AP photo Penn State defensive end Adisa Isaac (20) celebrates a play against Mississippi during the first half of the Peach Bowl NCAA college football game, Saturday, Dec. 30, 2023, in Atlanta.

By BRUCE WILLIAMS

One of my Christmas presents was a book, “The Paterno Legacy,” by JoePa’s son, Jay. It brought back depressing memories from 12 years ago when the Sandusky scandal hit the fan.

I love football. I played for Youngsville when we still had football. I then went to Penn State and watched football for four years. Now for the last 33 years we have had season tickets for Penn State football. We took family and friends to games. We even traveled to road games at other Big Ten schools. Penn State football was a big part of our lives. What a shock the Sandusky scandal was to us.

Joe coached for 61 years, as assistant, then head coach, through 11 U.S. presidencies. He coached with integrity. He only recruited players who were academically qualified, no matter how talented they were.

He encouraged academic excellence and usually had the highest graduation rate in the nation. He pursued players who left early for the NFL to return to finish their degrees because he knew most NFL careers were short. There were no “no show” classes, no cash under the table, no cars or other benefits. Some college coaches broke NCAA rules to win. Only Penn State and Notre Dame have never had a major NCAA violation in over 150 years of major college football.

Joe demanded that his players display a positive image. No beards or mustaches, crew-cut haircuts were required, as were coats and ties to road games. Must behave like gentlemen. No names on jerseys to emphasize team. Joe wanted to prove that you could play by the rules and still win.

Over the years some of the top football schools violated NCAA rules and were sanctioned. Joe set a positive example of how a football program should be run.

It is ironic and tragic that the cleanest program in college football got hit with probably the biggest scandal in college sports history. And it did not involve breaking any NCAA rules. It did not involve football at all. It was about “administrative oversight.” Joe reported what he heard up the chain of command to Athletic Director Curley, Vice President Schultz, and President Spanier. It was their responsibility to pursue the matter.

Sandusky was not on Joe’s staff. He was long retired. He had no direct connection to the team anymore. In hindsight Joe said he should have done more, but he did what was required.

The NCAA hit Penn State with harsh sanctions like no bowl games, loss of scholarships, canceling years of previous victories.

When the NCAA realized that these sanctions only punished innocent athletes they cut back on the sanctions. It seems so unfair that the depredations of one man stained the honorable legacy that took decades to build. For many people Joe became the scapegoat, but Sandusky committed the crimes and he is still in prison.

Penn State football is back and is still highly respected and the Sandusky scandal is fading into history. We look forward to many more years visiting Happy Valley for the games.

“We are Penn State.”

Bruce Williams is a Warren resident.