As part of my analysis that Joe Paterno knew about Jerry Sandusky's behavior, I cited his reaction to an opponent's sexual assault scandal. Seems I was not alone in my assessment.
Paterno apparently believes that current poor sexual behavior by players is only a problem because more people know about it. For example, "I can go back to a couple guys in the '70s who drove me nuts," he said. "The cops would call me, and I used to put [the players] in bed in my house and run their rear ends off the next day. Nobody knew about it. That's the way we handled it."
Seriously, Joe? Again, his attitude seems to be "boys will be boys." He would handle discipline his own way, by allowing the behavior, and then running their rear ends off. None of the players cited for legal violations ever missed a game.
Dr. Vickey Triponey was Penn State's officer for standards and conduct. She repeatedly found that Paterno looked the other way when it came to poor behavior on the part of his football team. She feared that Penn State was creating a separate set of standards regarding football player conduct, and that the football leadership--including Paterno--was ignoring her requests to meet. She said,
"Coach Paterno would rather we NOT inform the public when a football player is found responsible for committing a serious violation of the law and/or our student code despite any moral or legal obligation to do so."
Eventually her insistence led to a meeting, at which she was insulted and belittled by Paterno. Paterno loudly criticized Triponey for "meddling". So that's "Winning with honor" Joe?
No, Paterno did not commit the crimes against children. But by creating a culture of indifference towards sexual assault, he as much as gave Sandusky free reign to behave however he wanted. What did Joe do to Sandusky after he first learned of the assaults--make him run laps?
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