TOO BIG TO FAIL, TOO GOOD TO SIN

It’s 1998.

Hey coach, did you know that your defensive coordinator loves little boys?

Yeah. Isn’t it wonderful what Jerry does for the kids. You know, he started The Second Mile. They teach Commitment, Responsibility, Opportunity, Character, Potential, Positive Self Image.

No, Coach. I mean he really LOVES kids.

You can say that again. He buys gifts for them, takes them to football games, lets them sleep at his house …

No, no. That’s not it. He really loves the kids physically.

I know. He hugs them. Wrestles with them. Really loves to play with them.

Coach, your still not getting it. Jerry loves the kids sexually.

Jerry? Sexually? What do you mean? What are you talking about?

I’m talking about sodomy. Pedophilia. I’m saying that he is a homosexual
predator.

That’s terrible. I better call the Athletic Director.

In 1998 a boy involved with The Second Mile comes home with his hair wet.
His mother asks him why. He says that he took a shower with Coach Sandusky.

His mother promptly calls the police. Two officers come to the house, one a Penn State campus police officer, one from the community.

They tell her to call Sandusky on the phone. She does, and they listen on the extension. The mother asks Sandusky if he showered with her son. He admits it. She reprimands him, tells him he is never to do it again. He promises not to. She says he should promise never to shower with any little boys. He refuses, then asks her to forgive his indiscretion, says he feels bad about it, wishes he was dead.

The police officers report the incident to their superiors both at the university and the community.

I suggest that a report like that would not have been ignored. The head of campus security would tell the President. The President would talk to the Athletic Director. They would sit down with the head coach. They would all agree.

Can’t have pedophilia at the Pennsylvania State University.

Sandusky’s got to go.

It won’t be easy. Somebody’s got to tell Jerry. And it’s pretty obvious that somebody did.

Because about that time Jerry Sandusky started putting out feelers for coaching jobs at other universities. Nothing materialized. Maryland looked very interested, then suddenly hired somebody else.

Then, in 1999, at 55 years of age, without another coaching job to go to, Sandusky announces his retirement from Penn State University. That’s pretty young to retire. But he can manage. He gets $57,000 a year from The Second Mile.

The University gives Sandusky a huge public sendoff and an agreeable separation package. He still has an office. Still can use the gym and showers. Still gets tickets and other perks.

Three years go by. Then in 2002 Mike McQueary sees Sandusky sodomizing a ten year old boy in the shower. He goes home and tells his father, a good friend of Sandusky. The father says, tell Paterno. Paterno tells the Athletic Director.

Once again, the news goes up the line. Everybody knows. What to do? Tell Sandusky he can’t bring kids to the University any more. Tell The Second Mile that they have a problem with Jerry Sandusky.

After all, we can’t have pedophilia on the campus of Pennsylvania State University.

Not at Penn State. Penn State is squeaky clean. Penn State values character, responsibility, commitment. It supports charities like The Second Mile, where kids from broken homes can learn about life, develop a positive self-image and have positive interactions with adult role models.

And get some hands-on sex education from a sicko who is too good to sin.