Editorial: Mourning Joe Pa no faux pas

Joe Paterno’s death last Sunday punctuated perhaps the most tragic chapter in Penn State’s… Joe Paterno’s death last Sunday punctuated perhaps the most tragic chapter in Penn State’s history. But amid the candlelight vigils, Facebook eulogies and memorial services, one writer remains hesitant to pardon the coach’s widely condemned ethical lapse.

Shortly following the football icon’s demise, Slate contributor Torie Bosch posed a question countless Penn State critics have since phrased less delicately: “Is it appropriate to mourn the death of Joe Paterno?” That is, does mourning him excuse, even implicitly, his failure to inform police of Jerry Sandusky’s alleged child abuse?

Ultimately, Bosch doesn’t think so, and neither do we — Paterno’s achievements as a coach and community leader remain unassailable. His inadequate response to the Sandusky accusations merits criticism, but it doesn’t invalidate his positive contributions.

Most State College residents, even those uninterested in football, would agree that Paterno’s generous donations to the university, his coaching record and, most importantly, his disciplinary rigor outweigh his mistakes. Far from condoning moral laxity, the former English literature major instilled in his players a respect for integrity that remains celebrated throughout the Big Ten. Granted, several such players deviated from Paterno’s standards, but few people, if any, blamed him for their misbehavior.

Indeed, what most distinguishes Paterno’s tenure, despite its humiliating end, is a steadfast belief in old-fashioned decency. Even after the scandal, many people touted the head coach as an upstanding figure, albeit one who sometimes fell short of his own codes of conduct.

This isn’t to say we don’t find some fans’ recent tributes — painting a halo above Joe Paterno in a mural, for instance — over the top. To declare him a saint is to ignore his failures, and we urge Penn State students to abstain from such uncritical hero-worship. At the same time, we sympathize with those who believe they’ve lost a leader.

“A man is more than his failings,” ESPN.com columnist Rick Reilly wrote Monday. “If we’re so able to vividly remember the worst a man did, can’t we also remember the best?” Paterno hardly behaved admirably in the lead-up to the Sandusky scandal, but this was, as any of his acquaintances will attest, profoundly out of character. In most instances — when he helped football players understand their coursework, for instance, or routinely checked in on them when they were injured — he exhibited an uprightness we wish other coaches would emulate.