Penn State, known as “Happy Valley”, has found itself a somber mood. Joe Paterno has coached the Nittany Lions since 1966 and is the most winningest coach in NCAA Football history. He has brought to national championships to the school and is considered a living legend. His legacy, however, may forever be marred by the actions of his former assistant coach Jerry Sandusky. By now it is very likely that you know the story; if not here is a quick overview.

Jerry Sandusky on November 4, 2011 was indicted on 40 counts of sexual abuse against young boys. These counts include events that occurred while Sandusky was a part of the coaching staff at Penn State. It also includes multiple accounts of abuse after Sandusky had left Penn State, but some of these events still occurred on campus.

The main issue discussed currently is an event that occurred in 1998. An assistant football coach walked into the locker room and witnessed Jerry Sandusky sodomizing a young boy believed to be 10 or 11 at the time. The assistant immediately went to Coach Paterno who in turn went to the athletic director and president of the school with the allegations.

Many people believe that Paterno is not in the wrong, but I’m here to tell you that he very well might be. If Paterno was aware of these allegations how could he in his right mind allow Sandusky to continue to come to Penn State and be involved with the football team. Sandusky was allowed to bring over-night football camps to Penn State and taught football camps on school grounds. How could anyone who knew what happened in 1998 allow this man to host over-night football camps with young boys on Penn State grounds. I would agree that Paterno is not legally wrong in anything he did, but morally he and many others at Penn State are very questionable human beings.

How could anyone allow an alleged or known sex offender run football camps for young boys for up to 12 years after the first known incident. In fact Jerry Sandusky was on Penn State’s campus just one week ago. It begs the question: How could you know a person was a sex offender and continue to allow him to be, and encourage him to be around young people? Young football camps and Penn State players alike have spent a multitude of time around Sandusky.

The worst part about this story is that Paterno and the rest of the Penn State athletic department allowed Sandusky to continue to be linked to the school. There would be no story, no retirement, and no indictments for Penn State if they had just cut ties and removed Sandusky from the school they would have saved themselves and potential a countless number of boys.

Joe Paterno will be retiring from Penn State at the end of the 2011 season and from the look of it the decision is not entirely his. More than likely Paterno is being forced out by the university who is using his departure as a “saving face” procedure. Most people lose their jobs for the things they do wrong, but Paterno will lose his for the things he did not do right.

It would of been easy for Paterno, who was at the time the face of Penn State, to remove Sandusky from the program and cut all ties from the College. This would have prevented many of these victims from being violated by Sandusky and would have left his legacy in tact. Joe Paterno would have gone down as the greatest college football coach in history, but now this story will likely be attached to his story forever.