Gary Pinkel defends Joe Paterno

[klamath632]

Missouri coach Gary Pinkel defends Joe Paterno at SEC Media Days - ESPN

Talking with reporters at Southeastern Conference Media Days on Tuesday, Pinkel was quoted as saying, "You can't take away the greatness of this man. He was a great man, and you can't, however you analyze this, all of a sudden erase all that this guy's done. You can't do that. Nobody can do that."

[Clonehomer]

Not really missing mizzourah. I wonder how the SEC feels about bringing this guy in.

[chuckd4735]

Saw this. I understand why some people may still have these opinions of Joe Pa, but to throw it out to the media like that, one week after the report was released and people are still socket looking for blood, is foolish.

[HOTDON]

I get what he's trying to say, he just didn't finish his thought. No one can take away Paterno's successes. That stuff happened. Unfortunately, the same can be said of the scandal. That stuff happened too. His once majestic image is shattered. There will forever be a cloud over all those successes.

Not comparing actions to actions, but Pete Rose is another extremely successful individual with a split legacy. In conversations, you can't bring up the good without someone bringing up the bad.

[Tre4ISU]

Unfortunately for the victims, you can't take any of it away. He's right.

[cyeah]

You can take away part of it. The part of his legacy where he was supposedly the type of guy who did the right thing.

He was a coach who won a lot of football games at all costs - worse than shady recruiting, worse than paying players, worse than tattoos, worse than any other low life coach out there.

Joe Pa won games by allowing little boys to be raped. That is what he did and who he was.

[ketelmeister]

You can take away part of it. The part of his legacy where he was supposedly the type of guy who did the right thing.

He was a coach who won a lot of football games at all costs - worse than shady recruiting, worse than paying players, worse than tattoos, worse than any other low life coach out there.

Joe Pa won games by allowing little boys to be raped. That is what he did and who he was.

I agree and Pinkel carried it a step further by calling Joe Paterno "Great" which is silly at the moment. Pinkel is pretty arrogant about his team and the SEC. I hope he gets cut down to size.

[Knownothing]

This is standard behavior in the south where they are going. Gary is just trying to fit in.

[3TrueFans]

Certainly he was a fantastic football coach, but recent events also show that he was very likely a despicable human being. No, you cannot take away the accomplishments he achieved on the field, but many will not be able to separate the great coach from the disgusting enabler of child abuse. Apparently Gary Pinkel can.

[CycloneVet]

Is anyone surprised?

[Cyclonetrombone]

Joe Pa won games by allowing little boys to be raped. That is what he did and who he was.

THIS is the problem with it all. In what way, shape or form did Sandusky raping children have any impact on winning football games.

What JoePa did was wrong and awful... BUT... did he know before 1998? Maybe I am missing something but I don't know if anyone has demonstrated that.

Sandusky was gone and while he was still on campus can anyone demonstrate he had real play calling, recruiting, or coaching authority (All three of which I gather are some sort of NCAA infraction)? From what I understand he just had access to facilities and was basically treated like a special privilege major donor/alum. He used those privileges to do awful things and Joe Pa didnt have the spine to whoop his *** when he found out again in 2001.

To argue that a convicted sex offender in 2001 would have derailed any wins since then for Penn State is ridiculous. Back then if it were reported there wouldn't have been any NCAA sanctions imposed and not a one of you can argue that there would have been any of impact if at all.

The line that people are taking now is dumb. To paraphrase

"Joe Pa made sure Sandusky molested a little boy before every game as a good luck charm to insure that the team would win."

See how stupid that sounds?

Yes, horrible crime that Joe Paterno let happen. That makes him an awful human being. No connection to the success of the team on the field and only a hindsight theory of an impact on the football team if he had reported the crime to the authorities. The removal of murals in schools and what not is justified.

But the football record still stands as it was not impacted by this image cover up, sorry to burst your bubble.

He will end up like Pete Rose, great accomplishments but never a College Football Hall of Fame Member. THAT is a justifiable punishment for being a horrible human being.

[chuckd4735]

The thing is, with everyone involved from the Penn State side, football was more impotent then everything else. news like this would of hurt the program, and instead of doing the right thing, they swept it under the rug to prevent a black eye to the football program.

[Let's Go State]

Really bad timing on his part.

[rebecacy]

Talking while drunk this time??

[JBone84]

The thing is, with everyone involved from the Penn State side, football was more impotent then everything else. news like this would of hurt the program, and instead of doing the right thing, they swept it under the rug to prevent a black eye to the football program.

Hehe.