Penn State Legacy

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Pages: 4

Prior to 2011, Penn State’s football program was a giant to be reckoned with in the NCAA. The program was at the top of the NCAA rankings and had won multiple titles. With its dedicated fans, alumni families, large financial donors, and high academic expectations it was an honor to be selected to attend Penn State. Unfortunately, the Penn State community’s faith in the program was attacked by a pedophile, Jerry Sandusky. For the first time in its industrious history the reputation of Penn State was questioned. Then emotions ran high and Penn State’s football coaches, players, and community was being viewed in a negative way. The franchise was fined $60 million dollars and sanctions were placed on the team. Today, however due to the great coaches, …show more content…
JoePa as he was known in the Penn State community created the legacy of Penn State. However, when the scandal broke it was reported that he did not do enough to have Jerry Sandusky investigated. This error cost Joe Paterno the job he lived for and, some feel, his life (Joe Paterno, 2012). The Penn State community feel JoePa was used as a scapegoat for the higher anarchy. His family stated the following in an ESPN interview, "He died as he lived," the statement said. "He fought hard until the end, stayed positive, thought only of others and constantly reminded everyone of how blessed his life had been. His ambitions were far reaching, but he never believed he had to leave this Happy Valley to achieve them. He was a man devoted to his family, his university, his players and his community." (Joe Paterno, …show more content…
The coaches and players on the Penn State team have worked hard to overcome the Sandusky scandal. Trace McSorley, Penn State’s quarterback, gave credit to the players that stuck with the program. McSorley stated "These are the guys that stuck with this program and helped lead the program through probably one of the darkest times that it's ever seen and one of the darkest times that a program's ever seen in college football history," (Johnson, T., n.d.). In addition, Brandon Bell, linebacker, believe the players that stayed during the scandal were instrumental in keeping the program alive (Johnson, T.,