Is it worth passing along a rumor about where this might be heading? Wait, let me rephrase. Is it worth passing along a rumor about where this might be heading if it’s being pushed by a guy who saw the whole Sandusky scandal coming back in April?
Just how vast was this vast conspiracy of silence?
“I can give you a rumor and I can give you something I think might happen,” [Pittsburgh radio host Mark] Madden told John Dennis and Gerry Callahan. “I hear there’s a rumor that there will be a more shocking development from the Second Mile Foundation — and hold on to your stomachs, boys, this is gross, I will use the only language I can — that Jerry Sandusky and Second Mile were pimping out young boys to rich donors. That was being investigated by two prominent columnists even as I speak.”…
“The other thing I think that may eventually become uncovered, and I talked about this in my original article back in April, is that I think they’ll find out that Jerry Sandusky was told that he had to retire in exchange for a cover-up,” Madden said. “If you look at the timeline, that makes perfect sense, doesn’t it?
“My opinion is when Sandusky quit, everybody knew — not just at Penn State,” Madden added. “I think it was a very poorly kept secret about college football in general, and that is why he never coached in college football again and retired at the relatively young age of 55. [That’s] young for a coach, certainly.”
What he’s suggesting here, plainly, is that Sandusky might have founded his charity in order to create a conveyor belt of underprivileged kids for him (and others?) to molest. If that’s true, he’s one of the most diabolical predators in American history. And Madden’s totally right about the oddness of Sandusky retiring and then never catching on anywhere as a head coach. If you don’t follow football, you might be under the impression that he was some random assistant to Paterno at PSU. Not so: He was one of the most celebrated assistant coaches in America, having won two national titles and two awards as national assistant of the year. He was the guy who turned Penn State into “Linebacker U.” An assistant that renowned is normally a lock to be head coach somewhere at the NCAA level or in the NFL, but Sandusky drifted into retirement in middle age and somehow stayed there, which I guess freed him up to spend more time on his “charity work.” That doesn’t prove that other programs knew through the grapevine what Sandusky was up to and kept mum — he’d been investigated in 1998, a year before his very-coincidentally-timed retirement, so maybe that was enough to scare them away — but if I’m the local U.S. Attorney, I’d sure like to know what was circulating on the rumor circuit among national coaching staffs at the time.
Here’s video of Penn State students going berserk last night at the news that their school allegedly covered up for a serial child rapist for years. No no, just kidding: They went berserk over the fact that Paterno had to end his coaching career a few games early. Fun fact: The sister of one of Sandusky’s alleged victims is now a junior at PSU and keeps hearing students on campus making jokes about being “Sanduskied.” So there’s your status report on what the Leaders of Tomorrow are up to these days. As further reading, I recommend this John Scalzi post zeroing in on the cowardice of those involved in not doing more to stop Sandusky when they could. Assistant coach Mike McQueary, who allegedly walked in on Sandusky raping a boy, will actually be coaching this weekend if you can believe it. I’d never defend him, but every time I read about his reaction during that incident, I think of the Milgram experiments. McQueary was PSU’s quarterback in the late 90s, when Sandusky was still on staff and already established as a legendary defensive coordinator. When he walked in on him in the showers with the boy, he was face to face with a consummate authority figure in the act of doing something atrocious. I don’t think he left the scene out of cowardice, I think he left because, like Milgram’s subjects, he defaulted to authority even in the midst of grave immorality, convincing himself that what had just happened somehow couldn’t be quite as horrible as it appeared. (It’s telling that his first move after catching Sandusky in the act was to go talk to his father.) He’ll hear about it every day for the rest of his life, needless to say.
Update: Read Deadspin’s post offering three reasons to be skeptical of the rumor being pushed by Madden — and one reason not to be.
Update: Penn State students who still have their moral bearings are planning to undo some of the damage done last night with a candlelight vigil for Sandusky’s alleged victims and a fundraiser for sex-abuse charities.
While some Penn State students rioted in downtown State College last night, others began to plan a candlelight vigil for Friday night and to help alumni raise money to help survivors of sexual abuse. Some students changed their Facebook profile photo from something football-related to an image of a candle, while others wore light blue lapel ribbons.
“I’ve heard many, many people express that not enough is being done for the sexual assault victims,” said Kyle Harris, 21, a senior public relations major from Massachusetts who is helping to plan the vigil. “We want to support these victims. We’re just horrified.”
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