Tearing Down Joe Pat Statue? Yeah or Nay?

Joe Paterno Statue at Penn State

Joe Pat... should his statue stay or go? Ever since the Freeh report came out there has been a vocal group who are shouting "Take it down!" Others say "No way, Joe should stay!" From students, former students, and football fans and former football players and citizens, everyone has their own opinion.

In an interiew with the Altoona Mirror, former New York Jets NFL player John Ebersole, a former top Penn State player in the 60's who currently lives in South Carolina, firmly believes Joe's statue should stay in it's place of pride in front of Beaver Stadium.

He is quoted as saying "I'm still a firm believer Joe never knew what was all going on, so it they tear down the statue I think they're crazy." He contends that "Joe is Penn State," and "I mean, it's never going to change with me. I'll admire the guy until the end."

Admire a man who the Freeh Reports says may have been complicit in covering up child abuse going on right under his nose? Sounds to me like Ebersole is still entrenched in the Happy Valley mentality of "Football is All!" Did he hear the Freeh report that revealed Joe and key Penn State administrators "concealed critical facts" about Jerry Sandusky's sexual abuse of minors.  Minors! Sexual abuse! For more than 10 YEARS! Where is this man's head? No football program is more important that the well being of children.

Still others have called for the immediate suspension of Penn State's football program as part of the NCAA. Others more specifically want the Joe Pat statue taken down. The argument will continue for some time or until the statue comes down.

Former Florida State coach Bobby Bowden believes that statue should come down, but his reasons have more to do with promoting football than Joe Paterno's knowledge of Sandusky's actions. He still believe Joe was a great man but in a radio interview with Cory Giger he said:

"Should his statue be removed? In my opinion, yes," Bowden said. "Now the reason is, Penn State's job now is to try to forget this thing. But every time somebody walks by and sees that statue, they're not going to remember the 80 good years, they're going to remember this thing with (former assistant coach Jerry) Sandusky."

"Just think, every time you go to a ballgame at Penn State and they shine a camera on that statue, that's going to be brought up again. So if I was Penn State, if I was Joe's family, I'd say, 'move on from all that stuff.'"

I guess we all have our reasons, but many of us say 'take it away!'

I am personally appalled that Happy Valley, in pursuit of the power of their football program allowed this atrocity to continue. Face it, in Happy Valley football is king. If someone who coached the debate team had acted in the same way they would have been gone and prosecuted a long time ago. But Penn State worships at the altar of football. Long live football, so at Penn State they let Sandusky continue breaking the law and continue sexually abusing minors. How many lives did Penn State ruin so they could win a game of football? How many young men were assauted and never reported it?

Some argue that Penn State's football program can't be pulled by the NCAA because it isn't covered under their rules. They'll pull a program for giving players fancy cars but NOT for not reporting ongoing abuse of children? Hmmm, something wrong in this picture.

Are you for or against tearing down the Joe Pat statue at Penn State? Did the good Joe Pat did while at Penn State outweigh his grievous lack of a moral compass in the Sandusky matter? Are you a pro Joe? Tell me what you think they should do with the statue of Joe Paterno at Penn State. If it was your decision what would you do?