a human being, turn the pedo bastard in. Would that have been SO difficult?

Doing the right thing would have meant more to your legacy than keeping a disgusting lie going.

[myrna minx]

2. The more I learn about that man, the more disgusted I become.

It's no wonder the child abuse was allowed to thrive with that kind of selfishness and arrogence.

[liberal N proud]

3. What do you think those children did after they were molested?

Paterno should have expected to be fired for protecting a child molester.

[DonRedwood]

4. Imagine all the tears he could have stopped

:0( I personally think the lot of them should be in jail...not just getting a fine (money other people have GIVEN them) and a slap on the wrist (you can't go to a bowl game).

How did they sleep at night? That's what I don't understand! They knew it was going on and they went home and played with their kids and their grandkids, and watched tv and read books and just went about things...while their co-worker was raping another little boy. And they knew.

The crime is sickening. The cover-up is....

I don't know. I don't have a word for it.

[jorno67]

5. Just think what his name would be if he FIRED Sandusky when he found out about his crimes...

His name would have been bigger than just a NCAA football coach with a historic record. His name would have stood for doing what is right no matter what. but he took the easy way out and tried to cover it all up. He earned his pain. It's a damn shame though, he could've been a great man - instead of a miserable coward.

[hifiguy]

25. That's what I cannot wrap my head around.

He would have been an even bigger hero than he once was had he chosen to fire Sandusky and turn it over to the cops. It makes no sense to me.

[jorno67]

35. And in the end, his lack of judgement and inaction destroyed his legacy, many lives, and Penn State

He would've been considered the greatest NCAA Football coach of all time if he took a stand for what was right. Those boys and their families could've been spared so much pain and heartache. And Penn State...wow. where does that end up?

[BeyondGeography]

6. A remorseless and totally vile man

Tough.

[Initech]

7. He knew damn well what he was doing by covering up a serial child molester.

The cover up made what Sandusky did that much worse. I have very little sympathy for every individual involved in this horrific crime.

[Frustratedlady]

8. He's sorry the situation came to light. eom

[HappyMe]

9. No sympathy here.

[HangOnKids]

10. Sniveling Coward

What the fuck does his name have to do with ANYTHING in the world? Horrid, awful, self absorbed asshole.

[seabeyond]

11. “My name,” “I have spent my whole life..." yes. what happens turning away from wrong. nt

[Initech]

17. He covered up that monster to save his ego. Lovely.

[seabeyond]

20. i think covering up what was happening goes so far beyond ego. i think there is much more

about this issue that has nothing to do with ego. he is crying about it, because of ego.

[Rob H.]

12. "I have spent my whole life trying to make that name mean something."

It does mean something. Just not what he would've wanted it to.

[DonRedwood]

13. We could term a phrase: A PATERNO is when you know a vile crime is being committed

and you go get some ice cream and go to a movie instead of calling the police.

And then Paterno's name will still mean something.

[SDjack]

21. The "Paterno" case will be a training example in general

and sports management for a 100 years. That is Joe's legacy.

[DonRedwood]

27. Every year, to keep your teaching license, you have to go through a training

about mandatory reporting of abuse of minors.

These guy knew the rules. They signed off on them every year they were in education, I'd bet.

[Nevernose]

40. They already have a word for that:

Pope.

(Not a bash on Catholics, just one very specific Catholic who spent years covering for sex abusers.)

[Politicalboi]

14. How do we know he didn't molest boys too

That is maybe why he kept it a secret. Knew he could lose a lot more by blabbing. There is more to come out of this story, and who knows where it will land.

[datasuspect]

15. how many tears did he spill for those children?

vile, horrid piece of shit.

he got his reward.

shitbird.

[Brickbat]

16. I can only hope that his grief came from the realization of how he failed, and not that his name

would somehow be "gone."

[DefenseLawyer]

18. You really don't have to take sides

I read that and feel empathy for someone who ruined his life by his own horrible mistakes. Why would anyone feel good about that? Some seem to equate hating that guy with someone caring more about the victims of abuse. The more I hate Paterno or Sandusky, the better a defender of victims of abuse I must be. I don't see it that way. I don't think feeling hate contributes anything positive.

[riderinthestorm]

36. Joe Paterno may have been raping the boys too.

His comments appear to indicate he cared way more about HIMSELF than the victims. He's crying about his loss of reputation?

Pretty shallow and self-centered. Its hard to feel empathy for that.

[DefenseLawyer]

38. I take no joy in another's ruin

even if it is of his own doing. That doesn't mean I'm on his side or like him or "forgive" him, whatever that means. I think human failure is sad. It's not something I get up and cheer about.

[radicalliberal]

41. Who's cheering about it?

[Lone_Star_Dem]

19. He chose not to protect those children to protect his name. That's how much his name mattered to him

Bastard.

[hifiguy]

22. If he would have canned Sandusky on the first reports of

his beastly behavior, and turned it over to the police Paterno would have taken a small, short media hit and then been held up as a good guy for getting rid of a very bad apple. How simple would that have been? Paterno had absolutely no one to blame but himself for his name now being mud.

[gollygee]

23. What a jerk. His poor name.

No concern about the children who were raped.

[99Forever]

24. A wannabe hero, who was..

.. in reality, worse than a zero.

I wish there was a Hell for him to be burning in.

[Blue Owl]

26. You're supposed to be tough in football.

Turns out in the end, Joe was not more of a coward than a tough guy.

[jsr]

28. My name. My name. My name. My name.

What a narcissistic jerk. Good riddance.

[jonthebru]

29. I wonder if sobbing uncontrollably when caught doing something wrong and losing your

fiefdom is on the list of Sociopathic indicators?

[Kolesar]

30. Did Mrs. Paterno flee Centre County yet?

Hope her house stays on the market for a long time

[rocktivity]

31. Well thanks to him, generations of victimized children have ALSO "sobbed uncontrollably"

Last edited Wed Dec 25, 2013, 05:28 PM - Edit history (1)

Cue the DU "Cry Me A River" String Quartet!

http://www.democraticunderground.com/120416776


rocktivity

[eShirl]

32. If only he had done the right thing instead of CYA.

[Ruby the Liberal]

33. My only regret is that he didn't live to see the Big10 and NCAA Sanctions.

Your name isn't gone, Joe. It will live in infamy as the Estate defending untold number of lawsuits.

[Dawson Leery]

34. What were you expecting?

At least a third of the student body came out to protest his firing.

The sports cult is an intergral part of society, sadly.

[riderinthestorm]

37. I'll bet $1 million dollars Joe didn't cry even a small fraction of what those boys cried

He'd have to spend another 50 lifetimes "sobbing uncontrollably" before coming close to the buckets of tears the victims cried - before, during and after their rapes, and for the rest of their lives.

[GoCubsGo]

39. I hope they were tears of remorse.

But, for some reason, I doubt they were.