Does Joe Paterno’s Statue Need to Be Removed?

statues are for great people
he was not great

Man O Man.....Say it ain't so Joe!

People are rushing to judge a dead man. I've heard both sides of the story and I doubt he had a clear picture of what took place. I also think he thought the higher ups were going to take care of the issue.

Head burried in sand!

Guess you haven't heard both sides of the story.

oh, please, come up with a little better excuse / alibi / lie ...

paterno knew, he took active measure to hide the info,,

paterno was the child rapist accomplice ,,, for 15 years ,,

and paterno is as high up the food chain at penn state,,

It is for his football not his lack of common sense. He is gone, let it rest. Sandusky goes to jail for life, that is a good result.

Cannot separate the two when it comes to neglect of children!!

Most people are able to separate the variousn parts of their lives. Paterno did a great deal for Penn State and college football over many years. He made some stupid decisions about this particular situation. The kids are the important thing and they are getting the help they need. Destroying the entire carreer of this man over his stupid act of not reporting would be a foolish act. Sandusky would have gone on to hurt some children, somewhere, as there was not enough evidence to convict him of anything, way back when. It is not my decision to make and I suppose Penn State will do what they feel is right. I just feel it is a case of throwing out the "baby with the bath water" if they take it down.

I understand what you are saying but, while Joe was building his 'so called legacy', more children were being raped. Raped, raped, just in case you were not aware. So his legacy is not just the good things he did for football or the university, those are overshadowed by his irresponsible behavior over he past 10 years and more. When a person devotes themselves to a cause for years and then does something stupid one time at the end of those years, that does not horribly scare another, forgiveness can be considered. In this case, those defenseless children will never have the scars removed and it can never be forgiven, neither for him or the others involved. Especially since he had the power to stop it immediately, instead he used his power in a very negative way.

I am very torn in this matter as I too believe the children deserve all the consideration they can get. However, Paterno did not do the deeds, he was the proverbial "good man who refused to act" and for that he should ber condemned. However, self delusion and denial are a major part of this kind of situation. I am not saying this does not place a large blot on his reputation, ther just should be no rush to harm him and forget all the good he did. I am not disagreeing with you just asking for a little modification of the reaction.

In the end, the statue will come down or be moved to another location.

and charley mansion only got that little murder thing going against him....

Not a good analogy! Manson "directed" the murders, he didn't just fail to report them. Exageration is a way to get attention to your idea but over extending it tends to make the idea look false.

hmm, good point ..

and to under extend it tends to allow the felony to continue

and to suppress evidence tends to allow the felony to continue

and to conspire to hide the crime tends to allow the felony to continue

15 years this went on, paterno knew and hid the facts ...

You too have a good point. The question is settled and the statue has been removed. My opion was clearly in the minority.

ABSOLUTELY, IT NEEDS TO BE TAKEN DOWN!

He knew and did nothing to protect the little boys. That will be forever his legacy!

His legacy will forever be destroyed and all the good things he's done in his life will already be overshadowed by this incident. There's no reason to take down something that was raised in honor of him for accomplishments that took place long before this scandal. That's just stupid.

do you realize the children were being raped in the football locker room shower ?

that the rapes were going on for over 15 years ?

this is not a one time deal, paterno knew what was going on , and allowed it to continue ..

15 years,, how could he look in the mirror ???

So what does that have to do with his accomplishments long before these acts took place? I agree with your sentiment. And if he were still alive I'd expect him to do jail time. But the people who are directly responsible are being punished and will be held accountable for their actions. "Heads will roll", so to speak. The statue has nothing to do with this.

But I'm assuming the statue will be so controversial in the future it will either be ripped down by activists or removed to prevent outrage. So you're gonna win. Don't worry about it.

this is a very difficult situation, here in W. Pa. ( we are about 2 hours away from penn state ) paterno has been pretty much " The Man " held in the highest regards , of which he earned , or so we thought ,,

I think paterno would have gotten a pass on this ( by me atleast ) by most , if this just happened , and only a rumor of sandusky rape of boys, but it seems that paterno knew of several rapes, over a long period of time, paterno took personal action to suppress the information from becoming public and allowed the rapist to continue, with paterno's knowledge for 15 years..

Mother Teresa would get tarred and feather her self if she did some thing of this nature, and paterno is no Mother Teresa..

paterno , IMO, has earned his place in history, and that legacy is one of a rapist accomplince .. sad , but that is what the evedience is showing.. sad day indeed..

When you stand for, and preach a high moral and ethical behavior to your team and institution every day for 50 years, then when it comes time to walk the walk yourself and this type of moral failing occurs - of course the legacy will be tarnished...It is horrible and sad but the statue must go.

first I saw the " walk the walk " analogy ,,, good point..

paterno , talked the talk , he preached for years and years of doing the right thing.

seems like paterno was a stuff shirt, all talk and no back up..

Don't shame his family... the man is dead, there's no harm in leaving his statue up

to honor a rapist accomplice ? no harm ?
we will have to disagree on that one...

every time kids, children come to the stadium , who is that guy they have a statue up for dad ?

oh, a football coach that allowed boys about your age to get azz raped in the locker shower by his defense cordinator, but he did win a national championship ,,,

no harm ? I disagree..

He shamed his own family by protecting rapists. He is scum and should only be remembered as scum.

His family has nothing to do with it!! He allowed continued raping of children, those families are more important!!

He brought shame to the Penn State name and legacy. I don't care how much he did for the school, he put the kids at risk. He ignored his responsibility. A million good deeds doesn't over write one really big, disgusting and disgraceful action....especially, when the person doesn't learn from it and see's nothing wrong with it. I agree with Bowden.

Joe Paterno was about one thing... promoting Joe Paterno.

Well, now you know the true-meaning of the term; "Nitny Lion" . . . .

THE GUY WAS JUST TOO OLD AN LOST SIGHT OF WHATS RIGHT AN WRONG,winning cost this old gent his place of respectfull honor in collage football history.

this was going on for over 15 years , and paterno knew about it.. and did nothing butt hide it.

Its a slap in the face.

for time being laeve it up

the time has come,,, tear down the rapist accomplice statue penn state...

Ok thanks for ur opinion have a great day