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For almost five decades as head coach Joe Paterno and Penn St. were synonymous with winning, tradition, respect and honor. Now that has all come to a screaching halt as Paterno announced he will step down effective at the end of the season on Wednesday.
News broke that former defensive coordinator Jerry Sandusky was charged with molesting eight boys over 15 years and some of them inside the Penn St. football complex
Penn St. officials from Paterno, athletic director Tim Curley and vice president Gary Schultz are accused of not acting quickly enough when notified of Sandusky's transgressions. Curley and Schultz are being indicted by the state's attorney general on a multitude of charges one of which is perjury.
A graduate assistant in 2002 reported that he saw Sandusky raping a 10-year-old boy in the showers. Sandusky who retired back in 1999 was never charged with any crimes and held an administrative position on campus as late as last week.
"This is a tragedy," Paterno said in a statement. "It is one of the great sorrows of my life. With the benefit of hindsight, I wish I had done more."
"Joe Pa" as he is affectionately called has the college football record for most wins with 409. Under his tenure the program has seen 37 bowl games, 29 consensus All-Americans, 22 top-10 finishes, six undefeated seasons, three Big Ten championships and two national championships and 49 academic All-Americans.
Paterno's last home game at Beaver Stadium will be this Saturday against the Nebraska Cornhuskers. The last games of the regular season are on the road at Ohio St. and #16 Wisconsin.
Update: The Penn St. Board of Trustess declare both football coach Joe Paterno and president Graham Spanier are out at Penn State in the wake of a disturbing child sex abuse scandal involving former assistant coach effective immediately. Tom Bradley will take over as head coach and provost Rodney Erickson will take over temporarily as president. The U.S. Department of Education said Wednesday it would investigate whether Penn State violated federal law requiring the disclosure of criminal offenses on campus and warnings of crimes posing a threat to the community in its handling of the allegations.
From The Sports Mind Of RB:
Growing up watching Penn St. football was always something I looked forward to. It's not going to be the same knowing that Paterno won't be there anymore. But these allegations cannot be overlooked. This administration did not do enough to stop it. The sad part is that if something was done earlier more victims could have been spared.
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