Thoughts on Penn State scandal from a father’s perspective

As a Pennsylvania native, and most importantly as a father, this whole Penn State fiasco sickens me. 

As I sat there on remote location with Brad and Natalie yesterday, and Brad read one account of what allegedly went on between then Penn State assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky and an 11-year old boy in a shower, two things immediately happened to me: 1.) I got extremely enraged, and 2.) I got sick to my stomach. 

If you read the grand jury transcript, you will see that Sandusky founded The Second Mile, which was a charity to help at risk youth. That’s all well and good, until you read a little further and see that within this organization is where Sandusky found many of his victims. 

I don’t think you want to read any further past those findings…trust me. For the purposes of this article, I tried to, but the father in me came out, and I screamed in anger that this kind of behavior would occur over and over again to these young men, and how the school allegedly glossed over the incidents and covered them up infuriated me even more. 

I am a father of two wonderful sons. I am a God fearing man, but I must tell you this: if I ever caught wind of something like this occurring at a school my sons go to, I wouldn’t begin to tell you what I would do. I’m sure all my fellow parents out there reading this are in the same boat as me, and feel the way I do. 

I totally agree with Brad’s assessment of this: at its core, it’s not about football, it’s about the kids. Eight young men and their families have been severely impacted by what was allowed to go on, and dare I even say irrevocably damaged as well. 

There’s football to be played in Happy Valley in a few days. It will be interesting to see what the sidelines and the crowd will be like at Beaver Stadium on Saturday. 

I’ve broadcasted games there before, and it is no doubt a major advantage having 106-thousand plus fans on your side. 

It truly is a shame that Joe Paterno’s brilliant career at Penn State had to come to an end the way it did, amidst all that’s going on right now at State College, Pa.  

409 victories, two national titles and now this. 

Clearly not a storybook ending for Paterno in Happy Valley.