Penn State; everyone has to go

The State University of Pennsylvania may be temporarily tarnished, and yes it may be under extremely high scrutiny and questioning but for the football program itself, this goes way beyond the hash marks.

The rioting and outrage that happened Wednesday night after the Penn State Board of Trustees announced that Joe Paterno would no longer coaching the football team, effective immediately is being criticized quite harshly. This act, unfortunately is causing many to judge the entire University but it shouldn't. The irrational actions of a few hundred students should not be the representation of tens of thousands students and a University with such history and prestige.

Obviously, the move to fire Joe Paterno has been talked about for days and rightfully so. Paterno has been a huge part of Penn State and the football program over the past four plus decades. He is the all time division 1 leader in wins and is the definition of Penn State football.

He is NOT the victim.

The picture and image that is being painted in the media is Paterno as a victim and it couldn't be any more out of bounds. Joe Paterno, along with everyone throughout the football program, along with the "former" president, and athletic director, are just as much as fault as the accused Jerry Sandusky.

The accused acts of the former defensive coordinator Sandusky are despicable and obviously not approved by anybodies standards. The crimes the Sandusky allegedly committed are disturbing and can only be thought of as unforgivable.

With that, it only gives more reason that Paterno is the last person that should be painted as the victim. He was fired with good cause. When then graduate assistant Mike McQueary, now wide receivers coach witnessed Sandusky in the Penn State locker room showers sexually assaulting a young boy, he fled the scene and told Paterno the following morning. Paterno then relayed that information to Athletic Director Tim Curley (now resigned) who then did not alert authorities.

It is appalling that throughout the past decade and a half that nothing had been done and as soon as last week, Sandusky had been using Penn State facilities. Sandusky also runs a charity "The Second Mile" which is to benefit, of all things, young boys. To think that Penn State let this happen and did nothing to stop it is absolutely disturbing.

For those who say Joe Paterno didn't deserve to be fired, my response is that if Paterno had alerted authorities when he needed to, than multiple victims wouldn't have been harmed by Sandusky. Those kids didn't deserve to be harmed and sexually abused.

In ten years, those same kids who rioted Wednesday night will realize that and ask themselves "what was I doing?" They will know they had their priorities out of order.

In all due respect to the victims of these horrific crimes and their families, this may be a good chance for the Penn State institution but the football program in specifc to start over and rebuild. Paterno created a program, one of the best in the country and sooner or later his time had to come to an end. The football team really hadn't done much over the past decade, and in fact, in 2004, Paterno was asked to step down after multiple losing seasons. An offer he respectfully and easily declined.

At season's end this year, you can most likely expect Penn State to clean house throughout the football program to try and start the healing process. That isn't for a few months so for now, the healing process starts tomorrow as the 12th ranked Nittny Lions play host to the 19th ranked Nebraska Cornhuskers.

Penn State is in search of Big Ten title this year and beating the Cornhuskers would most likely seal the deal on that. This game however should not be about Joe Paterno, it should not be about the fans, it should not be about the school's reputation or legacy; It should be about football and only that. Obviously, this whole scandal goes way beyond football but this weekend's game should be a time where these players can go out and represent their school, play for themselves and each other, and win a championship that they have earned this year.

For the program itself, it will be different for many many years to come. Regardless of Sandusky's actions, he was a part of Penn State and the football program and community. If he committed these alleged crimes and no one did anything to stop it from occurring again, they're all at fault. Having the ability to stop something and not doing it, and letting it continue holds just as much blame and weight as the actual crime.

There's an old saying... "you win as a team and you lose a team," and unfortunately in this instance, Penn State lost as a team.