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May 23, 2007
 Penn State Football coach Joe Paterno dishes out justice that would make John Wayne proud. Most coaches would have protected their star players, worried about negative attitudes, feared a loss of recruitment, backlash from the school or parents, and handed down a slap on the wrists to players involved in an off campus fight. Not Joe Paterno. He laid down the harshest punishment in recent college sport history. Not just to those involved, but to the whole football team.
Old school is still the best school. Coach Paterno's 80 years have taught him to see the end result as the goal, not the short-term possibility of gain or loss. Without regard for how this punishment may or may not affect him, he does what he thinks is best for his players: he does what is right.
At least 15 Penn State football players were involved in an off campus fight. One player it seems got into a situation and punches were thrown. Later, learning that the person or persons he exchanged punches with was at a party, he recruited several members of the team and they crashed the party and a huge fight ensued.
Coach Paterno is letting the local authorities sort out who did what and any legal implications. He is however, determined to make his team, his whole team, learn that mistakes have consequences, that leadership is not something you hang up when you walk off the field, and that privileges come with responsibilities.
Football is the golden sport on many campuses. Penn State has a multimillion dollar football program. Star players are often treated as such and handled with special treatment, on and off the field. Joe Paterno is holding his team to a higher standard. In an era when most sport stars and celebrates are not worthy of being idolized by our children, Coach Paterno is possibly forging some that will be!
What is it this punishment?
- The football team will clean the Penn State football stadium after each home game this season, all 107,282 seats. This job is usually handled by the "lower" sports teams or club teams on campus to raise money... money that they will still receive, not the football team. Punishments handed down to sports players usually involve more running, weight training, or some other painful but athletically beneficial activity. It's not usually embarrassing, and it's not usually handed down to the whole team.
- The team will build a house for Habitat for Humanity.
- The team will help with Special Olympics this summer.
My hat is off to Coach Joe Paterno. I wish our leaders in all areas had his courage, commitment, and devotion to doing what's right. If his players learn what he's trying to teach them, their success in life will be multiplied a thousand fold, and the hundreds of thousands, or even millions, of lives that they have the ability to touch will benefit as well.
Thank you Coach Joe Paterno!
Fred Black
Posted by Fred on May 23, 2007 | Printer-Friendly
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