Penn State will honor former head football coach Joe Paterno before their game against Temple University of September 17, according to a new promotional schedule released by the university’s athletic department on Thursday.
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Penn State’s Joe Paterno will be saluted prior to the kickoff of the September 17 home football game and the planned gesture has stirred an outcry on social media because of his connection to the school’s infamous child sexual abuse scandal.
Joe Paterno died in 2012 shortly after being fired as head coach of Penn State, due to overwhelming evidence that he had spent years covering up acts of sexual abuse committed by Jerry Sandusky, one of his top assistants.
Some partially blame the coach for the scandal. Per Onward State, which first reported the news, Penn State has not had any in-stadium mention of Paterno since his last game on October 29th, 2011 (besides his appearance in a few “hype” videos).
Sandusky was convicted in 2012 on 45 of 48 charges and is serving a 30- to 60-year sentence. But the victories were restored to his record in January 2015 as part of a settlement with Penn State.
But the Temple game will mark the first official in-stadium acknowledgement of the Hall of Fame coach’s achievements that has been announced in advance since the statue came down.
Recent legal maneuvers disclosed that Paterno may have known of Sandusky’s actions as far back as 1976.
‘Depending on their position people may look at him differently, but it doesn’t change that he created that here.
Paterno coached at Penn State from 1966 until 2011.
Instead, Paterno said he informed the university’s athletic director, who told other administrators without ever going to authorities.
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Grassroots Penn State alumni and supporters group Penn Staters for Responsible Stewardship used the announcement as an opportunity to call on the university to do more regarding the late coach. Doing so may result in civil and/or criminal penalties.
